One of those instances occurred in the November 3rd game between #1 Virginia and #16 Georgia Tech in what many college football experts believe is the greatest game in ACC football history.
The Cavaliers came into the game ranked #1 for the first time in school history, taking over the top ranking on October 14th following #1 Michigan's 28-27 loss to Michigan State.
The Cavaliers had high expectations going into the 1990 season as they were coming off their first ever ACC championship in 1989 and had starting quarterback Shawn Moore returning.
Along with running back Terry Kirby and wide receiver Herman Moore, the Cavaliers won their first games as the offense averaged 46.7 points per game, propelling the Cavs to the #1 ranking in mid-October.
The Cavs held the top spot for three weeks until showdown with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who also came into the game undefeated, marking the first time in ACC history that two undefeated teams would meet in the month of November.
However, the Yellow Jackets had a tie attached to their record as they had been tied by the North Carolina Tar Heels 13-13 two weeks prior to their much anticipated game with the Cavaliers.
Despite the tie, the Yellow Jackets still had championship aspirations as a win over Virginia could propel Tech to their first ever ACC title.
When gameday arrived, there were rumblings the game could be postponed as a fire had been set to the artificial turf in the middle of the field at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.
However, the grounds crew was able to get a 18x32 patch of turf and glued on to the field to replace the damage set by the fire.
After an morning inspection by Virginia head coaches George Welsh and Georgia Tech head coaches Bobby Ross, the field was deemed playable and the scene was set for a barnburner of a game.
After forcing the Yellow Jackets to punt on their opening possession of the game, the Cavaliers got the ball at their 32-yard-line.
A 36-yard pass from Shawn to Herman help set up a one-yard touchdown run by Shawn to cap off the seven play, 68-yard drive to give Virginia a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Cavs defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 49-yard-line when Kirby busted loose for a 23-yard run to begin the drive, which was soon followed by a 14-yard pass from Shawn to Herman to give Virginia a 1st & 10 at the Tech 11-yard-line.
However, the Yellow Jackets defense would stiffen, allowing only one more yard on the next three plays, forcing the Cavaliers to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Jake McInerery which increased Virginia's lead to 10-0 with 3:58 to play in the opening quarter.
The Yellow Jackets would go three-and-out again on their next possession, punting the ball back to Virginia who took over at their 48-yard-line.
The Cavs were able to drive to the Tech 34-yard-line, giving McInerery a chance to attempt a 51-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter.
McInerery made the kick to increase the Cavaliers' lead to 13-0 just 10 seconds into the second quarter.
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| Virginia quarterback Shawn Moore would account for 376 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. |
After McInerery's long field goal, the Georgia Tech offense finally got moving as they ran the ball on 10 of the 11 plays on their 75-yard touchdown drive which ended with Jones running it in for a 23-yard touchdown to cut the Virginia lead to 13-7 with 9:43 to go in the first half.
However, the Cavaliers would strike back with a six-play, 61-yard drive which featured another big play from the Moore-to-Moore connection as Shawn hit a 44-yard pass to Herman to help set another one-yard touchdown run by Shawn.
Virginia decided to go for two, which was successful as Shawn found Herman in the end zone to give Virginia a 21-7 lead with 6:42 remaining in the second quarter.
It would only take the Yellow Jackets three plays to get back into the end zone as Jones completed all three of his passes on a three-play, 64-yard drive that culminated with Jones connecting with Bobby Rodriguez for a 43-yard touchdown to cut the Virginia lead in half to 21-14 with 5:33 left in the first half.
The Cavaliers got the ball at their 38-yard-line and proceeded to use up most of the remaining time in the first half with a 11-play, 62-yard drive which ended with Shawn's third touchdown run of the first half, this time on a quarterback draw from six yards out, to push Virginia's lead to 28-14 with 36 seconds remaining on the clock in the first half.
The Yellow Jackets try to put together a drive to get into field goal range but were unable to as the clock expired on the first half with Georgia Tech down 28-14.
It seemed like the #1 ranked Cavaliers were in total control of the game as they had scored on all five of their first half possessions and were set to get the ball to start the second half.
But on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Shawn Moore fumbled the football which was recovered by Tech linebacker Calvin Tiggle, giving the Yellow Jackets the ball at the Virginia 28-yard-line.
Four plays later, the Yellow Jackets were in the end zone as Jerry Gilchrist took a end around reverse and scored a 12-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game at 28-21, just 2:13 into the second half.
Following the Tech touchdown, the Cavaliers got the ball at their 25-yard-line and proceeded to drive to the Yellow Jackets' 15-yard-line until Shawn threw a pass that bounced off the hands of running back Nikki Fisher and into the hands of Tiggle, whose 38-yard return set up the Yellow Jackets offense at their 48-yard-line.
