Win vs. Virginia sent Jackets on the way in 1990

ATLANTA - The emotional crash finally came on the bus ride from the airport to the Georgia Tech campus.

For hours, the players and coaches of the 1990 Yellow Jacket team had celebrated their upset of No. 1 Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

The victory, which would catapult the Jackets to the national co-championship that season, kicked off a euphoric evening on Nov. 3, 1990.

The Jackets partied on the sideline, in the locker room, on the flight home, and with fans who welcomed them at the airport.

But as they climbed onto the buses for the short ride to campus, most fell silent. They were wiped out, "ready for bed" as former offensive lineman Mike Mooney put it this week, on the eve of the 2005 team's game against Virginia and the 15th anniversary of the upset.

The come-from-behind 41-38 victory was draining enough. The aftermath had finished them off.

As the buses turned off North Avenue and into campus, though, the adrenaline came rushing back.

The student body was celebrating the victory. They'd built a bonfire in the street and had torn down the goal posts in Bobby Dodd Stadium.

"It was as if we had just won the Super Bowl," said William Bell, a running back on that team.

"I figured people would be in their dorm rooms or the library, studying as usual," offensive lineman Jim Lavin said. "I was just so overwhelmed to see people that excited about football and doing things you usually don't see engineers do."

The unimaginable scene matched a unfathomable season by the Yellow Jackets.

They opened 1990 unranked and two years removed from a 3-8 season. The program had lost so much respect nationally it hadn't been invited to a bowl game since 1985, even after winning six of its final seven games and finishing 7-4 in 1989.

"They were horrible when I got there," said kicker Scott Sisson, who was a sophomore in 1990.

"They had all of three wins the year before. I had no illusions of grandeur. I wanted to kick for a college football team and get a good education."

Sisson ended up a hero - as well as an All-American who went on to play four years in the NFL.

He kicked the game-winning field goal with seven seconds left against Virginia.

"Beating Virginia put us back on the map," Mooney said. "In our minds, we turned it around the year before, but we turned it around on a national level against Virginia."

Reach Adam Van Brimmer at (404) 589-8424 or adam.vanbrimmer@morris.com.