Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 41. Virginia
Hoo?
Might as well knock out all the ACC teams in one go, huh? Virginia, I didn’t forget about you, but your time has finally come. 8th best ACC team is not too shabby though. To the untrained eye, Virginia seems like they probably shouldn’t be this high, but from 1983-99 they had 16 winning seasons in 17 years, and from 1983-2005, had 21 seasons of .500 or better in 23 years. They also appeared in the AP Top 25 in 16 of those 23 seasons. And one of those two losing seasons was a 5-7 record. And they were #1 for a few weeks in 1990. TL;DR, Virginia football not too shabby.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
| 16 | Virginia | 1989 | 24.993 | 10-3 |
| 13 | Virginia | 1984 | 21.594 | 8-2-2 |
| 13 | Virginia | 1994 | 20.855 | 9-3 |
| 21 | Virginia | 1991 | 20.44 | 8-3-1 |
| 22 | Virginia | 1998 | 20.208 | 9-3 |
| 19 | Virginia | 1995 | 19.8 | 9-4 |
| 24 | Virginia | 2002 | 17.506 | 9-5 |
| 22 | Virginia | 1990 | 17.438 | 8-4 |
| 27 | Virginia | 2007 | 14.357 | 9-4 |
| 22 | Virginia | 2004 | 13.762 | 8-4 |
| 30 | Virginia | 2019 | 11.248 | 9-5 |
| 35 | Virginia | 2003 | 9.631 | 8-5 |
| 27 | Virginia | 1996 | 9.139 | 7-5 |
| 30 | Virginia | 1997 | 6.958 | 7-4 |
| 33 | Virginia | 1988 | 6.28 | 7-4 |
| 33 | Virginia | 1987 | 6.216 | 8-4 |
| 40 | Virginia | 2018 | 5.25 | 8-5 |
| 29 | Virginia | 1992 | 4.596 | 7-4 |
| 31 | Virginia | 1993 | 3.558 | 7-5 |
| 38 | Virginia | 2005 | 2.612 | 7-5 |
| 38 | Virginia | 1999 | 2.329 | 7-5 |
| 35 | Virginia | 1985 | 2.295 | 6-5 |
| 43 | Virginia | 2011 | 2.252 | 8-5 |
| 62 | Virginia | 2020 | -6.226 | 5-5 |
| 65 | Virginia | 2021 | -7.858 | 6-6 |
| 61 | Virginia | 2000 | -8.621 | 6-6 |
| 61 | Virginia | 2008 | -9.182 | 5-7 |
| 65 | Virginia | 2014 | -9.338 | 5-7 |
| 52 | Virginia | 1983 | -9.499 | 6-5 |
| 72 | Virginia | 2001 | -16.54 | 5-7 |
| 84 | Virginia | 2017 | -18.125 | 6-7 |
| 71 | Virginia | 2006 | -18.435 | 5-7 |
| 84 | Virginia | 2015 | -21.599 | 4-8 |
| 85 | Virginia | 2012 | -24.704 | 4-8 |
| 97 | Virginia | 2022 | -24.988 | 3-7 |
| 91 | Virginia | 2010 | -28.537 | 4-8 |
| 80 | Virginia | 1986 | -29.207 | 3-8 |
| 100 | Virginia | 2009 | -30.703 | 3-9 |
| 104 | Virginia | 2013 | -42.761 | 2-10 |
| 119 | Virginia | 2016 | -45.118 | 2-10 |
+------+----------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 22910 (41st)257-221-4 record
2 conference titles
8-13 bowl record
9 consensus All-Americans
98 NFL players drafted
The best Virginia team that most fans today remember is the 2019 team that played in the Orange Bowl. Well, they’re only Virginia’s 11th best season. Shows how good the Cavs used to be. Even the 1990 season where they were #1 for a bit is only their 8th best team. 1 of their 2 ACC title winning teams (1995) barely misses the top 5 cut at #6, but the 1989 ACC title winning team is 1st. Bowl games haven’t been peaches and cream, with 3 separate losing streaks of 3+ bowl games. Those damn Carquest Bowls. The consensus All-Americans we won’t discuss below are OL Mark Dixon (1993), TE Heath Miller (2004) who won the Mackey Award, OL Elton Brown (2004), and DL Chris Long (2007) who was the 2nd overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Virginia’s best NFL players have been the Barber brothers (RB Tiki and CB Ronde), LB James Farrior, WR Herman Moore, QB Matt Schaub, RB Thomas Jones, OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson, TE Heath Miller, DE Chris Long, and DE Chris Canty. They also have 24 million follower TikTok sensation Bryce Hall who was also dra-oh it’s not the same one? Well, Virginia did have a DB named “Bryce Hall” drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2016 (2-10 overall, 1-7 ACC)
Mike London, after securing Virginia’s worst season in 2013, left a parting gift after his firing for 2016, a roster construction new coach Bronco Mendenhall described as “what I call succession planning, just the methodical, simple filling of a roster to rebuild and develop, has not been done very well.” They actually had some of the ACC’s top players, just lacked depth. QB Kurt Benkert threw for 2552 yards 21 TD 11 INT, and ended up being a memer and lasted in the NFL for 5 years. Former 5 star S Quin Blanding was Virginia’s 2nd highest recruit in school history, and was 2nd in the ACC in tackles with 120. Blanding would graduate in 2017 as the NCAA’s 3rd all-time leading tackler with 495 tackles. LB Micah Kiser was right there with him, leading the ACC in tackles with 130 in 2016 and graduating in 2017 at 3rd in ACC history with 408. Kiser and Blanding were both 1st Team All-ACC. As for the actual games on the field, Virginia wasn’t THAT bad, they just take this spot because they lost 20-37 to FCS Richmond in the opener. They at least beat Duke to not finish last in the ACC Coastal, and were competitive against some good teams (25-32 to #5 Louisville, 20-27 to 7-6 Wake Forest).
