Virginia Travels to Atlanta Saturday to Open ACC Play at Georgia Tech

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Virginia Returns to Atlanta to Square-Off with Georgia Tech
• Virginia heads to Atlanta Saturday for its road opener at Bobby Dodd Stadium against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
• The last time UVa played outside the city of Charlottesville and Scott Stadium was also in the city of Atlanta when the Cavaliers faced Auburn in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
• The last time UVa made consecutive trips to the same city for games away from Charlottesville dates back to 1984 and 1985. Atlanta was the same city as well when UVa appeared in the 1984 Peach Bowl and opened up its road schedule in 1985 at Georgia Tech.

Noting Road Openers
• UVa is 43-74-3 all-time in road openers.
• The Cavaliers snapped a five-game losing streak in road openers last season when UVa marched out of Bloomington, Ind., with a 34-31 victory in the road opener over the Indiana Hoosiers.
Noting Virginia in ACC Openers
• UVa begins its 59th season competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday at Georgia Tech.
• In conference openers, Virginia holds a 22-36 all-time record.
• The Cavaliers last won an ACC opener at North Carolina in 2009, a 16-3 triumph over the Tar Heels.
• The last time UVa’s ACC opener was also the team’s road opener was in 2002 when the Cavaliers played at Florida State, a 40-19 setback to the Seminoles.
Last Meeting: 2011 (UVA 24, GT 21)
• The last time these two teams clashed the Cavaliers scored all 24 points in the first half and held on to defeat the Yellow Jackets, 24-21, who entered the contest 6-0 and ranked No. 12 in the nation.
• Perry Jones rushed for a career-high 149 yards on 18 carries.
• As a team UVa out-rushed Georgia Tech in the game, 274 yards to 272 yards – which served as the first time such a feat happened against the Yellow Jackets since the 2009 season when Iowa accomplished it in the 2010 Orange Bowl.

UVa connections with Georgia Tech
• Five Cavaliers hail from the state of Georgia – freshman QB Greyson Lambert (Jesup), sophomore WR Miles Gooch (Decatur), sophomore OLB D.J. Hill (Covington), freshman CB C.J. Moore and freshman OG Sam Jower (Atlanta).
• Georgia Tech’s third-year defensive coordinator, Al Groh, was the head coach at Virginia for nine seasons (2001-2009) and compiled a 59-53 record during that time. Groh is a 1967 graduate of the University and played football and lacrosse for the Cavaliers.
• Georgia Tech offensive line coach Mike Sewak was a three-year letterwinner (1978-79-80) as an offensive lineman at Virginia for former head coach Dick Bestwick.

Penn State Win Garners Comparisons
•The Virginia win over Penn State had some comparisons with notable Cavalier victories last season.
• The win, which pushed Mike London’s career record versus the Big Ten to 2-0, was similar to his first win over the conference at Indiana last season.
• Playing Penn State on the same weekend they played Indiana a year ago – each game’s outcome was determined on the game’s final play. In 2011 at IU, it was a 23-yard field goal made by UVa’s Robert Randolph as time expired. In the Penn Sate game it was the 42-yard missed field goal by Sam Ficken.
• The miss by Penn State’s Ficken was from the same distance (42-yards) that Florida State’s Dustin Hopkins miss was that sealed the 2011 win for the Cavaliers, making UVa the first team in college football history to win road games at Miami and Florida State in the same season.
• Both kicks sailed wide left.

rocco getting it done in the clutch
• Michael Rocco was pinpoint on UVa’s final offensive drive against Penn State, throwing what proved to be the game-winning TD pass in the process.
• Rocco was 6-of-6 passing for 97 yards and had the one TD pass to Jake McGee during the drive against PSU. He was 4-of-4 on the drive when in a third down situation.
• The Penn State game was the third time in Rocco’s career he has marched down the field in the closing minutes to tie a game or win it.
• The other games: at Indiana (Sept. 10, 2011) when Rocco orchestrated a 15-play, 77-yard drive that tied the contest with 1:36 left in the game after Rocco found Paul Freedman on the two-point conversion. At Florida State (Nov. 19, 2011) when Rocco started the game-winning drive with 1:53 left on the clock and he marched the Cavaliers down the field on a five-play, 75-yard five in 47 seconds, culminating with a Kevin Parks TD run.

Jake McGee Notches Career Day vs Penn St.
• Jake McGee had a career day against Penn State catching four passes for 99 yards, both career highs. McGee’s six-yard TD reception put UVa up for good with 1:28 left. The TD was the first of McGee’s career.
• McGee was clutch against the Nittany Lions. Here is a break down of his four catches, all resulting in points or a first down:
– first catch for 26 yards was in a 2nd and 15 situation (third quarter)
– second catch for 23 yards was in a 3rd and 20 situation (third quarter)
– third catch for 44 yards was in a 3rd and 16 situation (fourth quarter)
– fourth catch for six yards was for a TD on a 3rd and goal from the six (fourth quarter).

The McGee and Rocco Connection
• UVa QB Michael Rocco and TE Jake McGee have a connection that goes back before both enrolled at UVa back in 2010, both as QBs.
• McGee led his high school, Collegiate School in Richmond to the 2008 & 2009 VIS Division I state titles, defeating Michael Rocco’s Liberty Christian Academy squad in the state title game in 2009. McGee tallied seven TDs in the game, four passing and three rushing.
• McGee later got the best of Rocco in the boys’ basketball state quarterfinal round.
• McGee asked the UVa coaching staff to move from QB to TE after two practices in fall camp of 2010.