By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE –– Even with a challenging final stretch still to come, the University of Virginia football team appeared well-positioned, after beating Georgia Tech at Scott Stadium, to make this a special season.
The victory over the Yellow Jackets moved UVA to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the Coastal Division, with games remaining against BYU, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.
The Cavaliers had entered the season with three main goals—to take back the Commonwealth Cup from Virginia Tech, to capture the Coastal Division title, and to win the ACC championship––and all three were still in reach.
Five weeks later, they’ve all slipped away.
UVA closed the regular season Saturday with its fourth straight defeat, and this one stung head coach Bronco Mendenhall and his program more than any of the previous three losses. Given an opportunity to beat the Hokies for the second time in three seasons, the Wahoos stumbled, losing 29-24 at Scott Stadium.
On their final possession, the Hoos drove to the Tech 11-yard line, where they had a first down with two minutes remaining. The Cavaliers’ next two plays, however, netted only 2 yards, and on third down offensive coordinator Robert Anae called for a trick play: a lateral pass from quarterback Brennan Armstrong to tackle Bobby Haskins, who was an eligible receiver.
Haskins caught the ball around the 17-yard line. The Hokies weren’t fooled, and they tackled him for a 5-yard loss.
“They played it really well,” Mendenhall said. “You have to be disciplined to play the play well, and they were, and they made a nice play.”
Armstrong said: ‘It’s one of those plays where in those games if you make that play, and that works, it’s incredible,” he said.
On fourth-and-13 from the 14, Armstrong tried to hit wide receiver Ra’Shaun Henry, but the Hokies broke up the pass in the end zone with 30 seconds remaining, starting a celebration that ended with their fans storming the field once time expired.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, were left to rue the mistakes that plagued them in every phase of the game. Virginia turned the ball over twice, committed a costly roughing-the-punter penalty that extended a Tech drive, and gave up 464 yards to a team that came in ranked last in the ACC in total offense.
The turnovers, Mendenhall said, were probably “the biggest difference, but we battled back and we had a chance with four plays at the end of the game to win it. And a lot of times that’s what happens in a close game or a rivalry game, and the team that makes the plays is the winner.”
In a game in which Armstrong passed for 405 yards, the most ever by a quarterback in a series that dates back to 1895, Virginia finished with 474 yards. On the second play of the game, Armstrong completed a 27-yard pass to wideout Dontayvion Wicks. That gave Armstrong the school record for single-season total offense, and he completed 29 more passes before he was through Saturday.
That wasn’t enough against a Tech team playing its second game under interim head coach J.C. Price. The Cavaliers led 21-17 at intermission, but their offense had only a 34-yard field goal by Brendan Farrell to show for their second-half efforts.
The offense “clearly wasn’t the same as the first half, where it was pretty much moving the ball at will,” Mendenhall said. “To have three points in the second half, it’s not enough to win.’
Armstrong, who also rushed for two touchdowns Saturday, hurt his ankle midway through the third quarter, and true freshman Jay Woolfolk capably filled in for five plays. Armstrong returned late in the quarter, but he was no longer as much of a threat to run, and that allowed the Hokies to tighten up their coverage.
“I feel like in the first half I was able to get out make some plays, shake and bake a little bit and start putting pressure on them down the field when I extended the play,” Armstrong said. “I thought that was what I did well in the first half, and we moved the ball pretty well … [The injury] kind of hindered it a little bit.”