Charlottesville, VA — With over 61,000 fans in the seats at Scott Stadium it was the best of times for the Virginia Cavaliers as they shutout the hapless Blue Devils with a stifling defense. Unfortunately, with senior quarterback Matt Schaub going down to injury on the first possession, it was also the worst of times. The largest crowd ever to see a Virginia football game witnessed a dominating defense give up only 272 yards in a 27-0 pounding.
The celebration was dampened somewhat by Schaub’s injury to his right shoulder. It is unclear how bad the shoulder is injured, but it appeared as though a separation was a real possibility. On the 13th play of the opening drive at the Duke two yard line Schaub, who completed 5 passes for 84 yards before being injured dropped back to pass, but was quickly sacked when DeAndre White came around the blindside unblocked.
“We don’t talk about injuries,” Virginia head coach Al Groh said in the postgame.
With Schaub on the bench in a sling and in pain, redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez came in and struggled in his first two series, going 0 for first four. However, after a few long runs by running back Alvin Pearman on his third series, Martinez connected with Art Thomas for 39 yards, which served to settle the young quarterback down.
“I was nervous,” he said to reporters after the game. “I don’t even know if nervous is the right word. My eyes were big the entire game. It was just so fast out there. That first long pass and touchdown was big, and it helped me settle down after a bit.”
Martinez went on to complete 6 of 15 balls for 76 yards, and the game was effectively over after Martinez connected with Heath Miller on a beautiful fade pattern late in the second quarter. After that point Martinez was able to hand the ball off to his three feature backs who decimated the last season’s number one run defense. Groh was impressed with the way Martinez played in his first appearance on in a college stadium in front of a sellout, record crowd.
“He brought his team home,” he said. “I always say a quarterback is judged by his pelts, and he’s got one now.”
The trio of Wali Lundy, Alvin Pearman and Marquis Weeks ran for a combined 203 yards on the ground, averaging a solid 5.3 yards per carry. Lundy led the group with 88 yards, continuing his success from last year’s Continental Tire Bowl. Pearman gained 68 yards on 13 carries, while Weeks busted out 47 yards on only four carries. Marques Hagans also joined the fun when he took a lateral and went 14 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. The group knew they had to pick up the slack with their quarterback out early.
“It’s one of those things where you have to go out and get the job done,” Pearman said. “I think it really shows how much depth we have out there. We will have to continue to go out and get better this week and prepare for South Carolina.”
The offense was able to protect Martinez and continuously run the ball because the Cavalier defense did not give the Blue Devils much of a chance to get in the game. Virginia gave up only 152 yards on the ground and even less, 120, through the air. Brennan Schmidt had two sacks for the game, while Chris Canty came up with one, while Raymond Mann and Ahmad Brooks continuously hurried the Duke quarterbacks.
“It was good to get out there and play so well,” Brooks said. “We all played very well as a unit, and it showed by not giving up any points. I think we have a really good chance to have a great defense. It also helped that Tom [Hagan] kept them down near their own endzone during the second half.”
Brooks was correct to praise sophomore punter Tom Hagan, who had his best game as a Cavalier as he had five punts that were down inside the 20-yard line. For most of the second half, Duke was faced with going 90+ yards for a touchdown, a task their offense was not up to. Groh praised his young punter for stepping up big in the first game of the 2003 season.
“Tom Hagan had a tremendous day,” Groh said after the game. “I said last year that I liked him as our punter, and today he showed why. All of our special teams played very well today.”
Aside from 11 penalties, and several offensive miscues, Virginia was dominant in every phase of the game. If Schaub is out for an extended period of time, look for an offense that is especially run oriented and a defense that is dominating to win games in the meantime.
“Our team was redefined and that’s the way we’re probably going to be playing for a little bit, and that’s the way it is,” Groh said. Schaub “will be evaluated day to day.”
Defensive end Chris Canty says that defense is the key to winning ballgames anyway, and he believes that his defense will be up to the challenge.
“I’m excited about going back to South Carolina,” Canty said. “We are going to go out and stop a lot of teams. If you play good defense you are going to win ballgames. If you don’t, you are going to lose. It’s as simple as that.”
Check back early this week for an in depth analysis on the Duke game.
