Virginia Returns Home For Saturday Meeting with Miami

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Nov. 5, 2012

Virginia vs. Miami
• This is the 10th meeting between the Coastal Division rivals, with Miami owning a 5-4 edge.
• Miami won the first three games in the series (1996, 2004, 2005), but Virginia holds a 4-2 advantage since.
• For the second time in the series, UVa holds a two-game winning streak after a 28-21 triumph in Miami Gardens last season. The game was part of ESPN’s Thursday Night Football. UVa also had a two-game winning streak from 2006 to 2007.
• UVa’s 2011 win at Miami helped Virginia become the first program in college football history to win road games at Miami and Florida State in the same season. UVa also won at then-No. 23 FSU, 14-13.
• Since the Hurricanes’ arrival in the Atlantic Coast Conference (2004),
Miami and Virginia are tied in the series, 4-4.

UVa-Miami Connections
• Miami head coach Al Golden was an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at the University of Virginia from 2001-05.
• Three players on the Cavaliers’ roster hail from the state of Florida – Pablo Alvarez (Coral Gables), Demeitre Brim (Dundee) and Paul Freedman (Belleair Beach).
• Miami assistant head coach Mark D’Onofrio was an assistant coach at Virginia from 2004-05.
• Miami QB Stephen Morris made his collegiate debut at Scott Stadium during the 2010 meeting. Morris, who at the time didn’t appear on the Hurricanes depth chart at all during the season (eight games), was the third QB into the game after an injury to Jacory Harris in the first quarter and two INTs by backup Spencer Whipple.

This Day in History – UVa vs. Miami Series
• Saturday’s matchup with Miami marks the five-year anniversary of Virginia’s 48-0 victory over the Hurricanes to close out Miami’s 70-year stay at the famed Orange Bowl.
• The Nov. 10, 2007 game was Miami’s biggest shutout loss in the venue’s history.
• Former Cavalier and current Minnesota Viking, Chris Cook, had a 44-yard fumble return for a score with 2:26 left in the game, putting Virginia’s effort into the Miami history book.
• The win topped a 44-0 beating Notre Dame put on the Hurricanes at the Orange Bowl in 1973.
• Mikell Simpson had a pair of one-yard touchdown runs and quarterback Jameel Sewell scored twice, while completing 20-of-25 passes for 288 yards.

More on the UVa-Miami Series
• The first match-up occurred in the 1996 Carquest Bowl at Joe Robbie Stadium.
• That game was the final collegiate action for several notable Cavaliers, including Tiki and Ronde Barber, James Farrior, Jon Harris and Jamie Sharper.
• In addition to this Cavalier quintet, the game featured a large number of future pros.
• Of the 44 starters in the game, 20 were drafted by NFL teams (11 UVa, 9 Miami) . The group of NFL draftees included nine first-round picks. Twenty-one Cavaliers and 22 Hurricanes went on to play in the NFL.

London Facing Third Former Colleague in Al Golden
• UVa head coach Mike London has faced two head coaches this season (Danny Rocco of Richmond and Tom O’Brien of NC State) that he has formerly worked with. Miami’s Al Golden and London were assistant coaches together at UVa from 2001-04.

FBS Coaches with Sons Playing for Same School
• TE’s coach Shawn Moore and DE Mike Moore make UVa one of 25 FBS programs to have a head coach or assistant coach that has a son(s) that also play for the same program.
• Florida State is the only other program in the ACC as offensive line coach Rick Trickett is the father of back-up QB Clint Trickett.