Virginia Powers Past Abilene Christian

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (4-4) finished with 518 total yards in the 55-15 win over Abilene Christian (1-5) on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium.

Quarterback Brennan Armstrong (Shelby, Ohio) threw for 383 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 52 yards. All four of his touchdown passes were for 28-yards or longer and he became the first Cavalier to three passes for at least 50+ yards in one game.

Virginia averaged 18.3 yards per completion and had eight passes for 15 or more yards. The Cavaliers had 403 passing yards and 115 rushing yards. Eight different players scored touchdowns for UVA with two rushing and five passing, along with the interception return.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Cavaliers scored two touchdowns in the first quarter with drives of five plays and one play. Armstrong broke free for 33 yards, found Billy Kemp IV (Highland Springs, Va.) for 24 yards and capped off the drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Poljan (Lansing, Mich.) for the first score of the game. Armstrong then connected with wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr. (Dorchester, S.C.) for a 90-yard touchdown reception to end the first quarter. Virginia took a 21-0 lead after a touchdown rush by running back Shane Simpson (Easton, Pa.), then Simpson scored again as UVA drove the field in the final 30 seconds of the half to lead 28-7 at halftime.

Virginia opened the second half with a touchdown as quarterback Keytaon Thompson (New Orleans, La.) broke free for a 56-yard touchdown reception. The very next drive, Armstrong connected with wide receiver Ra’Shaun Henry (Killeen, Texas) for a 52-yard touchdown as UVA took a 42-7 lead. Quarterback Lindell Stone completed a touchdown pass to wide receiver Demick Starling (Nashville, Tenn.) to give UVA the 49-7 lead. Abilene Christian scored a touchdown then forced a safety to make it 49-15, but Virginia closed out the game with an interception by linebacker D’Sean Perry (Miami, Fla.) that he returned 84-yards for a touchdown.

STAT LEADERS

QB Brennan Armstrong

• Passing: 16-23, 383 yards, 4 TD
• Rushing: 52 yards

RB Shane Simpson

• 4 rushes, 2 TD

TE Tony Poljan

• 77 yards, 1 TD

WR Lavel Davis Jr.

• 90 yards, 1 TD

NOTES

• UVA scored on a one-play, 90-yard touchdown play on the final play of the first quarter. It is the second-longest one-play scoring drive in school history. A 93-yard one-play scoring drive against Wake Forest in 1982 is the longest.
• WR Lavel Davis Jr.’s 90-yard touchdown is the second-longest by a true freshman in program history, second only to Tyrone Davis’ 91-yard score in 1991 against NC State. The pass play is tied for the fifth longest in the nation this season and is the longest in the ACC so far this season.
• QB Brennan Armstrong finished with a career-high 383 passing yards. It is the first career game with 300+ passing yards.
• Armstrong set a career high with four passing touchdowns. Coming into the game he had only one pass of 50 yards or more. Three of his four passing touchdowns came on passes of 90, 56 and 52 yards.
• Poljan finished with 77 receiving yards, which is his season high.
• RB Shane Simpson tied his career high with two rushing touchdowns. Simpson also had two last year against The Citadel when he played for Towson.
• WR Ra’Shaun Henry scored on a 52-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He has three catches in his UVA career and all three have resulted in touchdowns.
• WR Demick Starling nabbed his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter when QB Lindell Stone found him on a two-yard pass.
• DB Elijah Gaines notched his first career sack in the fourth quarter.
• OLB D’Sean Perry closed the game on an 84-yard interception return for a touchdown, which is the fifth-longest return in program history. Perry made his collegiate debut in the game.
• OG Joe Bissinger made first collegiate start at LG.
• DL Olasunkonmi Agunloye**, OLB Dre Bryant, OLB Jonathan Horton**, OG Jestus Johnson III**, OG Jack Keenan, S Darren Klein, OLB D’Sean Perry, and TE Sackett Wood Jr. made collegiate debuts. **-denotes true freshman

UP NEXT

Virginia will travel to Florida State on Saturday, Nov. 28. The game time and network designation will be announced on Monday, Nov. 23.