Editor’s Note: After its hit debut season, UVA football’s animated series “The Ride” is back for 2025. Coach Tony Elliott’s Cavaliers will once again charge onto the field after the animated mascot is displayed on the Scott Stadium videoboard, vanquishing that day’s opponent. The team opens the season at home against Coastal Carolina University on Aug. 30. Fans can celebrate soon with new shirts featuring “The Ride” illustrations, available this season at the UVA Bookstore, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Mincer’s and online at virginiasports.com.
The Ride: The Story Behind Cavman’s New Adventure
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Aside from a brief visit in high school, Greg Walter has never set foot on the University of Virginia’s Grounds. He hasn’t been to Scott Stadium on a football Saturday. He’s never swayed to the “Good Old Song” after a touchdown.
Yet, Walter, a 51-year-old father of two, went into his family’s box of Halloween costumes this summer, pulled out a swashbuckler hat and a wooden katana sword and recorded himself mimicking the motions of UVA’s famed mascot in the living room of his Ohio home.
“My first time being a Cavalier,” Walter said. “It was fun.”
“The Ride” debuted Aug. 31 to a rousing ovation at Scott Stadium ahead of the Cavaliers’ season-opening game against Richmond. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
The tiniest of details matter when you’re tasked with creating a rebooted version of an old tradition. Walter is the owner and creative director of 2Tall Animation, the production company behind the 50 seconds of nostalgia that now plays before the start of each home UVA football game.
After a long hiatus, an animated Cavalier has returned to vanquishing Virginia opponents’ mascots on the videoboard at Scott Stadium. “The Adventures of Cavman,” a longtime staple of the game day experience, officially has a spinoff series.
“The Ride” debuted on Aug. 31 ahead of UVA’s season opener against the University of Richmond Spiders.
[♪ Music with dramatic drumbeat ♪]
[Words presented as a poem in dramatic fashion]
The legendary tales are shared old and new,
Of that iconic hero in the orange and the blue.
With confidence and swagger, a smirk and a jape,
[Bird swooping sound]
A feathered cap and a billowing cape, they’re fearless and bold steadfast in their might.
[Horse galloping sounds]
A Wahoo never backs down from a fight.
Horse neigh]
[Salute by Lionel Fabert plays]
Let’s go!
[Deep, dramatic voice returns to end the poem]
Take heed to all, both far and near,
Of the conquering ride of the Virginia Cavalier!
“When (UVA) approached us, the basic brief was that this ‘Cavman’ thing had existed for a long time and was a fan favorite,” Walter said. “They wanted to bring it back, but they wanted do something different than before.”
“The Adventures of Cavman” featured the tales of an animated UVA mascot riding through Charlottesville and onto Grounds, where he courageously defeated his adversary. The series ran from 2001 to 2015, ending with the beginning of the coach Bronco Mendenhall era. It made a brief return during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The in-house production – a brainchild of Ann Holland, the wife of former UVA athletics director and men’s basketball coach Terry Holland – was appointment viewing for Wahoo fans.
Eric Ward, UVA’s assistant athletics director for marketing, who grew up a season ticketholder, remembers always leaving his family’s tailgate at a certain time to be in his seat for the latest adventure.
“It was something unique,” Ward said. “You always wanted to see what Cavman did in the videos.”
[♪ Music playing, upbeat and orchestral. ♪]
[Grinding sounds as Cavman sharpens his sabre.]
[Warning sound.]
[Noise of people playing football on the Lawn.]
[A collision sound in the game.]
[Goats bleating.]
[Horse neighs.]
[Horse galloping.]
[Car honks.]
[Person cheers, oh yeah.]
[Goat bleats.]
[Cavman growls under his breath.]
[Goat hooves scratch on the ground.]
[Cavman growls louder as he charges.]
[♪ Music gets louder, noise of fit and hooves running on the Lawn. ♪]
[Cavman growls, goat bleats.]
[Kicking sound, goat bleats and noise of large thing hitting the ground.]
[Goat bleats.]
[Cavman yells as spinning and throwing the University of North Carolina mascot.]
