UVA and South Carolina Set to Clash Saturday in the Belk Bowl

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Virginia Returns to the Belk Bowl
• Virginia returns to action in the 17th annual Belk Bowl against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
• The game will kick at noon on Saturday and will be televised live on ABC.
• The Cavaliers played in the first two games in Belk Bowl history, 2002 and 2003, when the game was then known as the Continental Tire Bowl.
• UVA is one of three teams (Boston College, Wake Forest) to be 2-0 all-time in the Belk Bowl and a win over South Carolina will make the Cavaliers the Belk Bowl’s first three-game winner, passing Boston College, NC State and Wake Forest’s two wins.
• UVA is playing in back-to-back bowl games for the first time since appearing in four bowl games in a row from 2002-03-04-05.  

The Series vs. South Carolina
• Virginia and South Carolina renew an old ACC rivalry in the 2018 Belk Bowl. The Cavaliers and Gamecocks met 13 times in ACC play between 1954 and 1970, South Carolina’s last football season in the ACC.
• The all-time series started in 1912 and Virginia won the first six meetings, outscoring South Carolina 176-13 and shutting out the Gamecocks four times during the stretch.
• Between 1971 and 1987 UVA and South Carolina met seven times before the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992.
• South Carolina holds a 20-13-1 advantage over UVA in the all-time series.
• There is a discrepancy in the series records between the two schools. This is due to the 1965 contest in which South Carolina was forced by the ACC office to forfeit its win for using an ineligible player.

Five Top Storylines
• The 2018 Belk Bowl will serve as Virginia’s 20th all-time bowl appearance and its first postseason matchup with South Carolina.
• OLB Chris Peace will be making his 38th consecutive start in the Belk Bowl, making him the only Cavalier to start every game of the Bronco Mendenhall era at Virginia.
• Olamide Zaccheaus (81) needs five receptions to pass his own 2017 single-season UVA record of 85 receptions.
• QB Bryce Perkins is responsible for 188 points (22 passing TDs, 9 rushing TDs & 1 Pass 2pt.) which ranks No. 2 in the ACC and No. 17 in the nation.
• This season Perkins has passed for 2,472 yards and rushed for 842 yards. In 2018, only Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray (Oklahoma) has also passed (4,053) for 2,400+ yards and rushed (892) for 800+ yards.

Virginia at NFL Stadiums
• Virginia is 10-20 all-time in stadiums that at the time of the contest were active NFL stadiums.
• Seven of the 14 NFL stadiums UVA has played in are still active today.
• Winners of the 2002 and 2003 Continental Tire Bowls, UVA is 2-0 all-time at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
• Since UVA’s 28-21 win at Miami in 2011, the Cavaliers have lost their last seven games in NFL stadiums, including three times at Pitt (Heinz Field) and three times at Miami (Hard Rock Stadium). The streak started in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Georgia Dome).

Virginia vs. The Southeastern Conference
• Virginia is facing a school from the Southeastern Conference in a bowl game for the sixth time and for the first time since facing Auburn in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
• The 2011 meeting with Auburn is UVA’s only meeting with an SEC team since playing South Carolina in 2003 at Williams-Brice Stadium, predated by the 2002 meeting with the Gamecocks at Scott Stadium.
• Virginia has played every school from the SEC’s Eastern Division (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt).
• Auburn is the only school the Cavaliers have played from the Western Division. UVA has never faced Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State or Texas A&M.
• UVA’s 1973 meeting with Missouri came when the Tigers were in the Big Eight.
• The Cavaliers are 31-49-6 all-time against current SEC membership.
• UVA has sprung some surprises when on the road in SEC country over the years, including blanking Georgia “Between the Hedges” in 1979 and shocking a Neyland Stadium crowd of 94,333 with a 16-13 win over Tennessee in 1980. UVA also shutout Auburn, 19-0, in the 1998 opener at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Heavy Hearts Surrounded 1987 Meeting
• UVA’s 1987 loss at South Carolina was overshadowed by the death of Cavalier defensive end Craig Fielder, who succumbed  to cancer at the team hotel the day before the game.
• Fielder, who played in the 1984 Peach Bowl, missed the 1985 season due to cancer. He bounced back and played the 1986 season for the Cavaliers. After the 1986 campaign the cancer returned.
• Until his passing, Fielder traveled with the team in 1987.
• The Craig Fielder Memorial Award is annually bestowed upon a Virginia student-athlete with the embodiment of the qualities of leadership in character, sportsmanship, unwavering competitive spirit and untiring determination in overcoming adversity.

