Orange Fever

Wahoos love traditions, especially this budding one at UVA: contending for a national title

By Joe Lemire

The traditionally late-arriving Wahoos now show up early and in orange to cheer on quarterback Marques Hagans and the rest of the Cavaliers. AP

Virginia students care about few things more than tradition. From the 162-year-old honor code, in which students sign pledges not to cheat, to the reverence for our founder, "Mr. Jefferson," of whom Wahoos speak in the same hushed tones as, say, Florida State students do Bobby Bowden, we cherish the preservation of our time-honored rituals.

That all changed, however, once we got a football contender.

At the urging of head coach Al Groh, most Virginia students have shed the traditional football dress code -- shirts and ties for the gentlemen, sundresses for the ladies -- in favor of T-shirts and body paint. On Aug. 29 the athletic department passed out more than 3,200 free orange fever T-shirts, which have become ubiquitous around Charlottesville. A few staunch traditionalists are resisting the change, but Scott Stadium has never looked so unified. "On Saturday," said tight end Heath Miller, "it was exciting to see the sea of orange."

Virginia, which last week was ranked 12th, has never finished a season higher than 13th. There hasn't been this much excitement about football here since The Play, as it's come to be known around town: Florida State's Warrick Dunn being tackled inside the one-yard line as the Cavaliers handed the Seminoles their first-ever ACC loss, in a nationally televised game in 1995.

The Cavaliers' domination of their weak early-season opponents (Temple, North Carolina and Akron) has inspired guarded optimism, but it's optimism nonetheless. Team Cavalier, a student fan group, is organizing road trips to away games, and a traditionally late-arriving student body is now sprinting through the gates when they open, two hours before kickoff. "We're glad to give them what they want to see," says Elton Brown, a preseason All-America guard.

Groh asked students to change their game-day dress, and we responded in kind. Just don't ask us to call our founder "Thomas."

Joe Lemire, a senior American politics major, is senior associate editor for the Cavalier Daily.

Issue date: September 27, 2004

SI ON CAMPUS Sports Illustrated On Campus, a new magazine covering college sports and collegiate lifestyles, is available as an insert in 74 major college newspapers across the country every Thursday throughout the school year. Click any of the links below to see selected content from the latest issue. • Cover Story: The Nebraska Murder • The A List: Shaq, Money Picks and a Q&A • Road Trip: University of Mississippi • Scorecard: The Vibe at Virginia • The Final: Today's Forecast • Previous issue: September 16, 2004