1954 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

1954 West Virginia Mountaineers football
1954 West Virginia Mountaineers football
SoCon champion
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 12
Record	8–1 (3–0 SoCon)
Head coach	Art Lewis (5th season);
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field

1954 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 12 $	3	–	0	–	0	8	–	1	–	0
Furman	2	–	0	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
No. 16 VPI	3	–	0	–	1	8	–	0	–	1
Davidson	2	–	1	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
VMI	4	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Richmond	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
William & Mary	1	–	2	–	2	4	–	4	–	2
George Washington	0	–	4	–	1	1	–	7	–	1
The Citadel	0	–	4	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1954 West Virginia Mountaineers football team was an American football team that represented West Virginia University in the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1954 college football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Art Lewis, the Mountaineers compiled an overall record of 8–1 with a mark of 3–0 in conference play, winning the SoCon title for the second consecutive season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 2	at No. 15 South Carolina*		Carolina Stadium Columbia, SC	W 26–6	31,000	^[1]
October 9	George Washington	No. 16	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 13–7	20,000	^[2]
October 16	at No. 9 Penn State*	No. 14	New Beaver Field University Park , PA (rivalry)	W 19–14	32,221	^[3]
October 23	vs. VMI	No. 10	Mitchell Stadium Bluefield, WV	W 40–6	11,000	^[4]
October 30	Pittsburgh*	No. 7	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	L 10–13	34,000	^[5]
November 6	Fordham*	No. 17	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 39–9	10,000	^[6]
November 13	at William & Mary	No. 16	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 20–6	10,000	^[7]
November 20	NC State*	No. 14	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	W 28–3	20,000	^[8]
November 27	at Virginia*	No. 12	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 14–10	10,000	^[9]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1954 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`11`	Fred Wyant	Jr
End	`89`	Billy Hillen	Sr
End	`84`	Joe Kopnisky	So
Guard	`64`	Gene Lathey	So
Guard	`88`	Bill Underdonk	Jr
Center	`36`	Charles Donaldson	Sr
OL-LT	`77`	Bruce Bosley	Jr
OL-RG	`75`	Sam Huff	So
OL-LG	`72`	Gene Lamone	Jr
Guard	`65`	Jerry Urda	So
End	`55`	John Kernic	Sr
End	`81`	Max Ludwig	Sr
RB	`22`	Victor "Jack" Rabbits	So
RB	`42`	Dick Nicholson	Sr
RB	`15`	Harry Sweeney	Sr
FB	`24`	Carl Norman	Sr
FB	`35`	Danny Williams	Sr
[[American football positions\|]]
QB	`10`	Alex Szuch	So
E	`12`	Walter Beene	So
HB	`21`	Paul Shepherd	So
FB	`23`	Ray Borst	So
HB	`25`	Bob Moss	Jr
C	`31`	Don Wilson	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
[[American football positions\|]]		[[ ]]

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Art "Pappy" Lewis

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ "West Virginia scores upset victory over Gamecocks, 26–6". The News and Observer. October 3, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Mounties barely squeeze past stubborn G-W 13–7". The Beckley Post-Herald. October 10, 1954. Retrieved February 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "West Virginia tops unbeaten Lions by 19–14". Sunday News. October 17, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "West Virginia's devastating ground game rocks VMI 40–6". The State. October 24, 1954. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Salvaterra heads late Panther surge which topples West Virginia by 13–10". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 31, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ McKowen, Bob (November 7, 1954). "WVU trims Fordham; Six men get touchdowns". The Charleston Daily Mail. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com. Attendance figure in "Mountaineers whip Rams, 39-9". The Pittsburgh Press. November 7, 1954. sect. 4, p. 2.
^ "West Virginia beats W&M, 20–6, to take Conference crown". The Sunday Star. November 14, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "N.C. State bows to West Virginia". The Baltimore Sun. November 21, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Bowl fever almost beats Mountaineers". The State. November 28, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[1] "West Virginia scores upset victory over Gamecocks, 26–6". The News and Observer. October 3, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Mounties barely squeeze past stubborn G-W 13–7". The Beckley Post-Herald. October 10, 1954. Retrieved February 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "West Virginia tops unbeaten Lions by 19–14". Sunday News. October 17, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "West Virginia's devastating ground game rocks VMI 40–6". The State. October 24, 1954. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Salvaterra heads late Panther surge which topples West Virginia by 13–10". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 31, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] McKowen, Bob (November 7, 1954). "WVU trims Fordham; Six men get touchdowns". The Charleston Daily Mail. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com. Attendance figure in "Mountaineers whip Rams, 39-9". The Pittsburgh Press. November 7, 1954. sect. 4, p. 2.

