CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2005 Virginia

7–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Al Groh.

Schedule and results

Virginia in 2005, game by game: won vs. Western Michigan 31–19; won at Syracuse 27–24; won vs. Duke 38–7; lost at Maryland 33–45; lost at No. 18 Boston College 17–28; won vs. No. 4 Florida State 26–21; lost at North Carolina 5–7; won vs. Temple 51–3; won vs. No. 24 Georgia Tech 27–17; lost vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech 14–52; lost at No. 10 Miami 17–25; won vs. Minnesota 34–31+48−38Won 31–19 vs. Western Michigan+12Western MichiganWon 27–24 at Syracuse+3SyracuseWon 38–7 vs. Duke+31DukeLost 33–45 at Maryland-12MarylandLost 17–28 at No. 18 Boston College-11No. 18 Boston CollegeWon 26–21 vs. No. 4 Florida State+5No. 4 Florida StateLost 5–7 at North Carolina-2North CarolinaWon 51–3 vs. Temple+48TempleWon 27–17 vs. No. 24 Georgia Tech+10No. 24 Georgia TechLost 14–52 vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech-38No. 7 Virginia TechLost 17–25 at No. 10 Miami-8No. 10 MiamiWon 34–31 vs. Minnesota+3Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsWestern MichiganW 31–⁠1984%
Sep 17atSyracuseW 27–⁠2455%
Sep 24vsDukeW 38–⁠784%
Oct 1atMarylandL 33–⁠4555%
Oct 8at18Boston CollegeL 17–⁠2838%
Oct 15vs4Florida StateW 26–⁠2140%
Oct 22atNorth CarolinaL 5–⁠754%
Nov 5vsTempleW 51–⁠389%
Nov 12vs24Georgia TechW 27–⁠1755%
Nov 19vs7Virginia TechL 14–⁠5240%
Nov 26at10MiamiL 17–⁠2522%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsMinnesotaMusic City BowlW 34–⁠3149%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Minnesota 34–⁠31 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 26th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 25
  2. Wk 2: 23
  3. Wk 3: 25
  4. Wk 4: 23
  5. Wk 5: 19
  6. Wk 8: 23
Record
7–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
320–⁠279
Coach
Al Groh
Elo
1589 −2 this season
SP+ rating
5.6 No. 50 of 118; offense No. 45, defense No. 44
SRS
5.1 No. 39 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 17
Offensive coordinator
Ron Prince
Defensive coordinator
Al Golden

How good, play by play

  • Offense47th of 119
  • Defense100th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0740%1.0047th of 119
Defense0.1343%0.98100th of 119
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 312% allowed
Defense0.0own 271% 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 2005 class

Eugene Monroe OT★★★★★No. 1
Mike Brown CB★★★★No. 120
Vic Hall ATH★★★★No. 123
John Phillips TE★★★No. 829
Kevin Crawford SDE★★★No. 829

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

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers13.00.811
Offensive line23.50.894
Defensive line13.00.811
Linebackers22.00.778
Defensive backs14.00.931
Athletes and specialists14.00.922
Whole class83.10.852

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 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 1D’Brickashaw Ferguson OTNew York Jets
Rd 5Brad Butler OTBuffalo Bills
Rd 5Marques Hagans WRSt. Louis Rams
Rd 6Wali Lundy RBHouston Texans
Rd 6Kurt Smith KSan Diego Chargers

All-ACC

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech7–⁠111–⁠27
Miami6–⁠29–⁠317
Boston College5–⁠39–⁠318
Florida State5–⁠38–⁠523
Georgia Tech5–⁠37–⁠5
Clemson4–⁠48–⁠421
North Carolina4–⁠45–⁠6
NC State3–⁠57–⁠5
Virginia3–⁠57–⁠5
Maryland3–⁠55–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠54–⁠7
Duke0–⁠81–⁠10

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