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2002 Virginia

9–⁠5 (6–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Al Groh, finished No. 22 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Virginia in 2002, game by game: lost vs. Colorado State 29–35; lost at No. 5 Florida State 19–40; won vs. No. 22 South Carolina 34–21; won vs. Akron 48–29; won at Wake Forest 38–34; won at Duke 27–22; won vs. Clemson 22–17; won vs. North Carolina 37–27; lost at Georgia Tech 15–23; lost at No. 19 Penn State 14–35; won vs. No. 22 NC State 14–9; won vs. No. 18 Maryland 48–13; lost at No. 22 Virginia Tech 9–21; won vs. No. 15 West Virginia 48–22+35−21Lost 29–35 vs. Colorado State-6Colorado StateLost 19–40 at No. 5 Florida State-21No. 5 Florida StateWon 34–21 vs. No. 22 South Carolina+13No. 22 South CarolinaWon 48–29 vs. Akron+19AkronWon 38–34 at Wake Forest+4Wake ForestWon 27–22 at Duke+5DukeWon 22–17 vs. Clemson+5ClemsonWon 37–27 vs. North Carolina+10North CarolinaLost 15–23 at Georgia Tech-8Georgia TechLost 14–35 at No. 19 Penn State-21No. 19 Penn StateWon 14–9 vs. No. 22 NC State+5No. 22 NC StateWon 48–13 vs. No. 18 Maryland+35No. 18 MarylandLost 9–21 at No. 22 Virginia Tech-12No. 22 Virginia TechWon 48–22 vs. No. 15 West Virginia+26No. 15 West Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 22vsColorado StateL 29–⁠3544%
Aug 31at5Florida StateL 19–⁠4018%
Sep 7vs22South CarolinaW 34–⁠2137%
Sep 21vsAkronW 48–⁠2969%
Sep 28atWake ForestW 38–⁠3444%
Oct 5atDukeW 27–⁠2264%
Oct 12vsClemsonW 22–⁠1751%
Oct 19vsNorth CarolinaW 37–⁠2761%
Oct 26atGeorgia TechL 15–⁠2339%
Nov 9at19Penn StateL 14–⁠3533%
Nov 16vs22NC StateW 14–⁠941%
Nov 23vs18MarylandW 48–⁠1337%
Nov 30at22Virginia TechL 9–⁠2135%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs15West VirginiaContinental Tire BowlW 48–⁠2244%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat West Virginia 48–⁠22 in the Continental Tire Bowl; No. 22 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 18th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 22

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 2002.

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 22 peak No. 22
Points
402–⁠348
Coach
Al Groh
Elo
1610 +145 this season
SP+ rating
13.8 No. 28 of 117; offense No. 25, defense No. 35
SRS
9.2 No. 31 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 11
Offensive coordinator
Bill Musgrave
Defensive coordinator
Al Golden
Captains
Angelo Crowell and Billy McMullen

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 37— allowed
Defense0.0own 29— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Michael Johnson RB★★★★★No. 12
Ahmad Brooks OLB★★★★★No. 20
Kai Parham WDE★★★★No. 41
Anthony Martinez PRO★★★★No. 86
Tom Hagan K★★★No. 670

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.965
Running backs15.00.994
Defensive line14.00.983
Linebackers15.00.991
Athletes and specialists13.00.800
Whole class54.20.947

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 3Angelo Crowell LBBuffalo Bills
Rd 3Billy McMullen WRPhiladelphia Eagles

All-ACC

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Heath MillerTEAP-2
  • Chris CantyDLAP-2
  • Jerton EvansDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 2002 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2002 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State7–⁠19–⁠521
Maryland6–⁠211–⁠313
Virginia6–⁠29–⁠522
NC State5–⁠311–⁠312
Georgia Tech4–⁠47–⁠6
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠57–⁠6
North Carolina1–⁠73–⁠9
Duke0–⁠82–⁠10

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