The Commonwealth Clash
Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
101 of their 106 meetings are on file: they first met in 1895, and the earliest on file is 1902; Virginia Tech leads the series 62–34–5 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Virginia Tech 8–2. The winner takes home the Commonwealth Cup, played for since 1996. Virginia has held it since the 2025 game. Share
- Virginia wins
- 34
- Virginia Tech wins
- 62
- Ties
- 5
- Earliest on file
- 1902 first met 1895
- Longest streak
- 15 Virginia Tech
- Current streak
- 1 Virginia
- Last 10 meetings
- Virginia Tech 8–2
- Most recent
- 2025
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 3–1 | ||||||||||
| 1920s | 3–4 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 1–6–3 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 5–2–1 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 1–6 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 5–4–1 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 5–5 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 1–9 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 1–9 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 1–4 |
- Both ranked
- 9 meetings: Virginia 2, Virginia Tech 7
- Average margin
- 14.4 points; 39 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Virginia
- 24–25–3 Virginia’s record at home
- At Virginia Tech
- 34–8–2 Virginia Tech’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 2–3 Virginia first
- Shutouts
- 28
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Commonwealth Cup
- Played for since
- 1996
- Games for it on file
- 29 Virginia 5, Virginia Tech 24
Who holds it comes from the games on file: the winner of the latest regular-season meeting since 1996 (bowl rematches aren’t played for it); a tie leaves it with the holder (the usual rule; the article doesn’t say). From Wikipedia’s list of rivalry games and the rivalry’s article (CC BY-SA). More on the Commonwealth Cup.
Games that tell the story
- Virginia’s biggest win1952: Virginia 42, Virginia Tech 0by 42 points
- Virginia Tech’s biggest win1983: Virginia Tech 48, Virginia 0by 48 points
- Upset1953: Virginia Tech 20, Virginia 6Virginia Tech had a 21% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1924: Virginia 6, Virginia Tech 0Virginia had a 22% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1970: Virginia 7, Virginia Tech 0Virginia had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown2007: Virginia Tech 33, Virginia 21No. 8 Virginia Tech at No. 16 Virginia
- Ranked showdown2004: Virginia Tech 24, Virginia 10No. 16 Virginia at No. 11 Virginia Tech
- Ranked showdown2011: Virginia Tech 38, Virginia 0No. 6 Virginia Tech at No. 24 Virginia
Coach against coach
| Years | Virginia | Series | Virginia Tech |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923–1925 | Greasy Neale | 2–1 | B.C. Cubbage |
| 1926–1928 | Greasy Neale | 1–2 | Andy Gustafson |
| 1934–1936 | Gus Tebell | 0–2–1 | Henry Redd |
| 1937–1940 | Frank Murray | 1–3 | Henry Redd |
| 1948–1950 | Arthur Guepe | 3–0 | Robert McNeish |
| 1953–1955 | Ned McDonald | 0–3 | Frank Moseley |
| 1958–1960 | Richard Voris | 0–3 | Frank Moseley |
| 1961–1964 | William Elias | 1–3 | Jerry Claiborne |
| 1965–1970 | George Blackburn | 1–2 | Jerry Claiborne |
| 1971–1973 | Don Lawrence | 1–2 | Charles Coffey |
| 1978–1981 | Dick Bestwick | 2–2 | Bill Dooley |
| 1982–1986 | George Welsh | 1–4 | Bill Dooley |
| 1987–2000 | George Welsh | 8–6 | Frank Beamer |
| 2001–2009 | Al Groh | 1–8 | Frank Beamer |
| 2010–2015 | Mike London | 0–6 | Frank Beamer |
| 2016–2020 | Bronco Mendenhall | 1–4 | Justin Fuente |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Virginia’s side (Neale 2–1 against Cubbage). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.
Stars of the series
Biggest days
| Ryan Williams Virginia Tech | 24 carries, 183 yards, 4 TD | 2009 Rushing |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1934 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Nov 23, 1934
1945 · The Wilmington morning star, North Carolina, Oct 28, 1945
1946 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 6, 1946
1949 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 9, 1949
1950 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 10, 1950
Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.
On television
| 2025 | ESPN | 1.4 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field.