UVA Heads to the Sunshine State for an ACC Duel with Miami on Saturday

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Nov. 2, 2015

Virginia Makes a November Trip to the Warm Weather of South Beach
• Virginia returns to the road for an ACC meeting on Saturday against the Miami Hurricanes. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be televised on regional sports networks. The game will air on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Virginia vs. Miami
• This is the 13th meeting between the Coastal Division rivals. With UVA winning four of the last five
meetings, the series is tied, 6-6.
• Miami won the first three games in the series (1996, 2004, 2005), but UVA holds a 6-3 advantage since.
• UVA owned a three-game winning streak (2010-12) that was snapped during the Cavaliers’ last trip to Sun Life Stadium in 2013.
• Since the Hurricanes’ arrival in the Atlantic Coast Conference (2004), UVA leads the series, 6-5.

UVA’s Place in Miami & Orange Bowl History
• Eight years ago on Nov. 10, Virginia marched into the Orange Bowl and topped Miami 48-0. It was the
Hurricanes’ final game at the famed Orange Bowl after a 70-year stay.
• The Nov. 10, 2007 game was Miami’s biggest shutout loss in the venue’s history.
• Former Cavalier and former NFL cornerback 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.
• Miami’s 58-0 setback this season to Clemson is the only home shutout loss worse than the 2007 UVA game.

More on the UVA-Miami Series
• The first match-up occurred in the 1996 Carquest Bowl at then-Joe Robbie Stadium, a 31-21 victory by Miami.
• 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.

Virginia at Sun Life Stadium
• Virginia will be playing its seventh all-time contest in Sun Life Stadium, which is on its fourth name during that span. UVA is 1-5 all-time in the venue.
• Virginia had losses in the 1994 Carquest Bowl (31-13 to Boston College) and 1996 Carquest Bowl (31-21 to Miami) when it was Joe Robbie Stadium.
• In the 1999 Micropnc.com Bowl, Virginia lost to Illinois, 63-21, in Pro Player Stadium.
• In its 2009 match-up at Miami, in Land Shark Stadium, Virginia dropped a 52-19 contest.
• UVA won the 2011 meeting in the venue’s second season as Sun Life Stadium, 28-21, which they followed up with a 45-26 setback during the 2013 meeting.

Virginia at NFL Stadiums
• Virginia is 10-17 all-time in stadiums that at the time of the contest were active NFL stadiums.
• Eight of the 14 NFL stadiums UVA has played in are still active today.
• Since UVA’s 28-21 win at Miami in 2011, the Cavaliers have lost their last four games in NFL stadiums, including twice at Pitt (Heinz Field) and once at Miami (Sun Life Stadium). The streak started in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Georgia Dome).
• Virginia played at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field earlier this season (Oct. 10), losing 26-19.

UVA Only School to Accomplish this Florida Feat
• UVA’s trip to Sun Life Stadium in 2011 the Cavaliers came out on top with a 28-21 victory. The win set the table for Virginia to become the first and only program in college football history to win road games at Miami and Florida State in the same season. UVA later won in 2011 at then-No. 23 FSU, 14-13.
• The two programs have brough eight combined national titles to the Sunshine State.
• Florida State has still not lost an ACC home game since the Cavaliers left Tallahassee victorious that November night in 2011.

UVA-Miami Connections
• UVA safeties coach Mike Archer is a 1976 graduate of Miami and was a standout defensive back and punter for the Hurricanes. He later became a graduate assistant coach and was elevated to defensive backs coach from 1979-83, including being a member of Howard Schnellenberger’s staff on the1983 national championship squad at Miami.
• Archer and Miami offensive line coach Art Kehoe were on the same Miami staff in 1982 and 1983 when Kehoe was a graduate assistant for the Hurricanes.
• Miami defensive line coach Randy Melvin was at Wyoming from 1995-96 and during that time he faced then-WAC foes and current UVA offensive cordinator Steve Fairchild (Colorado State) and current UVA defensive line coach Jappy Oliver (Air Force) in league action.
• Five players on the Cavaliers’ roster hail from the state of Florida: Naji Abdullah (Jacksonville), Eric Gallon (Lakeland), Tucker Gamble (Weston), Grant Polk (Punta Gorda) and Dominic Sheppard (Miami).
• Miami assistant head coach Mark D’Onofrio was an assistant coach at Virginia from 2004-05.