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Oct. 4, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia Cavaliers host Clemson on Thursday night in their first ESPN Thursday night home game in seven years. Virginia is off to an undefeated 4-0 start and is currently ranked 10th in this week’s Associated Press poll and ninth in the coaches poll.
Virginia looks to improve to 5-0 this season for its best start since 1998. The Cavaliers haven’t been ranked in the top 10 since mid-October that season.
Meanwhile, Clemson opened the season with a dramatic double overtime win over Wake Forest, but has since lost its last three. This is only the second time (1985) in the nearly 50-year history of the series that the Tigers have lost as many as three consecutive games coming in to the game.
After one of the longest droughts in college football history, the Cavaliers have turned things around a bit in the series against Clemson. The Tigers won the first 29 meetings before UVa snapped the losing streak with a 20-7 win in Charlottesville in 1990. Since then, Virginia is 7-6-1, but Clemson still holds a commanding lead in the series by a 35-7-1 margin.
Virginia has won two of the last three games in the series and all three games have been close. The Tigers gained a 30-27 win in overtime in Clemson last season, while the Cavaliers gained a come-from-behind 22-17 fourth quarter win two years ago in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers won the 2001 meeting on Billy McMullen’s touchdown grab with one second left in the game.
The close calls in the last three meetings follow a trend for the Cavaliers. Four of their seven wins in the series have been by less than a touchdown. In addition, three of their wins have come in games where the Tigers failed to score more than seven points.
In going for their third win in the last four years over Clemson, the Cavaliers look for their most successful stretch in the series since winning four of five from 1994-98.
The Cavaliers have won two of the last three matchups in Charlottesville, but are just 4-15 at home in the series.
One of the characteristics of Virginia’s wins over Clemson is its ability to hold the Tiger offense in check. Since 1990 the Cavaliers have won five of six times when holding Clemson to fewer than 400 yards of total offense.
The last-second 26-24 win three years ago in Clemson marks the only time Virginia has scored more than 22 points in a win, but curiously the Cavaliers have scored more than that in six losses. Virginia returned to its pre-2001 trend with a 22-17 win two years ago in the most recent game in Charlottesville.
Virginia has won all four meetings when holding the Tigers to fewer than 10 points, while their 24 points in 2001 are the most points they’ve ever scored in a loss to UVa.
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