On a balmy December day at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, Matt Schaub capped off a storybook collegiate career by leading Virginia to a 23-16 win over Pittsburgh in the second Continental Tire Bowl.
Though the man that owns every significant Virginia passing record would finish with far from his best statistical game (20-for-31 for 244 yards), Schaub still won Most Valuable Player honors, quite fitting for the quarterback that has become the face, heart and soul of Virginia football over the past two seasons.
Yet it has not always been this way. After leading his team to so many wins, it is easy to forget that Schaub went 1-5 as a starter his sophomore year, taking the job into his junior year on his own only because Bryson Spinner transferred.
After all of the records he has set, it is easy to forget that 17 short months ago, Schaub was benched and booed off the field after managing just 73 yards passing in the 2002 season opener against Colorado State.
Yet there is one thing that will not be easy to forget: What Schaub meant and did for Virginia football. Schaub would bounce back from that rough start and compile the greatest season of any quarterback in school history. He would lead his Cavaliers to a 16-8 record as a starter over the last two seasons, garnering mention as a Heisman candidate after his prolific junior season.
"He joins an elite group of Virginia football players who, through their performance, have made their teams significantly different over a long span of time than what it otherwise would have been," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "I can't imagine that there are very many players in the country that have done as much to carry their team over a long period of time as he has, with some of the throws that he has made and standards he has set."
Schaub finished 2003 by completing 281 of 403 (69.7 percent) passes for 2,952 yards and 18 touchdowns in only 11 games. Despite missing games against three sub-.500 opponents, he threw for over 300 yards four times and completed at least half of his passes in every contest.
These accomplishments came on top of last year, where the ACC Player of the Year threw for a school-record 2976 yards and 28 touchdowns while tossing only seven interceptions. Though he started fewer games than former Virginia star Shawn Moore, Schaub shattered Moore's career passing record by almost 900 yards.
With his Tire Bowl performance, Schaub also set the school record for touchdown passes with 56, in addition to raising his NFL draft status. ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper rates Schaub as the fifth-best quarterback while Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris, who previously served as quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets, is confident that Schaub will find success at the next level.
"I like Matt Schaub," Harris said. "I liked him when we recruited him. He's obviously got excellent size. I always knew he could throw. What impressed me today [at the Tire Bowl] was his mobility. He is a big guy that moves well. He did a nice job for them. I think he'll be a guy to be reckoned with at the next level."
The 6'5", 240-pounder was certainly a guy to be reckoned with at the collegiate level. He started 2003 with high hopes and a Heisman campaign, but Schaub separated his shoulder on the team's first drive in the season opener against Duke and missed almost a month. When Schaub returned, he did not put up quite the same numbers right away, but soon regained his form.
Against N.C. State, Schaub went 41-of-55 for a school record 393 yards passing, but his team came up short for the third straight ACC game.
After another loss -- and Schaub's worst game of the season -- at Maryland, the Cavaliers stood at 5-5.
But Schaub rallied his troops, as he has so many times in the past, and led the Cavaliers to three straight wins, capped of by Virginia's second straight Tire Bowl victory that ended Schaub's career on top.
"Everybody trusts him," Groh said. "Everybody knows that they can depend on him and he steps up when necessary. He does the most important thing that quarterbacks are supposed to do. It's not about velocity or this and that but it's about playing good in the games. When it needs to be done, he steps up and that's what real quarterbacks are supposed to do."
For now, Schaub's collegiate career is over and the 22-year-old will leave Charlottesville for an NFL city to be determined in late April. Though Schaub received his degree in economics last spring, the fact that college was over didn't really sink in until last month.
"It has hit me that it's over and done," Schaub said after the Tire Bowl. "I accepted that earlier this month and coming into this game, I tried not to be in too much denial about it. It's something that is a rite of passage and something that all seniors go through. I knew it would come, and it's just a great way to finish up with a win here."
Schaub's legacy will be a tough act to follow, with sophomore quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-quarterback Marques Hagans and sophomore Chris Olsen, a fall transfer from Notre Dame, expected to battle this spring for the job.
"It's going to be real big to lose Matt on offense because he was such a leader for us," sophomore tailback Wali Lundy said. "You always have to have leaders come up out of each class and somebody's going to have to step up and lead the team."
Regardless of who wins the job, one thing is for sure. It will never be difficult for any Wahoo to remember Matt Schaub.
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