Virginia Cavaliers Official Athletic Site
Open Search
Football
. Football

UVA Leaps Over Louisville, 27-3, in ACC Opener

Box Score | Video Highlights | Postgame Notes | Postgame Quotes | Photo Gallery No. 1 | Photo Gallery No. 2 | Boxscore

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (3-1) opened ACC play with a 27-3 win over Louisville (2-2) on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium.

The UVA defense held Louisville without a touchdown, recording two interceptions and recovering a fumble in the win. The Cavaliers capitalized on the turnovers with two touchdowns and a field goal.
 
It is the first time since 2010 that Louisville has not scored a touchdown in a regular season game. The Cavaliers led with 401 total yards on offense to 214 for the Cardinals. UVA scored three unanswered touchdowns to close out the win.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Following Louisville’s field goal in the third quarter, UVA drove the field and Bryce Perkins (Queen Creek, Ariz.) found Chris Sharp (Burlington, N.J.) for a 3-yard touchdown reception to go up 13-3.  
 
Louisville was driving before a Bryce Hall (Harrisburg, Pa.) interception was returned for 19 yards to give the Cavaliers the ball. On third and 14, Perkins connected with Joe Reed (Charlotte Court House, Va.) for a 44-yard touchdown reception to put the UVA up 20-3. The Cavaliers secured the game with an eight-yard touchdown run by Perkins after a fumble recovery by the defense.
 

STAT LEADERS
• QB Bryce Perkins
Passing: 17-24-1, 197 yards, 2 TD
Rushing: 78 yards, 1 TD
 
• WR Joe Reed
2 receptions, 52 yards, 1 TD
 
• OLB Charles Snowden
8 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 1.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 FR
 
NOTES
• UVA scored one touchdown on a 44-yard pass play. On the season, of UVA’s 17 offensive touchdowns, 10 have come on plays of 20 yards or more.
• OLB Charles Snowden recorded his first career interception in the second quarter. It is the first UVA interception by a linebacker since Chris Peace in the 2017 season opener against William & Mary. Snowden finished the game with a career-high eight tackles. He also recorded a sack and recovered a fumble.
• The last time Louisville was held without a touchdown in the regular season was Oct. 30, 2010 against Pitt, when both teams were in the Big East.
• It is the first time since 2009 that UVA has held an ACC opponent without a touchdown. The last time was at Maryland when UVA won 20-9 on Oct. 17, 2009.
• PK Hunter Pearson made his collegiate debut, connecting on a 28-yard field goal in the second quarter on his first collegiate play. Pearson added a 24-yard field goal later in the second quarter.
 

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
“I was really proud of my team today. Really was proud of my defensive staff. They performed really well. Defense carried the beginning of the game, creating scoring opportunities, which then eventually we leveraged into touchdowns, not in the first half, but eventually we started to kind of handle sudden change a little better offensively. Touchdowns started to manifest and then we played all the way through the end. It was a strong performance by the team to be able to finish a game like that without some of the miscues that sometimes emerge or giving up points at the end or different things that happen. It was a clean finish, and that’s not easy to do. And so, really happy for our team, really happy for our program, our fans. And yeah, we have some momentum going.”
 
UP NEXT
Virginia travels to Raleigh, N.C., to take on NC State on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 12:20 p.m. at Carter-Finley Stadium.
 

Related Stories