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1997 Virginia

7–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by George Welsh.

Schedule and results

Virginia in 1997, game by game: lost vs. No. 16 Auburn 17–28; won vs. Richmond 26–7; lost at No. 5 North Carolina 20–48; won vs. Wake Forest 21–13; won at Clemson 21–7; won vs. Duke 13–10; lost vs. No. 3 Florida State 21–47; won at Maryland 45–0; won vs. Georgia Tech 35–31; lost at NC State 24–31; won vs. Virginia Tech 34–20+45−28Lost 17–28 vs. No. 16 Auburn-11No. 16 AuburnWon 26–7 vs. Richmond+19RichmondLost 20–48 at No. 5 North Carolina-28No. 5 North CarolinaWon 21–13 vs. Wake Forest+8Wake ForestWon 21–7 at Clemson+14ClemsonWon 13–10 vs. Duke+3DukeLost 21–47 vs. No. 3 Florida State-26No. 3 Florida StateWon 45–0 at Maryland+45MarylandWon 35–31 vs. Georgia Tech+4Georgia TechLost 24–31 at NC State-7NC StateWon 34–20 vs. Virginia Tech+14Virginia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vs16AuburnL 17–⁠2856%
Sep 13vsRichmondW 26–⁠786%
Sep 27at5North CarolinaL 20–⁠4826%
Oct 4vsWake ForestW 21–⁠1377%
Oct 11atClemsonW 21–⁠742%
Oct 18vsDukeW 13–⁠1083%
Oct 25vs3Florida StateL 21–⁠4731%
Nov 1atMarylandW 45–⁠068%
Nov 8vsGeorgia TechW 35–⁠3166%
Nov 15atNC StateL 24–⁠3161%
Nov 29vsVirginia TechW 34–⁠2049%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Virginia Tech 34–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1997.

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
277–⁠242
Coach
George Welsh
Elo
1594 +24 this season
SP+ rating
11.3 No. 34 of 112; offense No. 41, defense No. 29
SRS
8.4 No. 32 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Sparky Woods
Defensive coordinator
Rick Lantz
Captains
Doug Karczewski and Anthony Poindexter

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 2Germane Crowell WRDetroit Lions
Rd 5Doug Karczewski OGNew York Jets

All-ACC

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State8–⁠011–⁠13
North Carolina7–⁠111–⁠16
Virginia5–⁠37–⁠4
Georgia Tech5–⁠37–⁠525
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠5
NC State3–⁠56–⁠5
Wake Forest3–⁠55–⁠6
Maryland1–⁠72–⁠9
Duke0–⁠82–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.