Virginia Falls Short at No. 11 Miami

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Virginia (1-4, 1-4 ACC) had a chance in the final seconds but fell short at No. 11 Miami (5-1, 4-1 ACC), 19-14, on a rainy Saturday evening at Hard Rock Stadium.

Quarterback Brennan Armstrong (Shelby, Ohio) returned after suffering a concussion against NC State. Armstrong threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns and led UVA with 91 rushing yards. The Cavaliers finished with 366 total yards, while Miami had 444 yards (322 passing 122 rushing).

HOW IT HAPPENED

After Miami scored a touchdown just 28 seconds into the game, Virginia drove the field for a touchdown from Armstrong to tight end Tony Poljan (Lansing, Mich.) to tie it up. Miami kicked a field goal just before halftime to lead 10-7.

Miami added a field goal in the third quarter to lead 13-7.  The Hurricanes tacked on a touchdown, but UVA got the stop on the 2-point conversion to keep it 19-7 with 12:04 to play. Virginia drove 94 yards in 2:10 for a touchdown, with Armstrong connecting with wide receiver Ra’Shaun Henry (Killeen, Texas) for a 35-yard touchdown, to make it 19-14.

STAT LEADERS

QB Brennan Armstrong

• Passing: 16-30, 181 yards, 2 TD
• Rushing: 15 attempts, 91 yards

WR Billy Kemp

• 5 receptions, 49 yards

LB Nick Jackson

• 16 tackles, 1 TFL, 0.5 sack

FROM BRONCO MENDENHALL

On biggest issues in between scoring drives:

“I think Miami’s a good defense. I think they played consistently. I think we had our moments with certainly a touchdown taken off the board, which then would have changed the outcome. And it was a really tough game. And so those were two teams battling really, really hard today, and a penalty took a touchdown off the board and then that changes the game. So, Miami’s good. They played well. I thought we played well and, you could probably argue there’s one or two plays, or maybe one play. And that’s, that’s what I saw.”

NOTES

• Miami was averaging 9.8 TFLs coming into game and only finished with 2.0.
• UVA finished with 11.0 TFLs, marking the second time the Cavaliers have had 10+ in a game (Duke).
• S Antonio Clary made his first career start at SS.
• S D’Angelo Amos blocked a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter. It was his fifth career blocked kick. He previously blocked four at JMU. One of those four blocks at JMU was a punt.
• QB Brennan Armstrong’ 49-yard pass to Terrell Jana in the third quarter is UVA’s longest offensive play of the season.
• Armstrong finished with a career-high 91 rushing yards.
• WR Billy Kemp IV’s 19-yard punt return in the third quarter was UVA’s longest punt return of the season.

UP NEXT

Virginia returns home to host North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. at Scott Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.