1990 Virginia game

[TheSilasSonRising]

I am NOT a C. Lewis fan, but he was national coach of the year when he was hired!

Yeah, but if I remember correctly, in all his years at Wyo & ecu he had only had 1 winning season? IDK

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

That UVA team was special. Got a bit decimated by injuries but might have been the best (probably were) overall when healthy at the start of the season. I think they lost an All America tight end the week before the Tech game. Their injuries didn't slow down any after that.

Believe their 2 Moores, a QB & WR, both got hurt after our game.

 

[laoh]

Me too, exactly. I was a freshman during the 1-10 season as well. (Side-note my high school football team was gawd-awful, so the '95 UNC game was my first time witnessing "my team" hold on for a win.) But anyway same here about the 1990 Virginia game. Was it on TV or did you find it on YouTube?

It's on Youtube, as with the 1990 mutt game. You know which channel

 

[jayparr]

Yeah, but if I remember correctly, in all his years at Wyo & ecu he had only had 1 winning season? IDK

Yeah; that's right. And I will add to Bill Lewis 2 names that to me makes the 3 people that put Ga Tech in the dire straits of which CPJ has dug his way out of, and my hat is off to him!!!. Those other 2 had way more to do with hurting the program than Bill Lewis. Those 2 are Dave Brainless and Carol Moore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Old South Stands]

That UVA team was special. Got a bit decimated by injuries but might have been the best (probably were) overall when healthy at the start of the season. I think they lost an All America tight end the week before the Tech game. Their injuries didn't slow down any after that.

Virginia was an excellent team that year, every bit deserving of their #1 ranking at that time. Had they won the game and not been plagued by injuries, they may have finished out the regular season undefeated. I think the injuries and the emotional letdown of having lost the Tech game and their national title hopes contributed to the losses that followed. Clemson finished very strong that year, having lost only to Tech and to an undefeated UVA, so having those teams on the schedule contributed greatly to Tech's SOS.

The 1990 UVA game was the most exciting Tech game I've ever watched, including the game in Athens this past week (after the '13 loss to UGA, voluntarily spent the '14 UGA game in media blackout, fishing with my dad in the north GA mountains; didn't know the final outcome of that one until after the sun had long set...). Even still, didn't get to watch the UVA game as it happened except in bits and pieces.

In 1990, I was a delivery driver at Pero's, a now-defunct restaurant and popular Tech hangout across from the AE school. The evening shift had started just before kickoff, so everyone was eager to get his delivery route done and get back to Pero's to check in on the progress and maybe watch a series or two. At two touchdowns behind, it seemed pretty hopeless... We just couldn't stop their offense. But when the Jackets managed to pull within a touchdown in the 3rd quarter, it was very hard to be out on the road. Pero's had a fleet of small white trucks... Don't remember if they were even equipped with AM/FM radio... Maybe they were. Just remember it was excruciating being out on delivery, not knowing how things were progressing. Each time I came back inside the restaurant, it seemed either Tech or UVA had gotten the upper hand. It was as if the last team to touch the ball would end up winning that one. Scott Sission kicked the winning FG while I was out on another run. When I got back, it was complete bedlam inside... everyone was so happy.

The major turning point of that game turned out to be the dropped pass by Vince Dooley's son. If he catches that, then UVA takes perhaps an insurmountable lead. But I think right after that, Shawn Moore gets intercepted on a tipped pass, and Tech is back in business. Even after that, Tech's defense had to make a monster goal-line stand late in the 4th that lasted 6 or 7 plays, with lots of drama and penalties. It was probably one of the best defensive stands in modern Tech history.

 

[Skeptic]

There are, but CRF called the plays from the press box, and several times throughout the game the headsets were going out when we were on offense then magically would start working again when Virginia was on offense.

I was just picking at him. It's just that I sometimes wonder how in the world a coach ever coached without several coaches upstairs running offense or defense, and then the TV replays that did their work for them in calling for a review, and of course those silly-looking cards and caps in front of their mouths as though somebody can actually read their lips. (Sometimes i wonder how that got started and why.) Anyway, thanks.

