Every Saturday, certain Scott Stadium staples highlight the crowd. There are the two reincarnated Thomas Jeffersons that break it down on the Jumbotron and the two unidentified students sporting full body orange suits who run loose on the hill.
Against Duke, there was a fan donning a disturbingly realistic horse mask and another shirtless fellow with the words "No, I will not sit down," painted on his back. These gems bolster an oft-criticized Virginia fanbase, but my favorite fixture among the Cavalier crowd is rapidly becoming a sign that says, "We are going to win."
When I first noticed it at the Georgia Tech game, I admittedly wrote off the black poster and its orange duct-taped message as overly optimistic for a team which had barely survived lowly Idaho the week before. But the sign ultimately had more foresight than I did, and four quarters later I danced on the field in celebration. The sign made the trip to College Park last week, and its omniscient words loomed large as Virginia secured its sixth win and bowl eligibility against Maryland. It reappeared on the hill Saturday and its message rung truer than ever as the Cavaliers defeated the Blue Devils 31-21.
More than just a prediction, "We are going to win" is starting to capture a new mentality for the Virginia football team. While the Cavaliers missed the postseason the last three years - and lost to Duke all three times in the process - players believed wins were possible, but they could never fully expect them.
"In the past we would just go into the game, maybe thinking we were going to win, but our confidence level has gone up this season," junior tailback Perry Jones said. "We are confident because we've been playing well; we know that we are more than capable of winning each and every game."
The team's confidence stems in large part from increasingly successful on-field execution. Against Duke, both the offense and defense periodically suffered lapses, but each unit covered for the other's mistakes. When freshman wide receiver Dominique Terrell failed to dodge a bouncing punt and Duke recovered the ball, senior defensive end Matt Conrath atoned for the miscue by blocking the Blue Devils' 25-yard field goal attempt. This year, the Cavaliers' stingy defense has often held them in games, but after the team assumed a 21-14 lead, the unit uncharacteristically let down and surrendered the equalizing score three minutes later. The offense picked up the defense, however, with its own three-minute touchdown drive, and according to sophomore quarterback Michael Rocco, that is how the game should be played.
"That's how football works - the offense kind of makes up for the defense and the defense makes up for the offense sometimes," Rocco said. "Sometimes you're not clicking on the same cylinder, but you have to pick each other up."
More than just in-game play, however, the Cavaliers credit their attitude shift to a man who arrived on Grounds two years earlier. Coach Mike London is frequently renowned for his work both on and off the field, and his players say they missed that sort of supportive environment during the previous coaching regime.
"Coach London, he's more focused on us as people," senior wide receiver Kris Burd said. "Whenever your coach is so heavily involved with you as a person, I feel like you want to play harder for him when the game time comes around. It's definitely a closer relationship between our team and our coaches than it was when Coach Groh was here."
When London arrived, he preached to his players that they could and would win, and the team has finally begun to believe and achieve its coach's philosophy.
"A lot of players had been here for a while, and we'd been losing for a while," senior fullback Max Milien said. "We just knew that with London, he just brought a whole bunch of energy, great gameplan, great coaches, and we knew it was going to be a good year to turn things around."
That turnaround may have started with an upset win against then-No. 12 Georgia Tech, but it was arguably solidified when Virginia knocked off Miami Oct. 27. The Cavaliers have not lost since, and Burd said winning a game on national television against the perennially difficult Hurricanes "definitely gave us a boost of confidence both offensively and defensively."
With the win at Miami Gardens, the Cavaliers toppled a program which has run around for decades hailing itself as "The U" and was once the poster-child of "swagger." As Hurricane coach Al Golden said this summer, though, "Swagger was the byproduct, not the product" during that era. Swagger is the byproduct of winning, and after beating Miami, Virginia is the team with swagger.
"I feel like we definitely have a new swagger about us now," Burd said. "We've got the type of playmakers and the type of system that we can be productive with and win games."
With their seventh win, the Cavaliers clinched a winning record and sit in control of their own destiny - if they win out, they will go to their first-ever ACC title game.
Honestly, it is still hard for me to wrap my head around the notion that we will down both Florida State and ranked rival Virginia Tech to capture the Coastal Division crown. Maybe I'm still jaded because the team only compiled seven wins combined during my first two years here, or maybe I'm still skeptical of a team which looked so shaky just two months ago.
Still, I'm dangerously close to drinking the orange Kool-aid. As the clock wound down at Scott Stadium Saturday, the "We are going to win" sign disappeared, and a new black poster with orange duck tape appeared in its place. It simply said "Beat Florida State." A newly confident Virginia team truly believes that sign's message is possible, and if they think "we are going to win," who am I to disagree?
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