MORGANTOWN — If it wasn’t a memorable year, this football season that died an ugly death in Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday, it was a year of memories for West Virginia University.

They won nine games, which by itself is good, but when you throw in a thrilling victory over Pittsburgh accomplished on the final play of the game by a field goal you have something special.

There were flashes of greatness, mixed in with moments of despair. There were senior moments and freshmen mistakes, reasons to smile and, yes, the sad, sad incident that dominated the Connecticut game played in the wake of the death of the Huskies’ Jasper Howard.

It was a year when the Mountaineers four-Bowl winning streak ended in a game of great national significance, a celebration of former WVU coach Bobby Bowden’s career, that concluded with Florida State’s victory over West Virginia, the 389th victory of his career.

Here then is one person’s collage of what the 2009 football season was all about:

Most Valuable Players

1. Noel Devine, RB … Rushed for 1,465 yards, fourth highest in WVU history … 13 TDs … Four rushes of 70 or more yards, five of 60 or more … WVU bowl record run of 70 yards against Florida State.

2. Jock Sanders, SB … Caught 72 passes, fourth highest total in school history … Rushed for 175 yards and a touchdown … Ran back 17 punts for an 8.6 average … Caught pass in every game, has 28-game streak.

3. Reed Williams, MLB … Senior leader of the defense … Played through pain in shoulder, resulting from surgery that forced him to redshirt last year … Had huge game in Gator Bowl with 9.5 tackles, giving him 68 for the year.

4. Jarrett Brown, QB … Season had inglorious end as he sprained ankle being sacked on his last pass attempt as a Mountaineer … Completed 187 of 296 passes for 2,144 yards … Second all-time in completion percentage to Pat White.

5. Robert Sands, S … Came on like gangbusters through second half of season … Capped year with a tremendous Gator Bowl, 12 tackles, hitting players and dropping them in their tracks all over the field … Will be the leader of next year’s defense.

Some words from Coach Bill Stewart

1. “Nate Sowers is such a great ambassador. He’s a great youngster. He’s a guy you want to marry your daughter, just a great American. That is why he is playing.” – Bill Stewart, just before the Pitt game, a month before Sowers was declared ineligible for the Gator Bowl.

2. “I will tell you what I remember about November. Hard pressed on my right, outflanked on my left, my center is yielding, impossible to maneuver, situation excellent — I am attacking. That is what I remember about November, think about that.” – Stewart when asked about his players turning their season around after the South Florida game by vowing to “Remember November”.

3. “I’m very pleased to stand before you as a 9-3 football team, and I mean that sincerely ... Are we overjoyed? Is it the greatest thing that ever happened? No, we want to be 12-0, hopefully someday, working on our 13th win, but we’re 9-3...We’re excited to be 9-3, and now we have a chance to win a 10th football game.” – Stewart, heading into the Gator Bowl.

4. “Great play for them. Not so good by us. The third thing, what happened, you describe the ball down the middle of the field, everything was going good, the kicker kicks the ball down the middle of the field. You can't do that in the sand lot. I learned that at G&G; Plumbing back home, little sandlot field. Good one over there, you kick there. Good one over there, you kick there. Good one in the middle, call time‑out and say ‘Coach, I don't know what to do’ but you can't do that. We kicked the dad‑gum thing right down the middle and off he runs. Best return I have seen since a young man from Colorado, of course, and Mardy with a D, over at Cincinnati.” – Stewart after Florida State’s Greg Reid ran the second half kickoff back 69 yards to the WVU 9.

The year’s best plays

1. Placekicker Tyler Bitancurt kicks a 43-yard field goal as time expires to give the Mountaineers a 19-16 victory over arch-rival Pitt, payback for Pitt’s upset of the Mountaineers when they were on the doorstep of the national championship game two years ago.

2. Pitt has West Virginia backed up until the ball is handed to Noel Devine, who sprints 88 yards to a touchdown that breaks a 6-6.

3. Connecticut, playing for their fallen teammate, Jasper Howard, has some of the air let out of their balloon as freshman Tavon Austin takes the opening kickoff and runs it back 98 yards for a touchdown.

4. Same game, UConn now flying really high having come from behind to take the lead over WVU on an 88-yard pass play, can’t contain Devine, who breaks loose on a 56-yard touchdown run to win the contest.

5. Noel Devine ignites perhaps his finest game with a 77-yard touchdown run on the game’s second play against Colorado. He would finish the night with a career high 220 yards rushing.

The year’s five worst plays

1. Cincinnati’s Tony Pike, who does not start the game and only throws a couple of passes, hits J.D. Woods with a 6-yard TD pass to break a 14-14 tie and give the No. 5-ranked Bearcats a lead they won’t relinquish in a 24-21 victory.

2. West Virginia spends most of the night at Auburn turning the ball over, so it should come as no surprise that the game should be clinched when Craig Stevens returns the Mountaineers’ fourth of five interceptions for a touchdown that clinches the game.

3. WVU is playing FSU even at the half in the Gator Bowl but Josh Lider makes a mistake with the second half kickoff, squibbing it down the middle where dangerous Greg Reid runs it back 69 yards to the 9, setting up a go-ahead field goal and setting the tone for the second half.

4. WVU has UConn beat late in the fourth quarter, only to have Cody Endres find Marcus Easley running free in the secondary, hitting him with an impossible 88-yard TD pass against the prevent defense.

5. QB Jarrett Brown suffers a concussion on the fourth play of the Marshall game and never really is the same the rest of the year. He throws for 200 yards only once in the final seven games and WVU never scores 30 points again.

Five most remarkable moments

1. Connecticut, honoring teammate Jasper Howard in the first game since he was shot to death on campus, comes onto the field carrying his helmet and jersey to a standing ovation from Mountaineer fans who display class and emotion.

2. The speedy Noel Devine breaks loose against Florida State on what seems like a sure TD only to be run down from behind by FSU’s Patrick Robinson.

3. Mountaineer fans rush the field, Tyler Bitancurt is hoisted on his teammates’ shoulders, players wave the cheerleaders’ flags and they sing “Country Roads” after Bitancurt’s field goal beat Pitt.

4. West Virginia is flagged for illegal procedure on consecutive kickoffs as they try to overload one side of the field to cut down on Mardy Gilyard’s return ability. Bill Stewart will later admit he knew what they were doing was illegal but thought “they would never call it twice” in a row. Gilyard has a long return, anyway.

5. In the most remarkable but unnoticed defensive plays of the season, safety Robert Sands runs nearly 40 yards to tackle FSU receiver Bert Reed, who had caught a flat pass, on the sideline for a 1-yard loss.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.