NCAAF News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Newsletter

Power Rankings

The 10 WVU Football Records That May Never Be Broken

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Jun 23, 2025 11:54 AM ET

Over the 134-year history of West Virginia football, there have been many great players who have donned the Old Gold and Blue. A select handful of them truly made their mark on the program with some very impressive single-game performances, outstanding seasons, and careers.

Today, we look at the ten single-game, season, and career records that may never be broken at WVU.

And just as a note, no, I'm not including any of the rushing records considering Rich Rodriguez is back at the helm and with his offensive style, those records are never safe. Also, there are some passing records from the Air Raid/Dana Holgorsen era that I excluded because if the Air Raid makes its return in the future, those records could also be in danger. There are some, however, that just seem impossible to break.

Let's get rolling!

Career Tackles - Darryl Talley (484)

Talley is one of the greatest Mountaineers of all time. From the day he stepped on campus until the day he left, he was a game-changer for WVU. I'm not sure this record could be broken if the old era of college football continued. Now that we have players transferring all the time, it seems extremely unrealistic to think someone will stay for four years and average 121 tackles per season.

Career Pass Break Ups - Brian King (51)

We all remember Brian King's interception against Virginia Tech in 2002, but that wasn't the only time announcers called his name. He was consistently making plays in the back end and now holds a record that will be tough to reach. It's rare that corners and safeties see the field as a freshman, so for this record to be taken down, there's going to have to be some high level production in three years.

Career Starts - Mike Collins (48)

Sensing a theme here? Many of the records listed are here because it's going to become increasingly rare to see players arrive and stay long enough. 48 career starts is starting every game for four years, not including postseason play. It's possible it can be broken, but unlikely.

Single Season Receptions - Stedman Bailey/Tavon Austin (114)

Okay, here's the start of a few Air Raid records that I do believe will be hard to catch up to. 114 catches in one season? Uh, yeah, that's just insane. Yes, coaches want to get their best players the ball as much as possible, but you've got to keep everyone happy this day and age.

Single Season TD Receptions - Stedman Bailey (25)

This may be the toughest of all of them to break. Some teams don't even throw 25 touchdown passes in a single season, let alone one guy accounting for that many. It's hard to believe this is even a real stat.

Single Season Tackles - Steve Dunlap (190)

Almost 200 tackles in a single season? Holy moly. Only one player this century has crossed 160, which was Grant Wiley back in 2003. No one has gone over 130 since the 2010s.

Single Game Passing TDs - Geno Smith (8)

It sounds crazy to say, but Geno's 656 yards vs. Baylor has a slim chance of being broken at some point. His eight touchdown tosses, though? Yeah, I don't think so. Racking up yards is one thing, but putting the ball in the end zone that many times takes talent, but also a high-scoring affair. No quarterback is going to remain in the game long enough to rack up that many unless it's 70-63.

Single Game Receiving Yards - Stedman Bailey (303)

Again, spreading the ball around is more of a thing in today's offenses, so seeing a guy put up numbers that look like month or even season-long totals for some is pretty far-fetched. Not only would the receiver have to be extremely talented, but it would also need to be an offense that needed to put the ball in the air that much to win.

Single Game Interceptions - Francis Farley (4)

You all remember this game, don't you? It was in the Backyard Brawl 100 years ago. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers lost 15-7, but Farley had himself a day, snagging four interceptions. You could make the argument that four is possible, considering Karl Joseph was close to tying it with three against Georgia Southern in 2015, but five? I don't think so.

Single Game Tackles - Carl Crennel (26)

Crennel beat out his teammate, Baker Brown, who tallied 25 tackles in the same 1968 game against Virginia Tech. Since then, a Mountaineer has recorded 20 tackles 11 times - none of which have occurred this century. The way defenses are called now, it's more team-oriented and somewhat unpredictable as to who will get the stop.