1972 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 1972 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. It was the Mountaineers' 80th overall season and they competed as an independent. The team was led by head coach Bobby Bowden, in his third year, and played their home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of 8–4 with a loss against NC State in the Peach Bowl.

1972 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Peach Bowl, L 13–49 vs. NC State
Conference	Independent
Record	8–4
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (3rd season)
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field

1972 NCAA University Division independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Penn State			–					10	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Notre Dame			–					8	–	3	–	0
Utah State			–					8	–	3	–	0
West Virginia			–					8	–	4	–	0
Florida State			–					7	–	4	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					7	–	4	–	0
Rutgers			–					7	–	4	–	0
No. 20 Georgia Tech			–					7	–	4	–	1
Air Force			–					6	–	4	–	0
Army			–					6	–	4	–	0
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	4	–	1
Houston			–					6	–	4	–	1
Tulane			–					6	–	5	–	0
Temple			–					5	–	4	–	0
Colgate			–					5	–	4	–	1
Holy Cross			–					5	–	4	–	1
Syracuse			–					5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)			–					5	–	6	–	0
Dayton			–					4	–	6	–	1
Boston College			–					4	–	7	–	0
Navy			–					4	–	7	–	0
South Carolina			–					4	–	7	–	0
Southern Miss			–					3	–	7	–	1
Xavier			–					3	–	8	–	0
Marshall			–					2	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati			–					2	–	9	–	0
Villanova			–					2	–	9	–	0
Pittsburgh			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	Villanova		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 25–6	33,500
September 16	Richmond		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 28–7	31,000
September 23	at Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 48–10	27,000
September 30	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Palo Alto, CA	L 35–41	56,000
October 7	William & Mary		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 49–34	28,000
October 14	at Temple		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	L 36–39	13,067
October 21	Tulane		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 31–19	29,500
October 28	No. 11 Penn State	No. 18	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	L 19–28	37,000
November 4	at Pittsburgh		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	W 38–20	40,286
November 11	VMI		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 50–24	21,000
November 18	Syracuse		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	W 43–12	31,500
December 29	vs. NC State	No. 18	Atlanta Stadium Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	L 13–49	52,671
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1972 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR  8 Danny Buggs So QB  12 Bernie Galiffa Sr RB  32 Kerry Marbury Jr WR  9 Marshall Mills So OG  78 Walt Bragg Jr OT  72 Dan Larcamp Jr C  57 Gerald Schultze Sr OG  68 Doug Stevens So OT  60 Bill Samuelson Sr TE  88 Nate Stephens Sr FB  44 Brian Chiles Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE  89 Bob Sims Sr DT  77 Dennis Reid Sr DT  90 Jeff Merrow So DT  73 Frank Samsa Sr LB  63 Tom Zakowski Sr LB  50 Billy Joe Mantooth Sr LB  84 Bruce Huffman So DB  20 Rick Weiskircher Sr DB  23 Tom Geishauser Sr DB  18 David Morris Sr DB  10 Doug Charley Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class
K	41	Steve Soroka	Sr
Head coach Bobby Bowden Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt