MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Thirty-five members of the 1969 Mountaineer Peach Bowl team including legendary coach Bobby Bowden are making the trip to Morgantown for Homecoming weekend.
The 1969 squad, which finished the season 10-1 and Peach Bowl champions, holds the second best season record in the history of the Mountaineer football program. They will be introduced to the homecoming crowd at Milan Puskar Stadium during the first quarter of Saturday’s game with Texas.
Reunion organizer and offensive tackle on the team Mickey Plumley, a Fayette County native, said the Peach Bowl against South Carolina was his last game as a Mountaineer and there was a lot of anticipation about the game plan and the weather was bad.
“It was a mud bath,” Plumley recalled. “Is the biggest memory. It was dry right up until game time and then it just poured buckets, I think it rained four inches within an hour of kickoff.”
Plumley said the offense had run the I-formation for three years prior to the Peach Bowl and Bowden, who served as offensive coordinator under WVU head coach Jim Carlen, took a trip to Texas in order to learn more about the wishbone from legendary coach Darrell Royal.
“He came back and called an offensive meeting, we had 29 days until the bowl game, he said men we’re going to put in the wishbone offense, which we had a little trepidation about because it’s prone to turnovers,” Plumley said.
The Mountaineers went on to defeat the Gamecocks 14-3.
Plumley told MetroNews affiliate WAJR Radio Bowden made it to the team’s 25th reunion and still knew the players by name and their hometowns.
“We just can’t wait to see him again. We all respected coach Bowden and really loved the man when we played for him,” Plumley said.