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By Jim Sumner
theACC.com
Like many other programs, the University of Virginia has had its “ups and downs” on the football field over the years. The season 40 years ago definitely qualifies as one of those “ups”. Senior halfback Frank Quayle led the Cavaliers to its best season in a generation, setting conference records along the way.
It would be poetic if Quayle had arrived in Charlottesville determined to turn around Virginia’s football fortunes. Certainly, the need was there. Virginia wasn’t very good in football during the early days of the ACC. It posted an 8-48-1 record in conference games through 1964, had a pair of winless seasons in 1959 and 1960 and three other one-win seasons. In all, it was 16 years without a winning season. The university spent much of the 1950s debating the proper relationship between academics and athletics, paying the price on the field.
But this was all news to Quayle. “I had no idea about Virginia’s sorry past. It was an eye opener to learn. Sixteen years without a winning season became a remarkable hurdle.”
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