UVa Football

[Boone]

I have never been inclined to start a UVa Football thread although my wife and I are alumni and watch most of their games, even occasionally go to a game. This is for obvious reasons. They are not traditionally very good. The only time Virginia football has been ranked #1 occurred in 1990 during the George Welsh era. They held that spot for 2-3 weeks. But Virginia even breaking into the top 25 has been a rare football occurrence. It's odd - because Virginia sports teams have won a total of 35 national championships overall - a pretty remarkable accomplishment given their high academic standards. But football has always represented an area where UVa has struggled to be relevant.

This season has been one of the best in recent memory. There was some hope when Bronco Mendenhall came to Charlottesville. Took us to the Orange Bowl in 2019 where we fell to Florida. But this season is the first since then (and in a long while prior to Mendenhall) where it feels like UVa has some magic going. After upsetting Florida State on the road a week ago in OT, Virginia played undefeated Louisville yesterday in a game where Louisville came back from a 10 point deficit to force OT again. Virginia held the Cardinals to a FG and then scored a TD to seal the deal. They are 5-1 and 3-0 in ACC play. They are doing it with a tough defense and grad student Chandler Miller under center.

It's fun to watch UVa football this year.

It may come crashing down at any moment, but it is nice to see Tony Elliott do well and maybe he will not get replaced as every other UVa HC has been for decades.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Enjoy it while you can. They are playing some great football. They had the one hiccup early against NC State, but for a few plays here and there, they could have won that one too. I’m not a UVA fan, but I’ve learned to enjoy theses types of season from teams I root for. Especially if they are on the rare side. It makes them that much more enjoyable.

 

[Boone]

Tough loss to Wake Forest last night. Chandler Morris knocked out of the game with 2 players colliding with his neck/head. Barring him going out of the game, I think UVa comes back to win last night to keep their ACC record perfect. Wasn't to be. Instead, they had to rely on an inexperienced backup, Daniel Kaelin, who played decently but coughed the ball up twice. That cost us the game.

 

[Boone]

UVa plays Virginia Tech in yet another 'Commonwealth Cup' match up tonight. I use the term 'match up' lightly, because Va Tech has won the last 4 and something like 19 of the last 20 - a level of rivalry dominance that is likely unmatched in college football. Why? I think this game has always been a much bigger 'rivalry' for Tech and for Virginia. I have a lot of ideas on why that's been the case, but I have many friends who went to school there, so I will keep my thoughts to myself on that front. Suffice it to say, I think Va. Tech could lose every game in a season, but still consider it a success if they can embarrass UVa again. There is nothing like that sentiment and extreme hatred on the UVa side - there just isn't.

UVa has to win this game. Win and they are in the ACC Championship game, with a chance to actually participate in the college football playoff. It's in Charlottesville, and the crowd is likely going to be full of insanely rabid UVa fans. The kind of football season UVa is a rarity.

But Tech is 62-38-5 lifetime in matchups vs. Virginia. They've won this game 19 of the last 20 times. This year, Virginia is a far better team. And yet I will not at be surprised if we see the same thing happen again.

As a Virginia fan, it's truly sickening.

 

[Boone]

UVa sheds the curse and with a lot of help from the defense puts Tech down 27-7. Will play Duke in the ACC Championship game next Saturday night, which OF COURSE, is being held in Charlotte. Virginia is the better team and beat Duke convincingly in the regular season match up. That of course means nothing. UVa has had some impact player losses so 'next man up' is going to be heavily in play. Winner goes to the college football playoffs.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Good for UVA. I hope they win. They are having an outstanding year. As for the game being in Charlotte, I wouldn’t worry about that. There aren’t that many Duke football fans. UVA fans could easily outnumber the Duke fans if they wanted to.