Top five Virginia football teams in the modern era

By Chris Preston  |   Monday, July 21, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Virginia Cavaliers
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Though the Virginia Cavaliers’ 2008 football season kicks off in little more than a month (against none other than USC), we are still in the middle of summer. That means baseball and fourth-round Greg Norman collapses dominate the sports headlines, as they have for decades. Any talk about the upcoming college football season is, for the most part, just that -- talk.

But as more and more sports Web sites are prone to doing in the dog days of summer, lists have become all the rage. In the last week alone, I’ve spotted a “Top 50 Most Prestigious College Basketball Programs” list on ESPN.com and a “Top 20 Olympic Moments” list on SI.com. With that in mind, I’ve decided to join the list craze and rank the top five Virginia football teams of all time. Now, that “of all time” part is very loosely translated: I simply can neither attest to the strength of the Wahoo gridiron teams in the Bill Dudley era (late ‘30s and early ‘40s) nor the 1893-94 juggernaut that won 16 of 21 games under head coach John P. “Johnny” Poe. Any Virginia football historians who can, please feel free to enlighten us in the “Comments” section below.

For me, it’s simple: The five best UVA football teams all played under the legendary George Welsh. Sure, current head coach Al Groh has put together some very solid teams – look no further than last year’s “Cardiac Cavs." But the cream of the crop in the 110-year history of Virginia football all boasted the former Naval Academy head man as their captain.

So, without further ado, here is my list of the five greatest Virginia football teams:

5) The 1984 Peach Bowl champions: In just his third year with the program, Welsh guided the Hoos to their very first bowl game – no small feat considering UVA entered the Welsh era with a dismal 88-219-3 record since 1953 under eight different but equally unsuccessful head coaches. The ’84 season ended years of Virginia football misery by going 8-2-2 and edging Purdue, 27-24, in the Peach Bowl.

4) The 1998 Peach Bowl team: This squad had a major Achilles heel in placekicker Todd Braverman – who missed makable game-winning or game-tying field goal attempts on the final play of contests against Georgia (in the epic Peach Bowl loss) and Georgia Tech – but was otherwise stacked. Aaron Brooks finally emerged as the dynamic dual-threat quarterback Wahoo fans had long projected him to be, memorably guiding the Cavs back from 22 down at Lane Stadium to claim a dramatic 36-32 victory over the rival Hokies. This team also featured All-America safety Anthony Poindexter, All-America tailback Thomas Jones, and future NFL Pro Bowler Patrick Kerney at defensive end. These Cavs finished 9-3, but they were two Braverman misses from potentially being 11-1.

3) The 1989 ACC co-champions: The 10 wins were the most in school history and the conference co-championship was the program’s first ACC title. The defense was built around First-Team All-America DE/OLB Ray Savage, and the offense put up huge numbers behind the Moore boys -- quarterback Shawn and wide receiver Herman. The Hoos played on New Year’s Day in the Citrus Bowl, where they narrowly succumbed to Illinois.

2) The Stopping Warrick Dunn at the 1 team: If you’re a Virginia fan, you know what year (1995) I’m talking about. The Hoos’ 33-28 upset of second-ranked Florida State in front of a national Thursday night ESPN audience ended only when the Cavs’ defense stopped FSU tailback Warrick Dunn inside the 1-yard line on the final play of the game, setting off a wild celebration in Charlottesville. It was the most memorable win in Virginia football history, and ESPN hailed it as the best college football game to run on its airwaves in the 20th century. But the scalp of the Seminoles was far from this talent-rich team’s lone accomplishment. Behind a prolific offense featuring Tiki Barber at tailback and the underrated Mike Groh (Al’s son) at quarterback, the Hoos shared the ACC title with FSU (their only other ACC championship in school history), beat Georgia in an unforgettable Peach Bowl, and lost on last-second miracle plays at top 15 foes Michigan and Texas. Ronde Barber, Tiki’s twin brother, led a stacked defense, leading the nation in interceptions.

1) No. 1 for a Week: The 1990 team stumbled down the stretch, but for one week in October the Cavaliers ruled the college football landscape. A win over a top 10 Clemson team in the second week – the first over the Tigers in school history – eventually propelled the Hoos to the No. 1 ranking. It lasted only one week – Virginia fell at home the next week to eventual co-national champion Georgia Tech – but it was no fluke. In their banner senior years, both Shawn and Herman Moore finished in the top 10 of the Heisman voting, and Terry Kirby was the solid running back who rounded out the most prolific offense in school history. Though they did not win the ACC, the Cavs made it all the way to the Sugar Bowl, the only "BCS” bowl for which Virginia has ever qualified.
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