5. 1998 (9-3 overall, 6-2 ACC)
Today’s post is going to be a history lesson for all the people (including myself) who weren’t around when Virginia was actually good. By 1998, Virginia was firmly established as a good ACC team, in their 17th season with College Football Hall of Fame coach George Welsh, who’d retire in 2000 as the ACC’s all-time winningest coach. Times were different, #16 Virginia opened the season on the road against #25 Auburn, smacking the Tigers 19-0. Winning their next 4, All-American DB Anthony Poindexter had 19 tackles and 2 sacks in a win over Maryland, and 12 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in a 24-0 win over Duke. Despite leading #25 Georgia Tech 38-17, #7 Virginia suffered their first loss 38-41 in a major comeback by the Yellow Jackets to fall to 5-1. They’d claw their way through the rest of their games, setting up #16 Virginia at #20 Virginia Tech in the season finale. The game is one of Virginia fans’ favorites in the rivalry’s history, coming back from a 22 point halftime deficit to win 36-32, the winning TD scored by Ahmad Hawkins. Hawkins’ touchdown is arguably the most iconic play in Virginia history, dropping to his knees and looking to the sky after scoring. It’s also the last time Virginia won in Blacksburg. In the Peach Bowl, #13 Virginia lost 33-35 to #19 Georgia to finish #18.
Plenty of talent on this team. QB Aaron Brooks threw for 12 TD 9 INT and ran for 5 more TD, and was the starting QB for the New Orleans Saints from 2001-05. RB Thomas Jones led the ACC in rushing with 1303 yards, and would become a consensus All-American in 1999, and rush for 10,000 yards in the NFL. He and backup RB Antwoine Womack were 1st/2nd Team All-ACC respectively. The defense had two 1st Team All-Americans in DE Patrick Kerney and DB Anthony Poindexter. Virginia was on top of the world—they continued their streak of 12 straight seasons with 7+ wins, and were the #1 ranked public university in the United States.
4. 1991 (8-3-1 overall, 4-2-1 ACC)
Fresh off the high of being #1 for a few weeks in 1990, Virginia started 1991 unranked, but would still have a solid year. 6 fumbles in the opener against Maryland led to a 6-17 loss, and a FG make by #17 Georgia Tech on the final play caused a 21-24 loss. After the 1-2 start, Virginia would storm through the rest of their regular season schedule, going 7-0-1 with the only tie to ACC champion Clemson. The last 4 games were a sight to behold, beating Wake Forest 48-7, VMI 42-0, #18 NC State 42-10, and Virginia Tech 38-0 for a combined 170-17 score. DL Chris Slade, who’d be voted a 3rd Team All-American, had 5 sacks in the shutout win over Virginia Tech. They’d get smacked in the Gator Bowl, losing 14-48 to #20 Oklahoma to finish unranked, but were #21 in my rankings. QB Matt Blundin, who played on both the football and basketball teams, had a season I’m surprised nobody ever talks about, throwing for 1902 yards and 19 TD with 0, count it, zero, INTs, winning ACC Player of the Year. Despite only starting one season in college, he was a 2nd round pick in the NFL Draft because of his 6’7 height and production in college. Slade, who was a 3rd Team AA, led the team with 14 sacks, and would end up being a consensus AA the next year in 1992. OT Ray Roberts kept Blundin safe, and was voted 2nd Team All-American.
