How important are the last three games of the season for the Virginia football team?
Byron Thweatt can tell you.
"This next stretch run is going to determine what is going to happen for this football team," said Thweatt, a senior linebacker. "Are we going to have a good year or are we going to have a mediocre year?"
Like a marathon runner with the tape in sight, the Cavaliers enter the most crucial and difficult stretch of their season. Awaiting Virginia at the finish line could be a trip to a bowl game or a post-season of watching the games at home.
"In the back of my mind, this is my last year. I'm thinking bowl," Thweatt said. "I want watches and bags and stuff like that too."
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With five wins, the Cavaliers (5-3, 4-2 ACC) are one away from receiving their goodies. A team needs six wins against Division I-A competition to be eligible for a bowl, but the Cavs can get by with five because they will use a rule that allows a team to count a victory against a Division I-AA opponent towards the six-win quota every three years. Virginia defeated Richmond 24-6 Sept. 9.
"All three of the games are make or break games," quarterback Dan Ellis said. "We've got to win all three of them. I don't think we are outmatched in any of them."
Outmatched? No. Challenged? Definitely. The opposing teams have a combined record of 19-4. To begin the gauntlet of games, next Thursday in Atlanta the Cavs play Georgia Tech, who handed No. 10 Clemson its first loss Saturday. They then host N.C. State and Philip Rivers, the Wolfpack's phenomenal freshman quarterback, Nov. 18.
Jockeying for conference position with Georgia Tech (6-2, 4-2) and N.C. State (5-2, 2-2), Virginia has a challenge ahead. And if that weren't enough, the Thanksgiving weekend game against rival No. 2 Virginia Tech (8-0) looms in the distance. After that Nov. 25 match, Virginia hopes to be giving thanks for another seven-win season. Florida State, Nebraska, Michigan and Virginia are the only Division I-A teams to have won at least seven games each of the last 13 years.
"That seven wins will get you to a bowl game," Thweatt said. "We've got to perform well in these games in order for anything like that to happen."
Hoping to survive the test of skill and endurance, Virginia begins its sprint to the end, ironically, with an off week.
"We are blessed with a bye week coming in right now," linebacker Donny Green said. "That's going to help a couple of guys get back and healthy."
Although a bowl bid is within grasp, Thweatt isn't packing his bags quite yet. However, he does have dreams of a nice senior trip.
"This is what you play college football for," Thweatt said. "I think if we do everything we are supposed to do, and get better each week, we are going to have a chance"
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