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Mike London finished his first season as Virginia’s head coach with a 4-8 record. |
Missed opportunities and penalties were two hallmarks of Virginia’s first season under head coach Mike London, and both were present in abundance during Virginia’s crushing, 37-7 defeat at the hands of rival Virginia Tech on Saturday. A late Keith Payne touchdown run prevented a shutout, but the Cavaliers were manhandled on both sides of the ball.
The Wahoo offense had a promising start, moving the ball effectively, and the defense had a few early stops, but Tech proved to be too much as time wore on. After a scoreless first quarter, Tyrod Taylor and the Hokie offense scored 37 unanswered points, putting the game far out of reach.
“They are the measuring stick right now,” London said in The Daily Progress. “You are humbled by the fact that that’s where you’ve gotta go. That’s what I aspire to be, our program to be. A team that wins games and consistently competes for championships.”
There might have been a different ending to this tale had Virginia been able to capitalize on some early opportunities. The Cavalier defense forced Tech to punt on its first three possessions of the game, but Marc Verica and the offense just couldn’t find a spark. The first drive was promising, but Chris Hinkebein missed a 46-yard field goal that would have put the Hoos on the scoreboard first. The two ensuing drives ended with a punt then an interception that turned into seven points for Virginia Tech and turned the tide of the game.
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Marc Verica ended his career at Virginia at No. 6 on the all-time passing yards list. |
Senior quarterback Marc Verica ‘s final game was a perfect cross section of his entire career. He was a solid 12-of-20 passing for 168 yards against a hungry Tech secondary, but he made a few questionable decisions under pressure that led to sacks, lost yardage, and that one, ever-present, costly interception. Junior safety Eddie Whitley made the defensive play as Verica threw slightly off target toward Dontrelle Inman . Whitley returned the pick to the Virginia 5-yard line. Sophomore running back Ryan Williams did what Virginia struggled to do all afternoon, and capitalized on the situation for six points.
Verica finished his career at No. 3 in the UVa record books for both career completions and completion percentage. In his final game, the senior shared time under center with freshmen Michael Rocco and Ross Metheny , who will be among the candidates for the starting job in 2011. Metheny led the most productive drive of the afternoon, an efficient, four-play charge downfield for 76 yards that ended with an 11-yard toss to Keith Payne for the only Wahoo score of the day. Metheny was 2-2 for 50 yards, while Rocco was 1-3 for 2 yards.
Payne finished his senior season by scoring the only touchdown against VT and he posted enough yardage to go over 1,000 yards in his career, becoming the 38th player in Virginia history to pass that mark. The Hokie defense did a nice job containing Payne’s low, grinding running style, holing him to just 8 yards on the ground. However, he was able to make gains for the Hoos through the air, catching three passes for 48 yards. Fellow running back Perry Jones amassed only 11 yards, as he was upended on several occasions.
Other than that late scoring drive, Virginia’s offense stagnated all afternoon. The offense gave the quarterbacks no help as on-target passes hit the ground left and right. Payne, Jones, Inman, and Kris Burd each only had three receptions on the day, preventing the offense from ever getting into a momentum. Eventually, the lack of success on offense and the relentless Virginia Tech attack wore the Hoos down on both sides of the ball.
“We missed opportunities in the red zone,” Burd said in The Daily Progress. “If we had scored early, it probably would have changed the momentum of the game, and who knows what would have happened next?”
On defense, Virginia was unable to contain the Hokies’ cadre of capable ball-carriers; none of the Hokie backs were able to put up astounding numbers, but they were able to use the volume of carries to wear down the UVa defense. Combined, the Tech backfield ran for 201 yards and four touchdowns over the course of 40 carries. Senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor put an exclamation point on his prolific career at Tech, going 13-23 for 176 yards. Taylor’s escapability and ability to extend the play served the Hokies well, as Virginia was unable to contain Taylor or force him into any costly mistakes.
Poor tackling led to the extension of many Tech drives, as 2nd-and-13 often turned into 3rd-and-1 due to an inability to wrap up. Sophomore linebacker Steve Greer led the Cavaliers in tackles with 9, and shared the lone sack of the day with sophomore defensive end Will Hill . In the secondary, the defensive backs and safeties lost their men, resulting in the characteristic big plays that have plagued the Hoos all season.
So in the end, the Cavaliers’ “won’t quit” attitude finally gave out on Saturday as mistakes abounded on both sides of the ball. Virginia was simply outplayed by a team with too much talent on a day where there was very little margin for error. The Hoos knew going into this game that any mistake would be costly, but still failed to fix the mental errors that plagued them all season long. London and the Cavalier coaches have their work cut out for them this offseason, after swallowing a sobering pill to end their first season at Virginia.
