Throwback Thursday: “They Got Flutie!”

The date is October 20, 1984. The location is “New” Mountaineer Field, the home of the West Virginia University Mountaineers for the last four years. WVU is playing host to the fourth-ranked team in the nation, the Eagles of Boston College. The Mountaineers are in the midst of a respectable start in their own right, holding the twentieth spot in the AP Poll. Bye week shenanigans have affected the rest of these teams to this point as BC sits at 4-0 while WVU has played six games already and maintains a record of 5-1.

Boston College has one man to thank for this run to the top end of the polls: Doug Flutie. The undersized quarterback is by far the most electrifying player in the nation and is on pace for one of the most impressive senior seasons of all-time. Meanwhile, WVU has a good team but it is nowhere near the most talented group that Don Nehlen has had in Morgantown. Veteran backup Kevin White is the man under center, getting his shot at last after sitting behind standouts Oliver Luck and Jeff Hostetler for the last three years. However, the WVU defense is among the very best in the country, a group to this point that has held opponents to less than nine points per game and has been absolutely dominant at times. How this defense handles the elusive Flutie will be the key to this game.

The game started out on a slow note with the Mountaineer defense keeping the best offense in the country under wraps. Neither team could get much going on offense until over six minutes into the first quarter. Flutie was able to engineer a quick seven-play drive to get the Eagles into WVU territory and reached field goal range. Kicker Kevin Snow came in and broke the scoreless game as he split the uprights from 41 yards away.

WVU would take the ball back on their own 38 yard line and put together a long, grinding drive that killed over six minutes worth of game time. Starting the drive with almost 9 minutes to play in the first, and finishing with just under three, kicker Paul Woodside was called on to put some points on the board. The senior nailed a 20-yard chip shot to even the score at 3, a result that would hold up through the remainder of the first quarter.

A stop by the WVU defense gave the Mountaineers the ball back early in the second. The drive would be a short one this time, pushing the ball down into Boston College territory but still coming up short of the end zone. Woodside trotted on for his second attempt and was successful once again, this time from 33 yards, to give WVU a 6-3 lead. Unfortunately, this was the end of most first half positives for this WVU squad.

Flutie was able to bring the Eagles’ offense to life for the first time following this score. Driving down the field, he was able to set Snow up for his second kicking attempt of the day. He came through with a 45-yard boot that tied the game up at 6. The Mountaineers could not muster a response and the future Heisman winner came back out looking for a lead. He would help guide his team to just that as a quick two minute drive was capped off by a 24-yard touchdown run by running back Steve Strachan. WVU would make the mistake of putting the ball back into Flutie’s hands with just a few minutes before the half. Getting the ball with 1:55 left until halftime, it did not take Flutie long to extend the lead to 14. A 42-yard deep ball found the hands of Kelvin Martin, putting six more points on the board for BC. Snow drilled the PAT and in a matter of two minutes, WVU had gone from a tied game to trailing by two touchdowns, thanks to the electrifying play of Doug Flutie.

The second half started out very slowly, just as the first did, with both teams being held off the scoreboard for over seven minutes. WVU broke the drought with Woodside’s third kick of the game, taking advantage of some ideal field position to cut the lead to 20-9. Once again, the offense died out and the third quarter came to a close with only three points on the board. Thankfully for the WVU faithful, the fourth period would belong to the Mountaineers.

Retaining the ball as the final quarter began, White helped lead his offense to its most impressive drive to that point. Going 68 yards on eight plays, WVU finally showed up on that side of the ball. Fullback Ron Wolfley took a handoff at the goal line and his one yard carry became WVU’s first touchdown of the day. Coach Nehlen decided to take a risk and go for two but White’s pass fell incomplete. This left the score at 20-15 and the defense was called upon to keep the game at a one score difference. Both defenses were able to come up with stops, setting up the Mountaineers a chance to take their first lead since early in the second quarter.

Taking the ball at its own 20, the WVU offense charged forward with best showing of the entire day. Going eighty yards on ten plays, the Mountaineers were able to show up when it counted most and do their best to use a top five team. Taking the ball from the BC five, tailback John Gay was able to sprint into the end zone, putting WVU up 21-20. The two point attempt failed again and the lead stayed at one. With just under five minutes to play, the Mountaineers needed their vaunted defense to step up and hold the best player in the country off the board.

WVU needed some help in the secondary with Anthony Daniels, Mike Scott, and Travis Curtis all on the shelf by the time BC’s final drive began. This left senior Rich Rodriguez, sophomore Larry Holley, and freshman Andrew Jones to join Stacy Smith in the effort to stop Flutie. These inexperienced defensive backs would begin to bend as a few Flutie passes quickly put the Eagles in into WVU territory. However, the front seven came alive and pressure came onto the diminutive passer with Freddie Smalls dropping him for a loss of eleven. The next two passes from Flutie fell incomplete and gave the ball back to the Mountaineers to run the clock out. The scoreboard read with zeroes and the fans came out of the stands, charging the field in jubilation as WVU pulled the upset, 21-20.

Behind 227 yards from the senior quarterback Kevin White and 71 yards and a touchdown by John Gay, WVU was able to pull out a huge comeback win over the fourth ranked team in the nation. With a powerful defense that shut down the soon-to-be Heisman winner Doug Flutie, Don Nehlen grabbed another of his signature wins on the way to his team’s fourth straight winning season. From the first snap to Jack Fleming’s iconic call of “They Got Flutie!” following Matt Smith’s key sack, the Mountaineers never gave up and never allowed themselves to be beat.

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