The Virginia football team competes against North Carolina in the
South's Oldest Rivalry, a historic football rivalry game which a sitting President of the United States,
Calvin Coolidge, made time to attend in Charlottesville in 1924. The 1960s and 1970s were particularly dark decades for the football program, which later experienced a resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s under
George Welsh. Coach Welsh led the program to its first bowl bids starting with the
1984 Peach Bowl. Welsh, who even reached AP No. 1 rankings for Virginia in October 1990, is a member of the
College Football Hall of Fame after compiling the second-most wins in ACC history after
Bobby Bowden. In a historic rivalry between two legendary coaches, Welsh finished two games up in the head-to-head series against Virginia Tech coach
Frank Beamer, 8–6. He was also dominant against UNC in the South's Oldest Rivalry, finishing 13–5–1, including a perfect 10–0 record against North Carolina at
Scott Stadium.