 

[Old South Stands]

Fridgen said that the electronics "shockingly" did not work in the GT coaches box in the 1st qu if I remember right. So GT was playing blind and that's why we got off to such a slow start.

That happened twice during the game... But to make it fair, the officials made UVA give up their electronic communications until Tech's technical difficulties could be sorted out.

 

[Boomergump]

Part of what makes that game so special for me was the circumstances in which I watched it. I was a US Marine at the time and a long way from home. Oddly enough, there was a guy in my unit (from Athens if you can believe it) who was a huge TECH fan too. We huddled around a tiny TV set and went nuts together. Back in those days, there was no espn3 or cable menu of 20 games on at once. We were lucky the game was on. I saw three games that year, UVA, UGag, and NEB. Not a bad line up.

 

[jrgray]

In 1990, I was a delivery driver at Pero's, a now-defunct restaurant and popular Tech hangout across from the AE school.

Off topic, but Pero's was my hangout in the late '80s / early '90s.

My fiancee and I watched the game from our apartment at Jade East on Collier and then went down to campus to welcome the team home. Probably stopped at Pero's for a calzone on the way home.

 

[Old South Stands]

Part of what makes that game so special for me was the circumstances in which I watched it. I was a US Marine at the time and a long way from home. Oddly enough, there was a guy in my unit (from Athens if you can believe it) who was a huge TECH fan too. We huddled around a tiny TV set and went nuts together. Back in those days, there was no espn3 or cable menu of 20 games on at once. We were lucky the game was on. I saw three games that year, UVA, UGag, and NEB. Not a bad line up.

It's hard to fathom that in 1990, it was still a big deal to see your game televised nationally. You probably remember Saturday football in the '70s and '80s, where you had only a few choice games on ABC, NBC or CBS... Prior to ESPN and the widespread appearance of cable TV in people's homes, ABC was the sports channel... the very best sports programming and commentators on TV at that time. If your game was on ABC in those days, it was a big, big deal. Most teams didn't get to be on national TV. Many games didn't even get televised in the regional coverage. Each week, people maybe saw Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Penn State, Nebraska, USCw, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, etc., and kind of become fans of one of those teams in addition to Tech. Eventually, it was possible to pick up a regional game down on one of the U-channels on a network like Turner Sports, but generally speaking, if your team wasn't on one of the main three channels, you didn't get see them play. On Saturday, you might have watched USCw play UCLA live on TV, but had to read about Georgia Tech and UGA in the papers the next day to see how that game went. Much different era!

A recording of the 1990 Tech-UVA game (with commercials):

 

[Skeptic]

It's hard to fathom that in 1990, it was still a big deal to see your game televised nationally. You probably remember Saturday football in the '70s and '80s, where you had only a few choice games on ABC, NBC or CBS... Prior to ESPN and the widespread appearance of cable TV in people's homes, ABC was the sports channel... the very best sports programming and commentators on TV at that time. If your game was on ABC in those days, it was a big, big deal. Most teams didn't get to be on national TV. Many games didn't even get televised in the regional coverage. Each week, people maybe saw Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Penn State, Nebraska, USCw, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, etc., and kind of become fans of one of those teams in addition to Tech. Eventually, it was possible to pick up a regional game down on one of the U-channels on a network like Turner Sports, but generally speaking, if your team wasn't on one of the main three channels, you didn't get see them play. On Saturday, you might have watched USCw play UCLA live on TV, but had to read about Georgia Tech and UGA in the papers the next day to see how that game went. Much different era!

A recording of the 1990 Tech-UVA game (with commercials):

I was in Ohio for much of this and NC for the rest and I don't recall ever seeing Tech play and about as much OSU as I could stand. More, actually. Made me miss Tech and start to actively root against OSU, and I still do.

