UVA and Navy Meet Thursday in the Military Bowl

Dec. 26, 2017

Virginia Makes Military Bowl Debut
– Virginia returns to action in the 10th annual Military Bowl against the Navy Midshipmen. UVA is making its first bowl appearance since the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl.

The Series vs. The Midshipmen
– This is the 39th renewal of a rivalry that dates back to the 1889 season, the second year of Virginia football. Navy holds a 27-11 record in the all-time series, including a 19-5 mark in Annapolis.
– There is a difference in the series record between the two schools because of a game in 1895 that was scheduled for Nov. 2. UVA did not make the trip due to the historic fire that destroyed the Rotunda and its annex on Oct. 27, 1895. Navy counts the game as a forfeit win and UVA recognizes the game as mutually canceled.
– Virginia has won five straight in the series and has won three of its last four in Annapolis.
– The 1934 and 1956 meetings are the only netural site games in the series and neither venue exists today. The 1934 contest was played at Washington, D.C.’s Griffith Stadium, while the 1956 meeting took place at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium.

Five Top Storylines
– Virginia is making its 19th bowl appearance and its first bowl matchup against a team from the American Athletic Conference. UVA is one of four bowl teams in 2017 that will play a “road game” in its bowl. Akron (Boca Raton), Iowa State (Liberty) and Wisconsin (Orange) also will face opponents in their home stadium.
– UVA’s all-time leader in wins by a head coach, George Welsh, is a 1956 graduate of the Naval Academy. The Hall of Fame coach was the head coach at Navy from 1973-81 and posted a 55-46-1 record, the second most wins in program history. Coach Welsh went on to post a 134-86-3 record from 1982-2000 at Virginia.
– ILB Micah Kiser (134), FS Quin Blanding (121) and ILB Jordan Mack (105) are the only trio of teammates in the nation to each have at least 100 tackles.
– Olamide Zaccheaus (833), Andre Levrone (662) and Doni Dowling (632) are the first UVA receiving trio to have 600 or more receiving yards in the same season. The 2011 season is the only time in program history three Cavaliers even had 500 or more receiving yards in the same season.
– Olamide Zaccheaus (80) needs four receptions to pass Billy McMullen’s 2001 single-season UVA record of 83 receptions.

Virginia On Thursday
– UVA is playing its 22nd all-time game on a Thursday.
– The Military Bowl is UVA’s first bowl game to be played on a Thursday.
– UVA has an all-time record of 7-14 on Thursday.
– UVA’s first Thursday game was on Nov. 25, 1937 at North Carolina.
– UVA’s last Thursday game was on Nov. 15, 2012 vs. North Carolina.

Virginia Against the American Athletic Conference
– The Military Bowl is UVA’s third all-time game against an AAC school (second this season), while that program is an active member of the conference, which began in 2013.
– The two previous games against an active AAC school were both against UConn, including a 38-18 win over the Huskies at Scott Stadium on Sept. 16.
– UVA is 1-1 all-time against the AAC since it started in 2013.
– UVA is 18-35 all-time against current members of the American Athletic Conference, this includes 38 games against Navy. UVA has faced AAC member East Carolina (1-2), Navy (11-27), Temple (2-0), Tulane (2-4) and UConn (2-2).

Virginia and Navy Share Head Coachs
– There are three men that have been the head football coach at Virginia and Navy.
– John Poe was the head coach at UVA in 1893-94 and at Navy in 1896. Bill Elias led the Cavaliers from 1961-64 and was at Navy from 1965-68. George Welsh was at Navy from 1973-81 and at Virginia from 1982-2000.

Welsh Coached 15 games in the UVA-Navy series
– George Welsh, a 1956 alum of the Naval Academy, was the head coach in 15 of the previous 38 meetings between Virginia and Navy. He was the head coach at Navy for five meetings and the head coach at UVA for 10 meetings
– UVA’s all-time leader in wins, Welsh, went 7-3 all-time against the Midshipmen as the head coach of Virginia, while going 4-1 as the head coach of Navy.

UVA Records at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium
– As the visiting team at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Virginia owns a couple records for the stadium.
– Stan Fischer’s touchdown pass to Joe Kehoe during the 1960 meeting is the longest pass in the stadium.
– Bobby Goodman’s five passing touchdowns in the 1992 meeting are the most in a single-game at the venue.

Some Cavaliers Are No Stranger to Annapolis
– A few Cavaliers played high school football games at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
– ILB Micah Kiser, a graduate of Baltimore’s Gilman School, intercepted a pass and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown to help his high school beat New Jersey powerhouse Don Bosco Prep, 13-6, in 2012.
– UVA WR Andre Levrone, CB Kirk Garner and WR DJ Pratt all played in games at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium during their time at Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Mendenhall No Stranger to The Option
– Bronco Mendenhall and his staff are facing the option attack for the second time this season and the 11th time in his coaching career.
– Mendenhall’s BYU teams went 5-1 against Air Force and 2-0 against Georgia Tech. Since coming to Virginia, his teams are 1-1 against the Yellow Jackets for an all-time record of 8-2 against the option between his head coaching stints at BYU and UVA.

Virginia Returns to Maryland
– Virginia is playing its first game in the state of Maryland since 2013 when they went to Byrd Stadium to face the Terripans.
– That is the longest drought of playing in the bordering state of Maryland since 1957.
– After playing at Navy in 1942, UVA didn’t return to Maryland for a game until 1957.

UVA-Navy Connections
– Six Cavaliers hail from the state of Maryland – Elliott Brown (Odenton), Kirk Garner (Baltimore), Micah Kiser (Baltimore), Andre Levrone (Laurel), Darnell Pratt (Ellicott City) and Charles Snowden (Silver Spring).
– Current Navy radio analyst Tom O’Brien is a 1971 graduate of the Naval Academy. He coached at Navy under George Welsh from 1975-81 and came to UVA with Welsh in 1982. While at Virginia he coached the offensive line and was an offensive coordinator. His first of two tenures in Charlottesville was from 1982-1996. After he was the head coach at Boston College and NC State, O’Brien returned to UVA to be the assistant head coach and tight end coach from 2013-14 before retiring from coaching following the 2014 season.
– Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo was a quarterback at Hawaii in 1987 when current UVA offensive coordinator Robert Anae was an offensive graduate assistant for the Warriors.
– Niumatalolo’s son, Va’a, was a linebacker at BYU, playing for current UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall in 2014 and 2015.