WVU football has played in Arizona four times

Jul 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Omni Dallas. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

1989 Fiesta Bowl

The Mountaineers cruised to a perfect 11-0 regular season in 1988. The wins kept piling up and WVU was pitted against Notre Dame in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.

This was uncharted territory for the Mountaineers, going up against a national powerhouse in Notre Dame. In the end, the Fighting Irish proved to be too much for West Virginia as they earned a 34-21 victory.

Major Harris completed half of his passes for WVU (13 of 26) for 166 yards. he hit six different receivers, but the Heisman Trophy finalist was injured early in the second half and couldn’t lead the Mountaineers to a comeback victory.

Greg Jones was the backup QB for WVU, but that wouldn’t matter as Notre Dame, under the leadership of Lou Holtz, pounded out nearly 500 yards on total offense.

This would be the first of four match ups the Mountaineers would have with the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame has won each meeting.

Next: 1998 Insight.com Bowl