2012 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The 2012 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season marked the Mountaineers' first season as members of the Big 12 Conference. In addition, the 2012 season was the first for the team since 1942 without a Backyard Brawl matchup against their top rival Pittsburgh due to their exit from the Big East Conference after the 2011 season. The Mountaineers were led by Dana Holgorsen in his second season as head coach. Joe DeForest and Keith Patterson served as co-defensive coordinators in their first season at WVU, while Shannon Dawson was elevated to offensive coordinator after serving as the team's receivers coach in the 2011 season. West Virginia played its home games on Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

West Virginia, entered the 2012 season ranked 11th in AP Poll and were projected to contend with Oklahoma for the Big 12 in their first season in the conference. The Mountaineers won their first five games of the season, which included a shootout win over #25 Baylor on homecoming, and a high-scoring affair with #11 Texas. The Mountaineers who had risen up to #5 in the AP Poll, went on the road to face the Texas Tech, a game which they fell behind 35–7, and would ultimately lose 49–14. The Texas Tech loss was the start of 5–game losing streak, which saw the Mountaineers fall completely out the AP Poll, and out of Big 12 title contention. The Mountaineers recovered and won their final two games, to finish out the regular season with an 7–5 record, 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place. They were invited to the Pinstripe Bowl where they were defeated by longtime rival Syracuse.

Big 12 media poll

 * 1) Oklahoma (32), 396
 * 2) West Virginia (7), 339
 * 3) Texas 291
 * 4) Oklahoma State, 267
 * 5) (1), 260
 * 6) Kansas State (1), 257
 * 7) Baylor, 162
 * 8) Iowa State, 121
 * 9) Texas Tech, 116
 * 10) Kansas, 46

Awards candidates

 * Heisman Trophy
 * Tavon Austin
 * Geno Smith


 * Fred Biletnikoff Award
 * Tavon Austin
 * Stedman Bailey


 * Walter Camp Award
 * Tavon Austin
 * Geno Smith


 * Lou Groza Award
 * Tyler Bitancurt


 * Paul Hornung Award
 * Tavon Austin


 * Lombardi Award
 * Joe Madsen


 * Manning Award
 * Geno Smith


 * Maxwell Award
 * Geno Smith
 * Tavon Austin


 * Davey O'Brien Award
 * Geno Smith


 * Rimington Trophy
 * Joe Madsen


 * Johnny Unitas Award
 * Geno Smith