HTS 2019: Hoos from Hooville

I must admit, Commentariat, I’ve doubted you on one thing in particular for a long, long time. Some of you may have picked up on it. But, in the sake of honesty, I don’t know how much I believe in the voodoo of Charlottesville and Scott Stadium. But I am a naive youth, who points to one of Tech’s most important wins of all time, the 1990 trip to Hooville, despite remembering the goofiness of the 2017 contest (note to self: don’t sit on the railing at Rocky Mountain Pizza during sporting events. You will do something to nearly flip backwards off of it). So, this week, I’m putting my money where my mouth is. It’s time to make the trek to Mr. Jefferson’s university. Let’s see what they bring to the table.

Virginia Cavaliers

Opponent Background:

• Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (1953 - present)
• Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
• All-time Record: 665-611-48 (.520)
• Home Stadium: Scott Stadium (Capacity: 61,500)
• National Championships: N/A
• College Football Playoff Appearances: N/A
• New Year’s Six Bowl Games: 5 (Peach: 4 - 1984, 1995, 1998, 2011 Sugar: 1 - 1990)
• Conference Championships: 5 — (SAIAA: 1908, 1914, 1915 ACC: 1989, 1995)
• Division Championships: N/A
• 2017 Season Record: 8 - 5 (4 - 4 ACC)

Past Results:

• Team Head-to-Head Record: 21-19-1 (.512)
• Recent Meetings:
  2015 - 27-21 Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)
  2016 - 31-17 Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
  2017 - 40-36 Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)
  2018 - 30-27 Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
• Coach Head-to-Head Record: 0-0-0 (N/A)
• Tech record against Virginia in this week’s venue: 4-12-1 (.235)

2018 Edition of this Pair: What a Game!

Virginia was one of the first schools in the south to have a football team. The first Cavalier season was in 1888. Those early teams proved to be the zenith of Virginia football, as they claimed many conference titles in the waning days of the nineteenth century. They first played North Carolina in the South’s Oldest Rivalry in 1892 and the Tar Heels, along with Maryland and Virginia Tech, are Virginia’s traditional rivals. That early success lasted right up until the middle of the nineteen tens, right around first the rise of the Vanderbilt Commodores, followed by the first golden age of a team known as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the battle for Southern supremacy.

The team was first known as the Cavaliers starting around 1923. This was just another in a string of years of middling success for the Virginians. The program was repeatedly considered for elimination, and the administration was split on whether or not to join the ACC when it was founded, preferring to align with other schools in the state. Though at one point in the long stretch of decades of mediocre football, they were able to decline an Orange Bowl invitation after one particularly notable season. For the most part, though, they proceeded to be terrible until the 1980s, when coach Georgia Welsh was hired. He was excellent for the Cavaliers, leading them to their first-ever bowl appearance, plus many more, and their first conference championship in decades in 1989. They received their first number one ranking in 1990, lasting four weeks at the top. They were the first team to beat Florida State in a conference game. Since Welsh stepped down in 2000 as the then-winningest coach in conference play, the Wahoos have been mostly mediocre but have an outside chance at their first-ever Coastal division title this year.

Rather than quoting the usual boilerplate Tech history at you, allow me to quote myself from some other writing I did in the past for the Ramblin’ Reck Club. I’ve heard the night of November 3rd, 1990 described as “the bonfire of the insanities” by exactly one source, but we’ll roll with it because it’s a fun title. Anyways,

Though those of us with recency bias will say the Miracle on Techwood was the greatest game in Tech history, and it was undoubtedly one of the greatest wins in Tech history, it isn’t the greatest, and probably not by a long shot. Personally, I’m partial to the 1929 Rose Bowl, which secured the 1928 National Championship by a score of 8-7, aided by a long run in the wrong direction by Roy Riegels (“the greatest blunder in the history of college football”), ending with him getting tackled by his own teammate, his Wikipedia page referring to him as Roy “Wrong Way” Riegels, and Tech securing a national championship. Anyways, where was I? Oh, yeah, 1990, another national championship. I will admit my own bias; I love the 1990 season. It was so unlikely! And no result was as unlikely as the Virginia one. No. 16 Georgia Tech rides into Charlottesville with no losses, but having messed around and tied North Carolina, the only blemish on their record. Meanwhile, the no. 1 Cavaliers were undefeated, and ranked first mostly because there was no one left with an unspoiled record. With vandals having lit the middle of the field on fire the night before, the artificial turf was a mess, but the grounds crew was able to patch it and the game proceeded as scheduled.

The Cavaliers stormed out of the gate to take an early 10-0 lead. By halftime, they still held a two-score lead, at 28-14. However, the Yellow Jackets clawed their way back in the third quarter by taking advantage of a pair of fortunate errors, the latter being an interception inside the 10-yard line, and which would likely have gone for a touchdown if it was caught. The score was tied, 28-28. Virginia, no. 1 team that they were, did not concede an inch to Tech. Stellar quarterback Shawn Moore led the Hoos back down the field to take the lead off another touchdown, but was promptly answered with a short run by Tech running back William Bell, who would be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated after the game. Tech took its first lead of the game off a Scott Sisson field goal, making it 38-35 halfway through the fourth. Virginia, not going quietly, took the ball back and marched all the way down the field to score a touchdown. Except, they were penalized, nullifying the catch. After the Cavaliers settled for a field goal to tie, Shawn Jones, Tech quarterback, again put the Jackets in field goal range, allowing Sission to knock through the game-winner as time expired. The Jackets topped the no. 1 Cavaliers in a thriller and would go on to split the national championship. As the story goes, fraternities spilled out onto the streets, lighting a mountain of furniture, tree limbs, and other junk on fire underneath the stoplight at Bobby Dodd and Techwood. Eventually, the morass was joined by a certain pair of goalposts. The steel arm bent and drooped into the street, melting towards the asphalt. Into the wee hours of the morning, the campus was on fire in a joyous blaze. John Crecine, Tech president, noted dryly, that “heat rises.”

Tech heads out on the road for the fifth and final time tomorrow. Seems like the season has really flown by, to be honest. This week, toe meets leather against Virginia (21-19-1 all time) Saturday at 12:30 pm at Scott Stadium. The game will be aired on ACC Network Extra, or as I like to say, Junior online, and can be seen over the air on Fox Sports South in Atlanta. Tune into The Voice of the Yellow Jackets, Andy Demetra, and the radio broadcast in the usual suspects, 680 AM / 93.7 FM and the Georgia Tech Football Radio Network.

With the appearance of the historical matchup preview, that means it’s after Friday at 10:00 AM and that concludes From the Rumble Seat’s regularly scheduled pregame content. Tune in tomorrow starting at 6:00 AM for How to Watch continuing through the gameday thread and the postgame recap. Less than 36 hours until toe meets leather! As always, go Jackets!