Virginia vs. Virginia Tech: A Clash of Epic Proportions

I’m anticipating this weekend’s match up between the 16th ranked Virginia Cavaliers and the 8th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies more than any other Virginia football game I’ve watched in my 17 years of following the program. My beloved Virginia Cavaliers not only have a chance to claim bragging rights in the heated in-state rivalry but they also have a chance to punch their plane ticket to Jacksonville, Florida for the 2007 ACC Championship game against Boston College. Ever since the ACC lobbied to bring in the likes of Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Miami to give the conference enough teams to crown a conference champion in a title game, this is the stuff I dreamed of. The first ACC title game was played on December 3rd, 2005 and it makes me smile to say that the day of playing for a shot to go the ACC Championship game has arrived for my Virginia Cavaliers.

My 24th birthday is this Friday, November 23rd and let me tell you that there would be no better birthday gift in the world than for the Cavaliers to defeat the Hokies on Saturday in Scott Stadium. This is one of the biggest games in school history for the Virginia Cavalier football program and Charlottesville is buzzing with excitement and for good reason. The heated in-state rivalry has never had this much at stake, the Commonwealth Cup and the ACC Coastal Division Championship. There is a tremendous amount on the line in this game, but at the same time, I’m trying not to build the game up too much in my mind. Even if Virginia loses on Saturday, the “Cardiac Cavaliers” have had a magical season that I’ll never forget, winning an NCAA record five games by two points or less. That being said, now that they have had such a rare opportunity placed at their feet, the Cavaliers need to take advantage of it.

The game features two top 16 teams(BCS) with identical records. They both have impressive 9-2 overall records and 6-1 ACC records. Virginia’s two losses happened against Wyoming(23-3) and N.C. State(29-24), whereas Virginia Tech’s two losses happened against LSU(48-7) and Boston College(14-10). These teams are very similar, make no mistake about it. They both also had their most impressive performances of the season against the Miami Hurricanes. The Cavaliers got the better part of the Canes as they closed the door on the Orange Bowl in “stunningly one sided fashion” as one article so eloquently put it, 48-0. The Hokies on the other hand, well they thrashed the ‘Canes at home in Blacksburg, 44-14. It’s safe to say that the Miami Hurricanes will want to forget most of the 2007 college football season, especially their two outings against the teams from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Now it’s time to get down to business and break down this match up with an in-depth scouting report of both teams.


16th ranked Virginia Cavaliers

The Cavaliers have been far from the most dominant offensive team in the country this season, as a matter of fact if you look at the numbers you would be downright puzzled to see Virginia in the position that it is currently in. The Cavaliers are in the bottom half of the NCAA in nearly every major offensive category, passing offense(73rd), rushing offense(88th), total offense(99th), and scoring offense(80th). What those

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