Stewart was then named head coach on January 3, 2008, after leading the Mountaineers to victory in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl over the #3 Oklahoma Sooners.

The major goals of spring practice were to improve the defense, find a solid backup for running back Steve Slaton, and work out the inexperienced class of receivers.

Florida all-purpose back Noel Devine created some controversy when he reported to the news that he had chosen West Virginia over Alabama.

The team wore white jerseys and blue pants The Mountaineers had their most complete game of the season as they almost pitched a shutout.

The Pirates scored with less than a minute left in the game against the second-team defense, but the Mountaineers only allowed 160 total yards on the day.

The team wore all blue uniforms In front of an expected record-breaking crowd at Raymond James Stadium, the Mountaineers were defeated by the #18 South Florida Bulls.

The Mountaineers rebounded in a big way by trouncing the Orange to win the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy despite losing quarterback Pat White to a chest muscle strain and running back Steve Slaton to only 69 yards rushing.

The team wore traditional white jerseys with gold pants The Mountaineers jumped to an early 28–0 lead by the end of the 1st quarter and cruised to a 38–13 win.

This marked the first game for the new gold jerseys, which were worn with blue pants Rutgers was expected to perform well against West Virginia, since the Scarlet Knights had previously beaten #2 ranked South Florida.

Steve Slaton led the way with 3 rushing touchdowns against #25(AP) Rutgers in WVU's 13th straight win over the Scarlet Knights.

Louisville was able to take advantage of the Mountaineer's mistakes(WVU had 3 turnovers and 11 penalties for 116 yards) and were able to spark a comeback but West Virginia broke the 31–31 tie when Pat White ran for a 50 yd TD with a little over a minute to play.

For the second straight game West Virginia made a double-digit second-half lead interesting by coughing up the football.

West Virginia rushed for 517 yards(415 of which came in the second half) and clinched their 5th Big East title with 66–21 win over UConn.

Pittsburgh, starting their backup QB Pat Bostick, was equally ineffective at moving the ball outside of the play of LeSean McCoy.

Trailing by one possession late in the fourth quarter, West Virginia twice had the ball in Pitt territory, with both drives ending in Pat White being stopped on downs.

West Virginia halfback Steve Slaton was taken out of the game early on with a hamstring injury, leaving the Mountaineers with freshman Noel Devine.

Sam Bradford was intercepted by Mountaineer safety Quinton Andrews early on, but the Sooners bounced back with a field goal to make it 6–3.

West Virginia continued to roll however, as White hooked up with receiver Tito Gonzales for a 79-yard touchdown pass to put the Mountaineers up 41–21.