[Goat bleating noise. It appears to be scared as it is a higher pitch.]
[Sound of bowling pins being knocked down as the UNC mascot hits a gazebo and knocks it down.]
[Horse neighs.]
[Horse gallops.]
[Cheering from UVA cheerleaders.]
[Music ends.]
With the addition of the new 6,700-square-foot Ramon W. Breeden Jr. Videoboard and accompanying audio system for the 2024 season, Ward collaborated with other members of the athletics department to reimagine and modernize the entire football introductory sequence. That 25-minute period, starting when the teams leave the field after their final warmup session and ending when they run through the tunnel, is now a connected presentation with updated hype videos, starting lineup announcements and a performance from the Cavalier Marching Band.
It all leads to the climactic “Ride,” which aligns with the emergence of the real-life Cavalier on horseback, Julie Caruccio, leading the team onto the field to the tune of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.”
“The goal of each (‘Ride’) video is simple,” Ryan Mahanes, UVA’s assistant athletics director for creative services and digital strategy, said. “We want to introduce Julie and really start the countdown to the team entrance. There’s utility there as it pertains to the game script and sequence, while also building excitement, energy and drama for the team entrance.”
The vision of an “Adventures of Cavman” refresh, something fans clamored for in recent years in surveys and social media comments, popped in Mahanes’ mind last December while attending a Cleveland Cavaliers-Milwaukee Bucks game in Cleveland. There to support a couple of former Hoos – Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome and Bucks play-by-play announcer Dave Koehn – the Cavs’ intro video, which meshed live action and animated elements, captivated Mahanes.
The video was a 2Tall production.
“I made note that it was certainly an approach that we could utilize,” Mahanes said, “and when discussions about bringing back an animated football series got serious, 2Tall was my first call.”
2Tall is a three-person operation that’s partnered with a variety of sports teams, leagues and networks. Mahanes and Ward began deliberating with Walter’s crew in June. The conversations were educational on both sides, as UVA’s team learned about 2Tall’s animation process – such as Walter making reference videos as the Cavalier – and the 2Tall team got a crash course in Wahoo.
“What we always do initially with a new program that we’re working with is dive deep into all the Easter eggs,” Walter said, “all the things that fans of the team find special, their traditions, and the places they’d go to on campus.
“So, we really did a deep dive into what makes a day in the life of a UVA fan. We wanted to figure out what would resonate with those folks. And we came up with a list of locations.”
In addition to the Beta Bridge and Rotunda, “The Ride” also highlights scenes from around the state of Virginia, including the Blue Ridge Mountains and the coastline. The battle sequence before the Maryland game on Sept. 14 took place at the King Neptune Statue in Virginia Beach.
Let's ride!#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/FLY5d8z784
— Virginia Cavaliers (@VirginiaSports) September 15, 2024
[Music with dramatic drumbeat]
[Words presented as a poem in dramatic fashion]
The legendary tales are shared old and new,
Of that iconic hero in the orange and the blue.
With confidence and swagger, a smirk and a jape,
[Bird swooping sound]
A feathered cap and a billowing cape, they’re fearless and bold steadfast in their might.
[Horse galloping sounds]
A Wahoo never backs down from a fight.
Horse neigh]
[Salute by Lionel Fabert plays]
Let’s go!
[Deep, dramatic voice returns to end the poem]
Take heed to all, both far and near,
Of the conquering ride of the Virginia Cavalier!
“That was one place where we wanted to diversify from ‘Adventures of Cavman,’” Ward said. “Previously, it was very centric to UVA and Grounds. He’d do the battles on the Lawn, or the Rotunda, or Carr’s Hill. We wanted to expand that to be commonwealth-wide. As this progresses, there will be more diversification of where the battle scenes take place.”
Ward wrote the poem that completes the beginning and end of each video. Only the battle scenes change for each game.
The next episode of “The Ride” premieres just before noon on Saturday ahead of UVA’s game against the Boston College Eagles.
“Traditions that have stood the test of time are an invaluable way to connect a fan base,” Mahanes said, “and this has been the perfect opportunity to reintroduce one.”
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Article Information
August 31, 2025