3. 1994 (9-3 overall, 5-3 ACC)
Tucked away in the bowels of Charlottesville were 1 future NFL Hall of Fame player and 2 future Hall of Very Good players in DB Ronde Barber, RB Tiki Barber, and LB James Farrior, all sophomores at the time. Future Virginia coach Al Groh’s son, Mike Groh, was also the starting QB. Virginia debuted new uniforms with the V logo with overlapping swords on the helmet, designed by coach George Welsh’s son Matt. With all this excitement, Virginia started 6-1, with wins over #15 North Carolina 34-10 and Clemson, with the only loss to #4 Florida State. UVA won 2 of their last 4 regular season games, but both wins were over rivals; 46-21 over Maryland and 42-23 at #14 Virginia Tech. Virginia’s defense, which gave up just 16.2 PPG, forced 8 Hokie turnovers. Finally, in the Independence Bowl they shut down TCU 20-10 to finish with the 2nd most wins in school history with 9. Ronde Barber was a 3rd Team All-American, finishing 2nd in the nation with 8 interceptions. Tiki Barber and James Farrior were both Honorable Mention All-ACC selections. The three combined for 8 All-Pro selections and 10 Pro Bowls in the NFL, all taken in the 1997 NFL Draft.
2. 1984 (8-2-2 overall, 3-2-2 ACC)
The team that helped Virginia get out of the muck. From 1953-82, Virginia had just 2 winning seasons in 30 years. TWO! The 1983 team broke the trance with a 6-5 record, but the 1984 team took it to another level at 8-2-2. An opening 0-55 loss to #3 Clemson? Business as usual. But a funny thing happened—Virginia kept winning. Wins over VMI and Navy were expected. But down 10 points on the road to Virginia Tech? Coach Welsh dialed up the deep ball from future NFL Pro Bowl QB Don Majkowski, coming back for a 26-23 win. 4-1 Virginia nearly pulled off the upset against #20 Georgia Tech, tying 24-24 to go to 4-1-1. A few weeks later, it was unranked 5-1-1 Virginia at #12 West Virginia. And for the first time in program history, Virginia stood victorious against a Top 15 team, this one a complete 27-7 domination. It finally took a 45-0 win over NC State for Virginia to crack the AP Top 25 for the first time in more than 30 years, at #19 and 7-1-1. In the final game of the regular season, Virginia, riding a 9 game unbeaten streak, played #18 Maryland for the title. Despite putting up 527 yards and converting 10 of 14 first downs, Virginia fell 34-45, and Maryland won their 2nd of 3 straight ACC titles. Virginia did receive an invite to play in their first bowl game in school history, beating Purdue 27-24 in the Peach Bowl.
Majkowski didn’t put up gaudy stats, just 49% completions for 1235 yards 8 TD 9 INT, but was a very steady QB and is one of Virginia’s all-timers at the position. DB Lester Lyles was a 3rd Team All-American, and OL Jim Dumbrowski would eventually be a consensus All-American in 1985, also going 6th overall in the 1986 NFL Draft.
1. 1989 (10-3 overall, 6-1 ACC)
Virginia’s best year, when the Moore to Moore QB-WR connection was lighting up the ACC. QB Shawn Moore and WR Herman Moore were both Honorable Mention All-Americans, with Shawn throwing for 2078 yards 18 TD 7 INT and rushing for 505 yards and 9 TD, and Herman catching 36 passes for a whopping 848 yards and 10 TD. After their opening blowout loss to #2 Notre Dame, Virginia showed they were not to be messed with by beating #12 Penn State 14-6 in Happy Valley. A few weeks later, George Welsh, not paticularly fond of Steve Spurrier’s Duke team, ran up the score 49-28 on Duke, and later said “I might have been able to score 70 that night if I wanted to.” A loss to #15 Clemson without QB Shawn Moore put them down to 4-2, but they wouldn’t lose another regular season game afterwards. Blowout wins over North Carolina and Wake Forest saw kicker Jake McInerney set a school record with 17 points vs Wake. McInerney would hit a game winning FG as the clock hit 0 vs Louisville the following week, 16-15, and Virginia improved to 7-2. With Spurrier and Duke continuing to win, Virginia had to win out to win the ACC title, and they did, beating #18 NC State, Virginia Tech, and Maryland to finish atop the ACC. They went to the Florida Citrus Bowl and lost to #11 Illinois, finishing the season #18. and as ACC champions.
Shawn Moore went on to finish 4th in Heisman voting in 1990, and Herman Moore became a consensus All-American. Back to 1989, OG Roy Brown was a 2nd Team All-American, and DE Ray Savage was a 1st Team All-American. As an easter egg, future Tennessee coach Derek Dooley was a WR on the team, catching 6 passes for 97 yards and 1 TD.
5th Quarter
Does Virginia deserve to be above North Carolina, Boston College, and NC State? What does a college football world look like where Virginia wins out after becoming #1 in 1990 and wins the national title? Who’s the best player/play/game I didn’t mention? Where does George Welsh rank among ACC coaches all time? Now that we’ve reached the top 40, WHO’S NEXT!?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
