We know it doesn’t pay to play coulda-shoulda-woulda, but we couldn’t resist a rundown of plays that in toto gave the Gator Bowl to Texas Tech (mercifully, we’ll only start in the second half): Texas Tech recovers a surprise onside kick; refs don’t allow UVA Coach Al Groh to challenge a Red Raider fumble; quarterback Jameel Sewell injures his knee on a scramble; refs make a questionable pass interference call against UVA that bails out Tech on a fourth down; backup quarterback Peter Lalich fumbles on the 4-yard line; Ryan Weigand shanks a punt.
 Even Mikell Simpson’s 170 rushing yards—including a runningback bowl record 96-yard touchdown run—weren’t enough to get a “W” for the Cavaliers. |
Had any of those things gone the other way, Virginia would likely be celebrating its first major bowl win since the ’95 Peach Bowl. But instead, the players and coaches had to endure a flight back from Jacksonville knowing they let a 14-point fourth quarter lead slip away in less than four minutes. Tech’s game-winning field goal came with 7 seconds left on the clock, dropping the Cavaliers to 9-4 overall. (Of some consolation to Hoos was that a different Tech, this one from Virginia, lost by 3 points two nights later to Kansas.)
Yet there was another game being played at the Gator Bowl that didn’t involve the play on the field but the number of tickets sold to the event. To bowl officials, maximizing revenue is more important than who wins or loses, and the Gator Bowl picked UVA over Boston College not for the caliber of the team as much as for the willingness of the fans to travel. Hoos in the past have complained of getting sidestepped for worse teams whose fans travel better, and this year was a chance to redeem that rep.
So how did that game go? Official attendance was listed as 60,243, though TV camera angles showed empty endzones at the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, which seated 85,412 for a September match between Alabama and Florida State. Cav supporters claimed about 10,200 tickets out of 13,500 set aside for them, according to Executive Associate Athletic Director Jon Oliver, though he says there were about 15,000 fans in the stands.
“Once you walk through all the logistical steps, I’d say it was one of the most seamless situations I’ve ever been in,” says Oliver, who compares the ease of the coordination to a Rose Bowl appearance he coordinated when he worked for Washington State in 1998. “We were told that the pep rally [on December 31] was the best one they’d ever had,” Oliver says.
Next year, UVA will have its work cut out for it: Not only are the Cavs losing sure NFL draft picks Chris Long and Branden Albert, but they open the season at home against the University of Southern California, college football’s most dominant team this decade. And even though the Hoos, who will play seven home games, have one scheduled against a “Football Championship Subdivision” (read: I-AA) team, Richmond, the Spiders made it to the semifinals of their playoffs this season and beat Duke last season.—Will Goldsmith
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