Tech was unable to convert the turnover into points and was forced to punt the ball back to Virginia, but punter Scott Aldredge was able to pin the Cavs back at their four-yard-line.
The Tech defense would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at the Virginia 46-yard-line which eventually lead to a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Emmett Merchant which tied the game at 28 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
However that tie would only last for 86 seconds as the Moore-to-Moore connection struck again as Shawn hit Herman for a 63-yard touchdown to put the Cavs back on top 35-28 with 3:08 left in the third quarter.
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| Virginia wide receiver Herman Moore would catch nine passes for 234 yards and a touchdown. |
But the Yellow Jackets would came right back with a seven-play, 74-yard touchdown drive which saw Jones complete all four of his passes on the drive for 50 yards and was capped off with an eight-yard touchdown run by William Bell to tie the game with two seconds left in the third quarter.
After forcing the Cavaliers to punt on their next possession, the Yellow Jackets got the ball at their 28-yard-line.
After two plays gained just three yards, Tech was faced with a 3rd & 7 at their 31-yard-line when Jones hit Merchant for 27 yards to give the Yellow Jackets a 1st down at the Virginia 42-yard-line.
Bell would run for 13 yards on the next play, but after two runs by Bell picked up only a yard, the Yellow Jackets were faced with a 3rd & 9 at the Virginia 30-yard-line.
That is when Jones scrambled for 12 yards to pick up another Tech 1st down at the Virginia 18-yard-line.
From there the drive would stall forcing the Yellow Jackets to call on Scott Sisson to attempt a 32-yard field goal.
Sisson made the kick to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game at 38-35 with 7:17 to go in the game.
The Cavaliers got the ball back at their 28-yard-line and after two straight runs by Kirby picked up 14 yards, Shawn and Herman connected again, this time for 48 yards that added with a Georgia Tech unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, gave Virginia a 1st & 5 from the five-yard-line.
The Cavs were not in a goal-to-go situation as the 1st down marker was inside the one-yard-line so after a four-yard run by Shawn and a short run by Fisher, the Cavaliers had a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.
That is when perhaps the most important sequence of plays occurred.
First, Fisher was stopped for no gain on 1st down, which was followed by an illegal procedure penalty on guard Chris Stearns, pushing the Cavaliers back to the six-yard-line for 2nd & goal.
Shawn and Herman connected for the ninth and final time in the game, this time for five yards, to set up 3rd & goal at the one-yard-line when Shawn hit tight end Aaron Mundy for the apparent go-ahead touchdown pass, only to have it called back because of another illegal procedure penalty as the Cavs had only six men lined up on the line of scrimmage instead of the required seven.
Back at the six-yard-line, Shawn dropped back and fired a pass for Herman in the end zone, only to have Tiggle came in and knock the pass down, forcing Welsh to decide whether to go for the tie or try for the touchdown.
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| Georgia Tech quarterback Shawn Jones accounted for 309 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. |
With over two and a half minutes to play, Welsh decided to go for the tie as McInerney made the 23-yard field goal to tie the game at 38 with 2:34 left to play in the game.
The Yellow Jackets took over at their 24-yard-line with a chance to drive for the winning score and pull off the biggest win in school history.
The drive began with a 23-yard pass from Jones to Bell, which was followed up by a 13-yard run by Bell to put the Yellow Jackets in Virginia territory at the Cavaliers 40-yard-line.
Then after Jones lost a yard on 1st down, he hit Bobby Rodriguez for six yards to set up a 3rd & 5 at the Virginia 35-yard-line.
That is when Jones found Greg Lester for 15 yards and a 1st down at the Cavs 20-yard-line.
Having used his last timeout following the Lester catch, Ross sent the field goal unit to try and win the game with a 37-yard field goal.
After Welsh called timeout in hopes of freezing the kicker, Sisson nailed the 37-yard field goal to give Georgia Tech a 41-38 lead with seven seconds left.
Virginia had time for one last play but Shawn Moore's desperation pass was intercepted ending the game with the Yellow Jackets coming away with the 41-38 upset.
The Cavaliers never recovered from the loss as they would drop their last three games of the season, including a 23-22 loss to Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl which saw the Cavaliers blow a 16-0 halftime lead
Virginia would finish the season with a 8-4 record and #15 ranking in the final Coaches Poll, but #23 in the final AP poll.
As for the Yellow Jackets, the win helped propelled to win the ACC championship and a berth in the Citrus Bowl where they routed the Nebraska Cornhuskers 45-21 to finish the season with a 11-0-1 record and #1 ranking in the final coaches poll, giving Tech a share of the national championship with Colorado.
A fitting end to a wild and crazy season.
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| Scott Sisson raises his hand in celebration after kicking the game-winning field goal with seven seconds left. |
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