It took just six seconds for Miami to get the upper hand of Saturday’s football game with Virginia as Tracy Howard returned an interception 19 yards for a touchdown. While the Cavaliers showed some resilience after that shocking start, they couldn’t overcome a mistake-prone afternoon as the Hurricanes eventually rolled to the 45-26 win.
By the end, UVa had committed four turnovers that cost 28 points on the scoreboard. Miami’s defense scored on Howard’s pick-6 and a 72-yard fumble return by David Gilbert. Two other interceptions set up Dallas Crawford touchdowns as well. On the flipside, the Hoos didn’t score any points after they tallied an interception and fumble recovery on defense.
“That’s kind of the tale of the game there. I thought we did a nice job in certain areas. We were able to run from 200-and-something yards – we got the running game going. … But these explosive plays that occurred were things that ultimately led to the situation where we just couldn’t recover,” Cav coach Mike London said. “It’s a good Miami team. They played well and they capitalized and we didn’t capitalize when we needed to.”
Howard’s interception to start the game materialized when he slipped through two would-be blockers untouched on a bubble screen and cut in front of the intended receiver. Virginia quarterback David Watford never seemed to see Howard and the result was a lightning quick touchdown play for the Hurricane D.
“We were in a call to mainly stop the bubble. Teams had been killing us with the bubble in the last few games. I knew it was coming to be honest,” Howard said. “It wasn’t the right call for them, and I knew it was coming. I just took a chance on it.”
UVa clawed its way back by the end of the half, though. A pair of field goals from Alec Vozenilek and a touchdown for Kevin Parks sandwiched a 62-yard touchdown reception from Miami’s Stacy Coley to make the score 14-13 for the hosts. The Cavaliers were piecing together a late-half drive – 7 plays and 37 yards had moved the ball the Hurricanes’ 20-yard line – to potentially take a lead to the locker room when disaster struck again.
Watford flipped a pass out to Zach Swanson running into the flats, but the ball bounced off of Swanson and into the waiting arms of Ladarius Gunter. He returned the INT 81 yards and set up a final-minute touchdown for Miami.
“The first one was an ill-advised throw. Throw into the ground. Throw it over his head. The second one, as I saw, hit the receiver in the hands. It was a dry day, it was a wet day – you can characterize the ball being slippery, whatever it is but when it hits a hand you’ve got to be able to catch it,” London said. “I’m not quite sure what happened on the third one. But obviously as a quarterback you’ve got to take care of the ball and that’s the number one priority.”
As London mentioned, Watford eventually tossed a third interception in the fourth quarter. He finished 10-of-25 passing for 106 yards with 1 touchdown. Those struggles led to redshirt freshman Greyson Lambert, who posted 13-of-19 passing for 134 yards. He helped engineer a drive into the red zone in his first series before he fumbled while trying to avoid a sack and as mentioned earlier Gilbert returned it for a touchdown.
Lambert bounced back from that to lead a TD drive on his second series. Freshman running back Taquan Mizzell finished that one off with a 7-yard touchdown run, his second score of the day. Lambert’s final series ended with the game clock, but that one had moved 31 yards on 7 plays.
“I thought that Greyson came in and did a nice job. It was unfortunate on the sack that occurred, the sack fumble that they scooped and scored. … But I think he came in and gave us a spark,” London said. “It was good to see Taquan Mizzell do some nice things – a catch for a touchdown, a run for a touchdown. There are some positive things that occurred out there.”
The Cavs also got strong games from their running backs as the team piled up 243 yards on 46 carries. Parks recorded 130 yards on 26 carries, the fifth time this season and the eighth time in his career he cracked the 100-yard barrier. He has 926 rushing yards for the season. Mizzell added 33 yards on 4 carries and 45 receiving yards on 6 catches. Khalek Shepherd chipped in 37 yards on 4 carries. Still, thanks to the turnovers, that wasn’t enough to get a win despite a 243-90 advantage in rushing yards.
UVa has lost 8 straight games, the longest losing streak since the 1981 team dropped 7 consecutive contests to open the season. The final opportunity to end the year on a high note comes against rival Virginia Tech, who visits Charlottesville next Saturday.
“I didn’t even notice that. I try not to worry about those things,” Parks said of nearing the 1,000-yard mark for the season. “My main focus is getting it done [in the win column]. That’s all I care about, so I want to come out on top against Virginia Tech.”
