Virginia Tops ODU, 16-14

 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia drove the field in 1:01 and Brendan Farrell kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired in the 16-14 win over Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium.

The Cavaliers led for most of the contest before ODU drove the field with 3:06 remaining on the clock to score a touchdown and take a 14-13 lead. QB Brennan Armstrong threw his fifth 20+ yard pass of the afternoon, connecting with WR Lavel Davis Jr. to put UVA on the ODU 33.

After several attempts in the end zone, Armstrong took a knee in the middle of the field to set up Farrell’s 26-yard field goal. Farrell was 3-for-4 on field goals for the game.

Armstrong, who became the career passing leader during the game, threw for 284 yards. WR Keytaon Thompson had 118 receiving yards, including a 45-yard reception. WR Dontayvion Wicks had four receptions for 85 yards, including three catches for 20+.

RB Xavier Brown rushed for 88 yards that included a 38-yard run to set up UVA’s only touchdown drive. Langston Long led the defense with nine tackles and had two pass breakups.

SCORING PLAYS

• UVA scored its lone touchdown in the first quarter, with a 7-play, 77 yard drive.

Xavier Brown broke free for a 38-yard rush on the first play of UVA’s second drive. Armstrong connected with Thompson for a 19-yard gain to the ODU 20 and RB Perris Jones added a 15-yard rush before RB Mike Hollins converted the 1-yard touchdown run that put UVA on the board first, 7-0.

• Farrell made his first field goal of the afternoon from 26 yards to put UVA ahead 10-0 in the second quarter.

• Farrell converted a 30-yard field goal with 8:37 to go as UVA led 13-7.

• Farrell made his third field goal of the game to secure the 16-14 win

Virginia started its drive on its 37 after a 37-yard kick return by Demick Starling. Armstrong found Davis Jr. running across the field for a 30-yard pass. Armstrong tucked the ball and ran for 13 yards to the ODU 20. A pass interference call in the end zone on ODU moved the Cavaliers to the five. Armstrong threw it up for Wicks in the end zone, but the pass was broken up. He ultimately took the knee to set up the field goal with two seconds on the clock.

Team Notes

• Virginia improved to 2-0 all-time against ODU. The only other meeting between the two schools came in 2019 at Scott Stadium (UVA, 28-17).
• UVA is 12-2 at home in the month of September since the 2017 season.
• After a 37-yard kickoff return by Demick Starling, Virginia drove 56 yards on six plays in the final 1:01 of the game to setup a 26-yard field goal by Brendan Farrell as time expired.
• It marked the first UVA game-winning field goal as time expired since Robert Randolph’s 23-yarder at Indiana in 2011.
• Virginia has won four games in the final minute of a game since the 2011 season, two of them on game-winning drives orchestrated by quarterback Brennan Armstrong.
• The Cavaliers amassed 513 yards of total offense (229 rush, 284 pass), the 11^th time in the last 15 games that UVA eclipsed the 500-yard mark.

Player Notes

• Brennan Armstrong broke the program’s career passing record with a 17-yard completion to Lavel Davis Jr. in the fourth quarter. He passed Matt Schaub on UVA’s all-time list who threw for 7,502 from 2000-03. Armstrong accounted for 284 passing yards in the contest and now has 7,504 for his career.
• Armstrong’s 200-yard passing performance was his 20^th of his career, tying him with Schaub for the most in school history.
• Keytaon Thompson recorded his 100^th career reception with a 47-yard catch in the third quarter, his longest of the 2022 season. All but one of Thompson’s career receptions have come at UVA. He is the 27^th player catch 100 passes in a Cavalier uniform.
• Thompson finished with nine catches and 118 yards receiving, the first 100-yard receiver of the 2022 season for UVA. He has caught a pass in 17-straight games, the longest active streak on the team.
• Thompson was one reception shy of his career-high of 11 last season at Pitt. Thompson has caught five or more passes in six of the last seven games.
• On the final drive of the game, Armstrong hit Davis for a 30-yard pass down the middle. Of his 28 career receptions, 14 have gone for 20 or more yards.
• Brendan Farrell went 3-for-4 in field goals with makes from 26, 30 and 26. His lone miss was from 36 yards out with 3:07 left in the game. It was his first career miss in 13 career attempts from 39 yards and in. The three field goals for Farrell were a single-game, career-high.
• True freshman Xavier Brown rushed for 88 yards on nine carries (9.8 avg.). Brown’s ninth career carry went for 38 yards, the longest by a UVA rusher this season.
• Mike Hollins scored UVA’s lone touchdown with a 1-yard rush in the first quarter. It was his second touchdown of the season and seventh of his career.
• Wide receiver Ethan Davies made his collegiate debut and served as the team’s punt returner in the absence of Billy Kemp IV who was a late scratch. He was credited with two punt returns for 10 yards.
• Langston Long led UVA in tackles for the second-straight week, making nine stops (two solo). He has 22 tackles in the last two games.
• Kam Butler recorded his 17^th career sack (2^nd at UVA). Both of his tackles in the game went for losses.
• Chico Bennett Jr., made four tackles (three solo) and recorded a sack for the second-straight week. The sack forced an ODU three-and-out with 7:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.
• Grant Misch had a career-high four catches in the contest for a total of 33 yards. He had five career receptions coming into the contest.