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BLACKSBURG, Va. – With Virginia Tech offering the expected Sean Glennon –Tyrod Taylor –Greg Boone shuffle at quarterback, Virginia coach Al Groh – with bowl eligibility on the line and questions about the coaches’ performance bubbling – certainly made a surprise move by countering with a tandem of his own. He placed corner Vic Hall under center in the Wildcat formation as the running complement to Marc Verica .
In the end, however, it was a more familiar occurrence that will likely be associated with the outcome of this game: a Verica interception. With Virginia trailing by a field goal and well in range to attempt a long kick to tie, Verica’s pass intended for wide receiver Kevin Ogletree in the heart of the Hokie defense was picked by safety Dorian Porch in the back of the end zone, all but sealing the 17-14 Tech victory. It was Verica’s 16th interception of the season.
Porch “was just reading my eyes all the way,” Verica said. “The ball never really should have been thrown.”
The coaching staff tells Verica “every day – protect the kick,” Groh said. “We practice in that area of the field every day, from the 20 to the 35, all the time. Protect the kick.”
After Virginia Tech went three-and-out on its next possession, Virginia had a last-ditch effort with 1:38 remaining and no timeouts. The Hoos went just one yard on the first three plays, however, and saw Verica get sacked on fourth down to end the hopes of beating the Hokies for the first time since 2003.
With the turnover troubles that Verica has felt in the latter part of the season, Groh was asked how his quarterback can come back from a game, and a season, like this one. “Dr. Phil,” Groh said.
The final score masked a brilliant performance from Hall – playing out of the “Hoocat” formation, Hall joked – who finished with 109 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns, including a 40-yard burst to the end zone and a 39-yard run that brought Virginia to the Tech 24 yard-line prior to Verica’s late interception. He also played corner on the Cavs’ dime package, and earned a sack and 3 tackles, one for a loss and another that saved a touchdown, although the Hokies did end up in the end zone later in that drive.
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With 2 TDs on offense and 1 sack on defense, Vic Hall had a good day for UVa. |
Hall said that he was approached at the beginning of the week about taking snaps against Virginia Tech, and said that he was “all for it.”
Hall “held up every end of his bargain,” Groh said. “It’s a shame that we didn’t have a few more points, and that his performance today won’t be remembered forever – probably because we got three less points, it probably won’t be remembered quite as well, but it had to be one of the best performances ever in this series by an individual player.”
The problem for the Cavs, though, was that while Hall caused fits for the Hokie defense, Virginia had no answer for Taylor. He finished with identical numbers of 137 yards rushing and passing, his lone touchdown coming in the air. The rushing yards were a new career high.
Taylor arguably made the biggest play of the day for the hosts and the Hokie faithful chanted his name at Lane Stadium at game’s end. On Tech’s opening drive of the second half, Taylor broke the Hokies’ longest run from scrimmage of the season and the longest run of his career, weaving in and out of would-be tacklers for a 73-yard gain to the Virginia 9. VT knotted the game at 14 two plays later.
Two drives later, Taylor accounted for all but three yards as the Hokies worked their way from the 49 yard-line to the 11, and Keys made up for his earlier miss with the go-ahead 28-yard field goal.
“The [Taylor run] to start the half – we’ve got a spy on the quarterback, and it looks like we’re going to come out of it pretty good,” Groh said. “Their guy made the play and our guy didn’t make the play, and that’s what changes games of this nature.”
Yet, as much as the Taylor-led Hokies stampeded through the Cavalier defense – Tech finished with 223 yards rushing and 176 passing – Virginia managed to stay in the game thanks to three blown opportunities by Tech in the red zone. Most notably, with the score tied 14-14 midway through the third quarter, Tech quarterback Greg Boone was stuffed for a four-yard loss on 4th-and-goal at the one yard-line by the a tag-team of linebacker John-Kevin Dolce and nose guard Nate Collins . VT kicker Dustin Keys also missed a 22-yard chip shot from the right hash in the second quarter and Glennon fired an errant pass into the end zone that Cavalier senior safety Byron Glaspy intercepted late in the same quarter.
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Byron Glaspy finished with a team-leading 15 tackles and an INT. |
Glaspy, another senior, had perhaps his best game of the season. He added a team-leading 15 tackles to his lone interception.
“We had a lot of stuff set up to try to open the alley for the strong safety over there to be involved in run support for us,” Groh said. “But, you can open up that up for some guys and they can miss the opportunity. He didn’t swing and miss today.”
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, however, they did swing and miss as a team though. This game, of course, was the fourth loss in a row this season, and the fourth and final opportunity for Virginia to become bowl eligible.
“It’s difficult,” Groh said. “There’s not much difference between these two teams, as was evidenced today, but there’s just enough difference.”
And with that, Virginia ends up 5-7 on the season, the second 5-7 finish in the last three years. There will naturally be many questions as to the future of both Al Groh and his son Mike. For senior linebacker Clint Sintim , however, there is no doubt as to where the elder Groh will be next season.
“Oh he’s back. He’s definitely back,” Sintim said. “I don’t feel as though he didn’t do everything he possibly could to help this team out.”
