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Nov. 14, 2006
Following the lone bye week of the season, Virginia plays its final home game Saturday against Miami. The game kicks off at noon and will be televised on the Lincoln Financial Sports/Raycom ACC football network.Thirty fourth- and fifth-year players, many playing their final home game, will be recognized prior to the game in a special pregame ceremony to mark “Senior Day.”
The Cavaliers are currently 4-6 overall, including a 3-3 mark in ACC play which places them third in the Coast Division.
The Cavaliers were shut out 33-0 by Florida State two weeks ago in Tallahassee, the first time they had been blanked in five years. Since George Welsh arrived to revitalize the program in 1982 Virginia has been shut out only six times. Not counting a season-ending shut out by Virginia Tech in 1983, the Cavaliers have rebounded to win four times following a scoreless performance. They no doubt hope this bit of success holds as they need to win this week and next week at Virginia Tech to become bowl eligible for the fifth year in a row under head coach Al Groh.
Virginia’s defense is ranked 21st in the country and has kept the Cavaliers in virtually every game this season. Florida State scored 33 points against UVa the last time out, but only 17 game against the defense who gave up only 343 yards to the Seminoles, the fewest yards they’ve ever had vs. UVa. Florida State only managed one long touchdown drive against Virginia (74 yards in the fourth quarter) and had five drives of three and out. In the last four games Virginia’s defense has allowed only five drives of 60-or-more yards and only three of them resulted in touchdowns for the opposition. Conversely, the opponents have had 17 “three and out” drives against the Cavaliers in that span.
Offensively, TB Jason Snelling is fourth in the conference in rushing with an average of 77.1 yards per game. WR Kevin Ogletree is the league’s second-leading receiver with 45 receptions, the 14th-most in school history. He needs just five catches to become only the ninth player in school history to catch 50 passes in a season.
Miami finds itself in unfamiliar territory. The Hurricanes are currently fourth in the Coastal Division, one game behind the Cavaliers, with a 2-4 conference record. Overall they are 5-5, their worst record at this stage of the season in 1997. This is by far the Hurricanes’ worst record ever when playing Virginia. In three previous games they have been 9-2 twice and 8-2 once. This is the third year in a row they have lost the game prior to playing Virginia. This is also the first time in the brief history of the series they have been unranked for the game.
Virginia, who has never beaten Miami, has a losing record for only the only time in the series.
