Herman Moore. Germane Crowell. Billy McMullen. John Ford. Tyrone Davis. Virginia’s 2,000-yard receiving club reads like a symbolic torch-passing in the record books – one guy handing off to the next as their careers line up in succession with just two years missing from 1984 to 2002.

Virginia’s Receiving Leaders

Name, Year, Total Yards

1 . Billy McMullen, 1999-2002, 2,978

2 . Herman Moore, 1988-90, 2,504

3 . John Ford 1984, 1986-88, 2,399

4 . Tyrone Davis, 1991-94, 2,153

5 . Germane Crowell, 1994-97, 2,142

6 . Patrick Jeffers 1992-95, 1,785

7 . Heath Miller, 2002-04, 1,703

8 . Dave Sullivan, 1,970-72 1,578

9 . Bruce McGonnigal, 1987-90 1,556

10 . Terrence Wilkins, 1995-98, 1,495

11 . Alvin Pearman, 2001-04, 1,396

12 . Kevin Coffey, 1997-00, 1,347

13 . Demetrius Allen, 1992-95, 1,312

14 . Tim Finkelston, 1986-89, 1,279

15 . Tom Fadden, 1973-76, 1,237

A closer look at the record list, however, reveals something even more interesting.

Of the next tier of receivers in Virginia’s top 15, many of their careers overlapped with that exclusive 2,000-yard club. The obvious reason for that can be pinpointed on the emergence of passing attacks in the college game in the past 20 years. The sub-layer of that context, however, is the proven need for multiple receivers in modern college football. If you’re going to have one successful, go-to type of receiver, you also have to have secondary options. In a lot of cases, the go-to guy was first a complementary piece.

Herman Moore had Tom Finkelston and Bruce McGonnigal. Germane Crowell overlapped years with Patrick Jeffers, Demetrius Allen, Terrence Wilkins, and Kevin Coffey. John Ford shared portions of his career with Moore, Finkelston, and McGonnigal. Billy McMullen caught passes in the same time span as Alvin Pearman and Heath Miller, who eventually complemented each other. Tyrone Davis’ career lines up with Jeffers and Allen.

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