UVA-South Carolina Connections
• One Cavalier hails from the state of South Carolina – Hunter Pearson (Seneca).
• UVA’s Bryce Perkins and South Carolina’s Keisean Nixon both attended community college at Arizona Western. Nixon played at Arizona Western in 2015 and 2016, while Perkins was the quarterback in 2017. Keisean was one of the Arizona Western players Perkins talked to about the program leading up to and during his time in Yuma.

The Marques Hagans Belk Bowl/South Carolina Connection
• UVA wide receiver coach Marques Hagans has a connection to both the Belk Bowl and South Carolina.
• Hagans played in the first two Belk Bowls (2002 & 2003) when it was the Continental Tire Bowl. He also played in the last two meetings between UVA and South Carolina in 2002 and 2003.
• In the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl, Hagans threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Wali Lundy to give UVA the lead for good over West Virginia. Coming at 4:06 in the first quarter, it was the first touchdown in Belk Bowl history. Hagans also returned two punts in the game with a long of 69 yards.
• In the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl, Hagans caught three passes for 30 yards, while rushing once for 12 yards against Pitt.
• Hagans also returned a punt 69-yards for a touchdown against West Virginia in the 2002 Belk Bowl (Continental Tire), giving UVA a 21-10 lead over West Virginia in the second quarter. It was the first punt return for a touchdown in Belk Bowl history.
• Hagans did a little of everything in two games against South Carolina, rushing, passing, receiving and returning punts.

UVA Still Holds A Couple Belk Bowl Records
• Not only is Wali Lundy’s 24 points scored in the 2002 game against West Virginia a UVA bowl record, it is still a Belk Bowl record.
• UVA’s 26-point win over West Virginia in the inaugural game in 2002 is still a record for margin of victory.

Reed Enters the Belk Bowl on a Hot Streak
• WR/KR Joe Reed enters the Belk Bowl on a hot streak. Over the last three games Reed has eight receptions for 217 yards (27.1 yards per catch) with five receiving touchdowns.
• Reed has also returned 10 kicks for 343 yards (34.3 yards per return) and one touchdown over the last three games.
• Reed is No. 17 in FBS and No. 4 in the ACC with 18.96 yards per reception.
• Reed earned third-team All-ACC honors as a kick return specialist.

Snowden Is A Special Talent at Outside Linebacker
• OLB Charles Snowden is No. 1 in the nation among linebackers with eight pass breakups and 10 passes defended. He is tied for No. 1 among ACC linebackers with two interceptions.
• Snowden is a converted basketball player who had mid-major scholarship offers to such schools as St. Francis (Pa.) and Florida Gulf Coast.

UVA Offense and Defense Making Moves in 2018
• UVA’s offense has scored 342 points so far this season, which is the most by a Cavalier offense since the 2004 team scored 363 points.
• So far this season, the UVA defense has allowed its fewest points (261) and fewest yards allowed (337.2 per game) since the 2008 squad.

Cavaliers Boast a Top-25 Defense Entering the Belk Bowl
• UVA enters the Belk Bowl with the nation’s No. 24 defense (337.2) and the nation’s No. 14 pass defense (180.1).
• The Cavaliers rank No. 2 in the ACC in pass defense and No. 3 in total defense.