 

[laoh]

BTW, who burned UVA's turf? Was it Burdell and his associates?

 

[Old South Stands]

I was in Ohio for much of this and NC for the rest and I don't recall ever seeing Tech play and about as much OSU as I could stand. More, actually. Made me miss Tech and start to actively root against OSU, and I still do.

Liked OSU a lot during the '70s, though that cooled a bit after seeing Woody Hayes punch that guy from Clemson. Went to college with a guy from the Columbus area. It took him two full years at Tech before he would finally root for the Yellow Jackets over his beloved Buckeyes in a hypothetical game, if they ever happened to play one another. He like to talk about OSU all the time, and was really proud it was the largest campus in America with over 100,000 students.

 

[Old South Stands]

BTW, who burned UVA's turf? Was it Burdell and his associates?

Don't know if that ever got solved... A Wikipedia article about the game doesn't give any additional info, other than to say it was "vandals". The security guard who noticed the fire didn't appear to see any suspects. It's hard to imagine anyone from either Tech or UVA wanting to do that. Both fan bases were really excited (if not a little apprehensive) about that game and were looking forward to it.

Here's an article from the day after the game that talks a bit about the turf fire:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/19...159_1_copeland-georgia-tech-athletic-director

 

[Skeptic]

Liked OSU a lot during the '70s, though that cooled a bit after seeing Woody Hayes punch that guy from Clemson. Went to college with a guy from the Columbus area. It took him two full years at Tech before he would finally root for the Yellow Jackets over his beloved Buckeyes in a hypothetical game, if they ever happened to play one another. He like to talk about OSU all the time, and was really proud it was the largest campus in America with over 100,000 students.

That punch was the tipoff that Woody was slipping. Didn't even knock the kid off balance.

 

[TampaBuzz]

I was at a wedding reception in Washington, DC during the game. The bride is a UVA graduate that was living in Atlanta. All during the reception, the bridesmaids were in the bar (bride was not happy with them!) watching the game. I would wonder into the bar every now and then to see what was going on. It seemed that every time I walked in...Tech scored immediately. Those young women told me I was not welcome in the bar anymore. Rode the train back to ATL and the stop in Charlottesville, VA was eventful with all the Tech fans piling onto the train!

 

[AE 87]

Went to that game with a wahoo alumna (now married to a buddy of mine; I was into her roommate), and I think it was their homecoming. Surrounded by wahoos, I heard it every time they scored, "whoops another touchdown!"

Needless to say, my being a good sport during the first half earned me some patience when I started saying, "whoops another touchdown" as the game went on.

 

[Skeptic]

Went to that game with a wahoo alumna (now married to a buddy of mine; I was into her roommate), and I think it was their homecoming. Surrounded by wahoos, I heard it every time they scored, "whoops another touchdown!"

Needless to say, my being a good sport during the first half earned me some patience when I started saying, "whoops another touchdown" as the game went on.

Are you just naturally mean or was it a learned skill?

 

[alagold]

So I attended Tech a few years after the national championship... suffered through that horrible 1-10 season as a freshmen. But I was always proud of Tech's deep football tradition and the fact that our national championship happened quite recently (not anymore now). As famous as that team was, I never watched a single game.

Well tonight, I finally watched that famous 1990 Virginia game. First qtr was all Virginia. You already know the ending but it had me worried... but what happened through the next three quarters was just magic. What a game. And OMG we had BEASTS on the roster. William Bell, Shawn Jones, Ken Swilling, that 315lb #70 guy... geesh... I was just watching the game, enjoying the high powered, confident offense and defense.

You know what I noticed though? Both GT and Virginia would play the option, more than you expect and it was quite normal. I just really do not understand all the fuss about how we're an option team with the high school offense... (I know, preaching to the choir).

But man, what a bunch of guys... it was very enjoyable.

That was a game for the ages. For those of us who lived the season, it was amazing.Then the Bowl game in Orlando was almost as sweet--on that trip maybe never had so much fun standing up.