The 2002 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University as a member of the Big East Conference during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Rich Rodriguez, the Mountaineers compiled an overall record of 9âÂÂ4 with a mark of 6âÂÂ1 in conference play, placing second in the Big East. West Virginia was invited the Continental Tire Bowl, where the Mountaineers lost to Virginia. The team played home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia.
West Virginia'ss 9âÂÂ4 record marked the biggest one-season turnaround in Big East history, after posting a 3âÂÂ8 record the previous season.
Rasheed Marshall was the starting quarterback for the Mountaineers. He led the team with 1616 passing yards and 9 touchdowns. Leading the team in rushing was Avon Cobourne with 1710 net yards. Miquelle Henderson led the team in receiving with 40 receptions for 496 yards.
The home opener for the West Virginia Mountaineers was against Chattanooga, in which the Mountaineers won handily 56âÂÂ7. In the second game of the season, WVU played at Wisconsin, where they lost 34âÂÂ17. They then traveled to Cincinnati, where they beat the Bearcats 35âÂÂ32.
They then defeated East Carolina by a 37âÂÂ17 margin at home. They got demolished at home by ACC powerhouse Maryland 17âÂÂ48. They then traveled to Rutgers, where they won handily 40âÂÂ0. The next game was a 34âÂÂ17 home win over Syracuse.
They played host to the number 1 team in the land, the Miami Hurricanes, but lost by a 23âÂÂ40 count. They played at Temple, and blew out the Owls 46âÂÂ20. A home game against Boston College resulted in a 24âÂÂ14 Mountaineer victory. Their next game was against Virginia Tech, where they won 21âÂÂ18, in Blacksburg.
On November 30, they played at archrival Pitt in the Backyard Brawl, and won 24âÂÂ17. In the Continental Tire Bowl, they lost to the Virginia Cavaliers 22âÂÂ48 to finish the season.