Thowback Thursday: The Time JMU Beat UVA in Football

Today we’re going to look back, way back, to 1982. It was the year that the JMU Dukes defeated the University of Virginia 21-17. UVA was of course a member of the ACC. JMU on the other hand was in only its third season of 1-AA. It was a big win for that reason, but the truth is UVA was terrible. And we’re not talking Mike London terrible, we’re talking 2 winning seasons in a span of almost 3 decades terrible. The win came in George Welsh’s first year at the helm of the Cavalier program and avenged a 70 point loss JMU had against UVA in 1979, when the Dukes were in their first year of scholarship football and playing at the D-II level. And it grew more impressive with age when Welsh built UVA into a respectable program in the 80s and 90s.

JMU was an upstart in 1982, but the team was no joke. They went on to finish 8-3 and reached as high as 9th in the polls. One of the highlights in the win over UVA, was when QB John Roddy connected with the Duke’s Gary Clark for an 80 yard touchdown. Also on the field for the Dukes that day was freshmen Charles Haley. Both Clark and Haley of core went on to play in the NFL, win SuperBowls, and eventually earn induction into the JMU Hall of Fame.

We thought it was a fun little video to share. There’s a lot to like if you’re a child of the 80’s. The old school astro turf. The mesh jerseys. The high school-esque scoreboards. The complete lack of production quality. If you listen closely I think you can even hear Hall & Oates tunes playing in the stadium. OK, that’s not true. But it could be.