[7] "West Virginia beats W&M, 20–6, to take Conference crown". The Sunday Star. November 14, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "N.C. State bows to West Virginia". The Baltimore Sun. November 21, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Bowl fever almost beats Mountaineers". The State. November 28, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

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West Virginia Mountaineers football
Venues	Mountaineer Field (1924–1979) Milan Puskar Stadium (1980–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Cincinnati Marshall: Friends of Coal Bowl Maryland Old Ironsides Penn State Pittsburgh: Backyard Brawl Syracuse Virginia Tech
Culture & lore	The Mountaineer Marching band "Take Me Home, Country Roads" 2007 Backyard Brawl
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Southern Conference football champions
Pre-SEC	Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech & North Carolina (1922) Vanderbilt & Washington and Lee (1923) Alabama (1924) Alabama & Tulane (1925) Alabama (1926) Georgia Tech, Tennessee, & NC State (1927) Georgia Tech (1928) Tulane (1929) Alabama & Tulane (1930) Tulane (1931) Tennessee & Auburn & LSU (1932)
Pre-ACC	Duke (1933) Washington and Lee (1934) Duke (1935) Duke (1936) Maryland (1937) Duke (1938) Duke (1939) Clemson (1940) Duke (1941) William & Mary (1942) Duke (1943) Duke (1944) Duke (1945) North Carolina (1946) William & Mary (1947) Clemson (1948) North Carolina (1949) Washington and Lee (1950) Maryland & VMI (1951) Duke (1952)
Post-ACC	West Virginia (1953) (1954) West Virginia (1955) West Virginia (1956) VMI (1957) West Virginia (1958) VMI (1959) VMI (1960) The Citadel (1961) VMI (1962) Virginia Tech (1963) West Virginia (1964) West Virginia (1965) East Carolina & William & Mary (1966) West Virginia (1967) Richmond (1968) Davidson & Richmond (1969) William & Mary (1970) Richmond (1971) East Carolina (1972) East Carolina (1973) VMI (1974) Richmond (1975) East Carolina (1976) Chattanooga & VMI (1977) Chattanooga & Furman (1978) Chattanooga (1979) Furman (1980) Furman (1981)
I-AA/FCS	Furman (1982) Furman (1983) Chattanooga (1984) Furman (1985) Appalachian State (1986) Appalachian State (1987) Furman & Marshall (1988) Furman (1989) Furman (1990) Appalachian State (1991) The Citadel (1992) Georgia Southern (1993) Marshall (1994) Appalachian State (1995) Marshall (1996) Georgia Southern (1997) Georgia Southern (1998) Appalachian State, Furman, & Georgia Southern (1999) Georgia Southern (2000) Furman & Georgia Southern (2001) Georgia Southern (2002) Wofford (2003) Furman & Georgia Southern (2004) Appalachian State (2005) Appalachian State (2006) Appalachian State & Wofford (2007) Appalachian State (2008) Appalachian State (2009) Appalachian State & Wofford (2010) Georgia Southern (2011) Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, & Wofford (2012) Chattanooga, Furman, & Samford (2013) Chattanooga (2014) Chattanooga & The Citadel (2015) The Citadel (2016) Wofford (2017) East Tennessee State, Furman, & Wofford (2018) Wofford (2019) VMI (2020) East Tennessee State (2021) Samford (2022) Furman (2023) Mercer (2024)
National championships in bold