The 2007 college football season is still remembered for its chaos, but few stories capture the imagination quite like that of the West Virginia Mountaineers. A team that entered the year with lofty expectations finished with a potent offense and a top‑two BCS ranking, only to see those dreams dissolve in the final week.
A Season of Promise
Coached by Rich Rodriguez, the Mountaineers deployed a spread‑option scheme that turned Pat White into a dual‑threat quarterback. The attack featured a deep stable of playmakers — including Steve Slaton, Noel Devine and fullback Owen Schmitt — who helped the team average nearly 40 points per game and rank ninth nationally in scoring.
West Virginia's offense was not just prolific; it was efficient. The unit moved the ball with a blend of zone reads and power runs, allowing the team to climb to second in the BCS standings heading into the final weekend of play.
The Turning Point
A loss to unranked Pittsburgh in the last regular‑season game proved fatal. The defeat dropped the Mountaineers out of championship contention and turned what had been a dominant campaign into a cautionary tale of missed opportunities.
The following season, the team traveled to the Fiesta Bowl and knocked off a top‑five Oklahoma squad, reinforcing the notion that the 2007 squad could have competed for a national title had circumstances aligned differently.
Rich Rodriguez left the program after the season, and his subsequent career never replicated the magic he forged in Morgantown. Yet the 2007 Mountaineers remain a touchstone for “what‑if” discussions, a reminder of a team that came within a single game of rewriting college football history.