1990 Virginia Cavaliers football team

The 1990 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia in the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cavaliers offense scored 464 points while the defense allowed 227 points. Led by head coach George Welsh, the Cavaliers competed in the Sugar Bowl.

1990 Virginia Cavaliers football
Sugar Bowl, L 22–23 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 23
1990 record	8–4 (5–2 ACC)
Head coach	George Welsh (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Tranquill (4th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Frank Spaziani
Base defense	5–2
Home stadium	Scott Stadium (Capacity: 42,000)

1990 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Georgia Tech $	6	–	0	–	1			11	–	0	–	1
No. 9 Clemson	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 23 Virginia	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Maryland	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	1
North Carolina	3	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
NC State	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Duke	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wake Forest	0	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

This Virginia team is noteworthy for having achieved a No. 1 national ranking in the Associated Press college football poll for three weeks during the season, starting on October 16 of that year.[1] The Cavaliers held the nation's top spot through the poll of October 30,[2] but then dropped 10 spots after a loss to eventual national co-champion[3] Georgia Tech the next week[4] and continued to fade after that. It was the first time in the program's history that Virginia had ever earned the No. 1 ranking.[5]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	2:00 pm	at Kansas*	No. 15	Memorial Stadium (University of Kansas) Lawrence, Kansas		W 59–10	35,000
September 8	4:00 pm	No. 9 Clemson	No. 14	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, Virginia	ESPN	W 20–7	46,800
September 15	1:00 pm	Navy*	No. 11	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, Virginia		W 56–14	39,400
September 22	12:00 pm	at Duke	No. 10	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, North Carolina	JPS	W 59–0	24,862
September 29	1:00 pm	William & Mary*	No. 7	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, Virginia		W 63–35	40,400
October 13	1:00 pm	NC State	No. 2	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, Virginia		W 31–0	44,300
October 20	1:00 pm	at Wake Forest	No. 1	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, North Carolina		W 49–14	23,124
November 3	2:00 pm	No. 16 Georgia Tech	No. 1	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, Virginia	CBS	L 38–41	49,700
November 10	12:30 pm	at North Carolina	No. 11	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, North Carolina (South's Oldest Rivalry)	JPS	W 24–10	41,000
November 17	12:00 pm	at Maryland	No. 8	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, Virginia (rivalry)	JPS	L 30–35	43,500
November 24	7:30 pm	at Virginia Tech*	No. 17	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, Virginia (Commonwealth Cup)	ESPN	L 13–38	54,157
January 1	8:30 pm	vs. No. 10 Tennessee*		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 22–23	75,132
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

1990 Virginia Cavaliers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 87 Herman Moore Sr WR Derek Dooley Sr WR Brian Satola WR Terrence Tomlin WR Johnnie Wilson QB Shawn Moore Sr QB Matt Blundin QB Bobby Goodman RB Terry Kirby RB Dave Sweeney RB Nikki Fisher RB Gary Steele RB David Brown RB Jerrod Washington RB Alvin Snead TE Bruce McGonnigal TE Aaron Mundy TE Mark Cooke OL Paul Collins OL Ray Roberts OL Trevor Ryals OL Chris Stearns OL Jeff Tomlin OL Chris Borsari OL Mark Dixon OL Jim Reid	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Tony Covington	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach George Welsh Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: March 22, 2020

Game summaries

Georgia Tech

#16 Georgia Tech vs #1 Virginia

1 2 3 4 Total • Yellow Jackets 0 14 21 6 41 Cavaliers 10 18 7 3 38 Date: November 3 Location: Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, Virginia Game start: 2:00 PM EST Game attendance: 49,700 Game weather: 80° F, Sunny, Wind S 6 MPH TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Tim Brant, and John Dockery

Scoring summary Q1 8:09 UVA Shawn Moore 1-yard run (McInerney kick) UVA 7–0 3:58 UVA Jake McInerney 27-yard field goal UVA 10–0 Q2 14:50 UVA Jake McInerney 51-yard field goal UVA 13–0 9:43 GT Shawn Jones 23-yard run (Sisson kick) UVA 13–7 6:42 UVA Shawn Moore 1-yard run (Herman Moore pass from Shawn Moore) UVA 21–7 5:22 GT Jerry Gilchrist 43-yard pass from Shawn Jones (Sisson kick) UVA 21–14 0:36 UVA Shawn Moore 6-yard run (McInerney kick) UVA 28–14 Q3 12:47 GT Jerry Gilchrist 12-yard run (Sisson kick) UVA 28–21 4:34 GT Emmett Merchant 26-yard pass from Shawn Jones (Sisson kick) Tied 28–28 3:08 UVA Herman Moore 63-yard pass from Shawn Moore (McInerney kick) UVA 35–28 0:02 GT William Bell 8-yard run (Sisson kick) Tied 35–35 Q4 7:17 GT Scott Sisson 33-yard field goal GT 38–35 2:34 UVA Jake McInerney 22-yard field goal Tied 38–38 0:07 GT Scott Sisson 37-yard field goal GT 41–38

Team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1991 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL team
Herman Moore	Wide receiver	1	10	Detroit Lions
Tony Covington	Defensive back	4	93	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bruce McGonnigal	Tight end	9	238	Pittsburgh Steelers
Shawn Moore	Quarterback	11	284	Denver Broncos

[6]

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2009-12-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2009-12-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Multimedia.jsp?id=m-8194
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2009-12-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1136305/index.htm
6. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1991.htm