{mosimage} Perhaps no football team in Virginia history embraced the role of the underdog better than Al Groh’s overachieving squad in 2002. The youthful Cavaliers were picked to finish second to last in the ACC that season in the preseason media poll, but the freshmen-laden bunch continued to silence their critics as the season rolled along. Behind the precise passes of their talented quarterback Matt Schaub, the nimble legs of running back Wali Lundy, a “ball-hawking” defense that always seemed to force turnovers at the right moment, and a little bit of luck, the Cavalier football team was opening eyes around the nation as a force to be reckoned with. Apparently the 18th ranked Maryland Terrapins didn’t receive the memo. They strutted into Scott Stadium behind an 8-game winning streak and were just oozing with confidence. The only problem was that they were letting the Cavaliers know about it. The Terrapins were perhaps a little too confident that they were going to claim a share of the ACC title and a possible BCS berth after dispatching the lowly Cavaliers.

During pre-game interviews, Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen said that his team expected to beat teams like Duke and Virginia. Note to Ralph, don’t drop a comment like that unless you know you can really overpower a team, because a comment like that is definitely going to stir up a firestorm of emotions.

That game on November 23, 2002 likely took the Maryland-Virginia rivalry to new heights, because you see the two teams were never really huge rivals, until Ralph Friedgen and Al Groh landed at their respective alma maters. You could immediately see the two schools heading on a collision course as soon as you looked at the similar visions of the two head coaches. Both coaches were immediately very aggressive on the recruiting trail and both wanted to separate their team from the middle of the pack in the ACC and gain a piece of the “elite” status within their conference. Both coaches undoubtedly had visions of Waterford crystal swirling in their thoughts. Blood between the two teams has steadily gotten worse over the years, but I’d say that this game in 2002 was one that definitely helped to start the mounting tension between the two squads. Don’t look for Al Groh and Ralph Friedgen to exchange Christmas cards anytime soon, because it has been well-documented over the years how much disdain the opposing coaches have for one another.