No Road Woes for Victorious Virginia

Over the past decade, Bobby Dodd Stadium has been the site of some of Virginia’s most disheartening defeats. Today it was where the Cavaliers earned their most gratifying victory of the 2004 season.

Getting a total team effort, No. 18 Virginia refused to let Georgia Tech wreck its ACC championship hopes, winning 30-10 to set up next week’s clash with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The winner of that game will assure itself a piece of the conference title. The Cavs (8-2, 5-2 ACC) prevailed at Bobby Dodd for the first time since 1994 and bounced back from last week’s loss to Miami.

“It feels good,” said cornerback Marcus Hamilton, who made two key interceptions in the end zone. “I don’t know why people were questioning the team. We never questioned ourselves.”

In recent years, the Wahoos had struggled on the road against quality opponents, but they took care of the Yellow Jackets (6-4, 4-4 ACC) with solid performances on offense, defense and special teams.

Virginia totaled 373 yards, 207 on the ground, against the nation’s 14th-rated defense. Alvin Pearman rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns, Marques Hagans made several big plays with his arm and legs, and Michael McGrew came through with eight catches, a career high, for an offense missing injured wideout Deyon Williams .

Darryl Blackstock recorded three of UVa’s six sacks and the Cavaliers forced four turnovers while committing none. Georgia Tech didn’t score a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter.

The special teams also excelled after a poor outing last week. