As the University of Virginia football team lines up against No. 4 Florida State Saturday, another game will be fresh on the minds of many players, coaches and fans.
This year's match against FSU marks the 10-year anniversary of Virginia's greatest football victory -- Nov. 2, 1995, when the Cavaliers upset the then-No.2 Seminoles 33-28 in the first Thursday night game ever in Charlottesville.
Not only was FSU the highest ranked team to ever fall to the Cavaliers, it was the team's first ACC loss since joining the conference in 1992. The Seminoles proceeded to lose only two ACC games over the next six years.
The 1995 game featured such names as Warrick Dunn (now with the Atlanta Falcons) and Tiki Barber (current star running back of the New York Giants.) It also featured names like Mike Groh, son of head coach Al Groh, who passed for 302 yards, and Anthony Poindexter, who stopped Dunn on the 1-yard line with no time left in the 4th quarter to seal the Cavalier victory.
Both Mike Groh and Poindexter, now members of the coaching staff, look forward to Saturday's game like any other.
"If they were a little more into this one than [any other game], then I'd probably call them in and have a talk with them," Al Groh said. "We need to be the same for [all our games]."
With two losses in the last two weeks, the Cavaliers will need a new mentality. The game Saturday will be under the lights, broadcast nationally by ESPN at 7:45 p.m.
"We're certainly expecting that it will be a more positive atmosphere than it was [at Florida State] last year," Al Groh said. "Anyone who was at that game last year as a spectator should have a pretty accurate standard of measure of what a really dynamic night atmosphere is."
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, a positive atmosphere will not upset the undefeated Seminoles.
Since that night ten years ago, FSU has beaten Virginia nine consecutive times by an average of 24.2 points. This weekend will also be the 13th time the Seminoles have played Virginia while ranked in the top seven, and the seventh time they have been undefeated at the time of the match.
"We're well aware of [the game in 1995]," junior wide receiver Fontel Mines said. "But we have to go out there and play like we know we can play."
Although Al Groh emphasizes the fact that each game only counts once, whether it's a win or a loss, losing three games in a row in the middle of the season would be extremely costly, especially since the Cavaliers must gear up for a tough November when they play Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Miami.
"Wins put a bounce in all of our steps," Al Groh said.
Many feel that should be Virginia's mentality. Maybe Mike Groh and Poindexter can inspire the Cavaliers and show them how to play the same smash-mouth football of the '95 game. A win Saturday would be a turning point in the young season and a great tribute to the 1995 Cavaliers, who will be honored at halftime Saturday.
According to members of the marching band, the band will be playing the same music that helped curse the Seminoles a decade ago. So it's time for the Cavaliers to put on some throwbacks, get a little pumped before the game, and remember exactly what this team is capable of doing. Why not? The historic Virginia team that already upset the Seminoles will be right there to remind the current Cavs how it's done.
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