Since West Virginia’s first intercollegiate football game in 1891, thousands and thousands of individuals have played for the Mountaineers.
The first recorded use of numbers on WVU uniforms was in 1915, and they have been a standard fixture ever since. For many, the number is almost as much an identifier during their careers as their name. At West Virginia, who could think of Jerry West without #44 or Major Harris without #9?
With that came the idea of putting together a list of the best Mountaineer to wear each number for both football and men’s basketball.
Some student-athletes wore multiple numbers during their careers. When more than one uniform number was used, I tried to focus on the digit that was associated the most with that individual. I’ll admit this list is completely subjective, so feel free to express your own opinions on the BlueGoldNews.com message boards.
We’ll start out on the football side in this multi-part series.
Today we’ll look at numbers 10-19.
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10 – Steve Slaton (RB, 2005-07). Slaton’s total of 1,744 rushing yards in 2006 is WVU’s single-season record, and he was named a consensus All-American that year. Inducted into WVU’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, the Levittown, Pennsylvania, native rushed for 3,923 yards in his three seasons with the Mountaineers, the fifth-best mark in school history. After leaving West Virginia, he spent four years in the NFL. He was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Honorable mention – Tom Keane, Ken Juskowich, Jordan Thompson, Dylan Tonkery
11 – Fred Wyatt (QB, 1952-55). The leader of some of the greatest Mountaineer football teams of all time, which included a spot in the 1954 Sugar Bowl, Wyatt assumed a starting role in the second game of his true freshman season and never looked back. A true triple threat, he passed for 2,655 career yards and rushed for 763 more, all while also playing defense (eight interceptions). A third-round draft pick by Washington, Wyatt played one year in the NFL but then spent 26 years as an NFL official. Inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, Wyant passed away on March 20, 2021.
Honorable mention – Sam Pinion, Dick Longfellow, Steve Superick, Darrell Whitmore, Gary Thompkins, Brian King, Bruce Irvin, Kevin White (WR), David Long
12 – Geno Smith (QB, 2009-12). Geno led the greatest passing attack Mountaineer football has known. Targeting prolific receivers Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and J.D. Woods, Smith still holds WVU’s career records for total offense (12,004), passing yards (11,662) and passing TD (98). He was a second-round NFL Draft choice of the New York Jets in 2013, and is now getting ready for his eighth season of pro ball with the Seattle Seahawks.
Honorable mention – Jimmy Walthall, Dale Evans, Allen McCune, Bernie Galiffa, Gary Jennings
13 – David Sills (WR, 2017-18). Sills arrived at WVU ticketed to play quarterback in 2015 (also wearing #2 at the time), but saw action later that true freshman season as a wide receiver. After moving to junior college in 2016 in an attempt to re-establish his career as a quarterback, he returned to West Virginia in 2017 having accepted his future as a receiver. Once he accepted his new position, he thrived, catching 125 passes for 1,966 and 33 touchdowns in his final two college seasons. He’s now a member of the New York Giants preparing for his third season in the NFL.
Honorable mention – Marshall Glenn, Andrew Buie, Rasul Douglas
14 – Darren Studstill (QB, 1990-93). A native of Riviera Beach, Florida, Studstill often found himself in competition with others for the starting quarterback role at West Virginia (first with Greg Jones, then Chris Gray and finally Jake Kelchner), but he was always part of the mix, even if it was in rotation. He finished his WVU career with 3,158 passing and 610 rushing yards. His most memorable performance was in lifting the Mountaineers to a come-from-behind, 17-14 win at Boston College in the 1993 regular-season finale to give West Virginia an 11-0 record and a spot in the Sugar Bowl. He had a three-year NFL career as a defensive back.
Honorable mention –Ben Schwartzwalder, Mike Sherwood, Kevin White (QB), Brad Lewis, Charles Hales
15 – Jeff Hostetler (QB, 1982-83). He married the coach’s daughter, led WVU to glorious victories and won a Super Bowl as part of a 15-year NFL career. What more could Hoss do? Oh, yeah, lead many philanthropic efforts in his adopted hometown of Morgantown. A 1993 inductee into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, Hostetler transferred to West Virginia in 1981 after two years at Penn State. In his two seasons quarterbacking WVU (1982-83), he led the Mountaineers to a pair of 9-3 seasons while throwing for a total of 4,251 yards. A third-round draft pick of the N.Y. Giants in 1984, his pro career included a Super Bowl victory in 1991 and lasted through 1998.
Honorable mention – Danny Williams, Ade Dillon, Chuck Braswell, Sedrick King, James Jett, Billy Kinney
16 – Shawn Foreman (WR, 1996-98). The Chesapeake, Virginia, native initially played defensive back and wore #22, but he was moved to receiver late in his redshirt freshman season and switched to #16 as a sophomore, ultimately becoming one of the Mountaineers’ all-time great pass catchers. He is still is sixth in WVU history in career receptions (169) and fifth in receiving yards (2,347).
Honorable mention – Chris Gray, Todd Sauerbrun, Jarrett Brown, Terrell Chestnut, Winston Wright
17 – Jake Kelchner (QB, 1992-93). A native of Berwick, Pennsylvania, Kelchner spent his first two college seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to West Virginia in 1991. After sitting out a year because of the transfer, Kelchner became a force at WVU, leading the way with guts and determination. Often rotating at QB with Darren Studstill, and other times battling injury – what Mountaineer fan had heard of a “bursa sac” before Kelchner developed issues in his elbow? – but still he passed for 2,589 yards and rushed for 320 more in his career. He capped his time at WVU by leading the Mountaineers to an 11-0 regular season in 1993 and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.
Honorable mention – John LaSavage, Mike Timko, Al-Rasheed Benton
18 – Homer Martin (FB, 1919-22). Like many players from the early years of college football, Martin wore different numbers in his career, but #18 was his most frequent. His position was listed as a fullback, but in WVU’s offense of the day, he was really a duel-threat quarterback, rushing for 1,172 yards and passing for another 584. As a senior, he led West Virginia’s football team to a 10-0-1 record, which included the program’s first-ever bowl game, a 21-13 win over Gonzaga in the 1922 East-West Bowl in San Diego. An excellent athlete, Martin also played baseball for WVU, and eventually did so in the minor leagues. In addition, Martin scored 740 career points for the Mountaineer basketball squad. He was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. Born in Clay County, West Virginia, Martin passed away in 1950.
Honorable mention –Lance Carion, Jay Kearney, Marvin Gross
19 – Lance Frazier (DB, 2000-03). A native of Delray Beach, Florida, Frazier arrived at the end of the Don Nehlen era but transitioned into one of the key defensive cogs at the start of the Rich Rodriguez tenure. The cornerback amassed 191 tackles, 16 pass deflections and eight interceptions in his four years with the Mountaineers. After graduating from WVU, he began a nine-year pro career that took him to the NFL, the Arena League and then ultimately the CFL, where he played seven seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, which included a Grey Cup title in 2007. He now is the head football coach at Kennett High School and was named the Pennsylvania Football Coach of the Year for 2019-20.
Honorable mention – Jack Gocke, Tim Newsome, Boo Sensabaugh, Vaughn Rivers, Elijah Battle
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June 01, 2021 at 05:00PM
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What's In A Number? The Top Mountaineers: 10-19 | WVU | West Virginia Mountaineers sports coverage - Blue Gold News
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