WVU's History vs. FCS Opponents & The Importance of These Games
It's not Penn State. It's not Pitt. But playing Duquesne does bring some excitement in the fact that it should be a guaranteed win for the West Virginia Mountaineers, who are 23-0 all-time against FCS opponents.
This week's game presents a golden opportunity for head coach Neal Brown and his coaching staff to clean up some things they need to work on ahead of the Backyard Brawl while also giving those who are buried on the depth chart a chance to see the field.
"I think it's really important. You give yourself an opportunity to play some people if the game goes in a certain direction," Brown stated. "There's a lot of work that goes into this thing. There's twelve months a year [of working], and redshirting is hard, your walk-on program is critical to your success, and guys need opportunities to go out and play. [FCS games] provide those opportunities. I think they're important. If we play these games, I think it makes sense to do it regionally. Like, Duquesne is going to take much more home out of this one because it's a bus tour. They don't have to worry about a flight or anything like that. They've been to Hawai'i. They've been to Florida State. Those are good money games I'm sure, but at the same time, there's a lot of cost associated [with that]."
FCS games aren't necessarily the most competitive games in the world, but they should allow your team to build some confidence and get those young bucks some experience under their belt. Plus, everyone else in the country is playing one, and in some instances two FCS opponents, which helps build the win total for the year. If everyone else is doing it and you're playing 11 Power Five opponents, you're at a clear disadvantage.
"I think we should play an FCS game," said Brown. "This is my opinion on the FCS games. I finished my career playing at FCS. I started my career coaching FCS football. So I think the more schools that play football, the better. I really think it's important we continue to play. And why I think these FCS games are really important is because this game for Duquesne...it's very important for FCS programs to play Power Five to get payouts, so they can continue to finance their program."
WVU's all-time history vs. FCS Opponents
1978: WVU 14, Richmond 12
1979: WVU 20, Richmond 18
1980: WVU 31, Richmond 28
1982: WVU 43, Richmond 10
2002: WVU 56, Chattanooga 7
2004: WVU 45, James Madison 10
2005: WVU 35, Wofford 7
2006: WVU 52, Eastern Washington 3
2008: WVU 48, Villanova 21
2009: WVU 33, Liberty 20
2010: WVU 31, Coastal Carolina 0
2011: WVU 55, Norfolk State 12
2012: WVU 42, James Madison 12
2013: WVU 24, William & Mary 17
2014: WVU 54, Towson 0
2015: WVU 41, Liberty 17
2016: WVU 38, Youngstown State 21
2017: WVU 59, Delaware State 16
2018: WVU 52, Youngstown State 17
2019: WVU 20, James Madison 13
2020: WVU 56, Eastern Kentucky 10
2021: WVU 66, Long Island 0
2022: WVU 65, Towson 7
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