Story Links
Sept. 1, 2005
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
VIRGINIA KICKS OFF 2005 CAMPAIGN
Virginia opens its 116th season of play Saturday against Western Michigan in a game scheduled to start at 6 p.m. This is the first time since the 1999 game against Virginia Tech the Cavaliers have had a home game kickoff at 6 p.m. This is also the third time in Al Groh’s five years at UVa his team has opened at home.
Groh and his staff welcomed six starters on each side of the ball when training camp commenced on Aug. 5. Virginia returned 33 lettermen this season, the fewest since 2002 (31) under Groh. The 12 returning starters (not including the kicking specialists) represent the fewest returnees in Groh’s five years on the sidelines since he had 11 returning starters in his first season in 2001.
Satellite Feed After Game
A satellite feed containing highlights and Virginia postgame interviews is scheduled following Saturday’s game.The feed is scheduled for 10:45-11:00 p.m. The package will be approximately five minutes long and will run continuously through the 15 minutes. The coordinates for the satellite feed are:
Satellite IA 5C Band, Transponder 13Downlink Frequency: 3960 Vertical
THE SERIES VS. THE BRONCOS
Western Michigan is the first of two second-time opponents for Virginia this season (along with Temple later in the season). The two teams met two years ago in Kalamazoo as QB Marques Hagans guided the Cavaliers to a 59-16 win in his only start that season. Hagans threw for 162 yards and tossed three touchdowns, while wide receiver Ottowa Anderson threw another. The Cavaliers benefited from six Bronco turnovers.
This is only the second time Virginia has hosted a school from Michigan. The Cavaliers opened the 1996 season with a 55-21 win over Central Michigan. This is the fourth year in a row Virginia has played a team from the Mid-American Conference. Last season the Cavaliers defeated Akron on Homecoming 51-0.
The Cavaliers are 7-0-1 in eight previous matchups against MAC schools.Virginia defeated Ohio in 1993, Central Michigan in 1996, Buffalo in 1999,Akron in 2002 and 2004, and Western Michigan two years ago. UVa also tiedMiami (Ohio) in 1948 and defeated the Red Hawks in 1949. Of the 111 different collegiate teams that Western Michigan has played in itsfootball history (dating back to 1906), Virginia has played only 27.
VIRGINIA IN SEASON OPENERS
After a three-year drought in season openers, the Cavaliers have won their last two season openers–both by convincing margins. Virginia hasn’t won three straight openers in more than half a century since a four-game winning streak from 1949-52. Virginia opened six seasons in a row (1997-2002) against teams that had a winning record AND played in a bowl game the year before, but the last three seasons the Cavaliers have opened against squads that had a losing record the previous season. Western Michigan was 1-10 last fall. In fact this is just the fourthtime in the last 12 seasons Virginia’s opening opponent finished below .500 the previous season. Virginia is 75-31-9 (.691) all-time in season openers.
AT HOME VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
This week’s Western Michigan game is the first of two non-conference homegames for the Cavaliers this fall. Last season they won both non-conference home games to stretch their streak to six straight non-conference home wins dating back to a season-opening loss toColorado State three years ago.
Virginia hasn’t had a non-conference home winning streak this long since winning 12 in a row from 1989-1993. Since 1987, Auburn, Brigham Young, Colorado State, Penn State and Virginia Tech are the only non-conference schools to win in Charlottesville. Overall, the Cavaliers have won 31 of their last 39 non-conference games at home going back to 1987. The only losses since then are to Penn State in 1988, Virginia Tech in 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2001, Auburn in 1997, BYU in 2000 and Colorado State in 2002. The losses to BYU and Colorado State stand as the only losses to unrankednon-conference teams in Charlottesville during this time.
HAGANS ENTERS SECOND YEAR AS STARTER
If Marques Hagans starts at quarterback as expected against WesternMichigan, he will gain membership in a rather curious club–Cavalier quarterbacks who have started at least one game in four different seasons since the restorationof freshman eligibility in 1972. The only current member of that club is Scott Gardner, who finished his career in 1975 as UVa’s all-time passing leader (and second in ACC history).
Gardner,one of only six players to lead the ACC in passing twice, started three games as a true freshman in 1972, all 11 games in 1973 when he led the league in passing for the first time, seven games in an injury-plagued junior campaign in 1974 and all 11 games as a senior in 1975 when he was the passing leader a second time. Hagans made his first career start in the second game of 2002 at Florida State. Following an injury to Matt Schaub in the 2003 opener, Hagans made his second start against Western Michigan in the season’s third week. Last year he started under center in all 12 games.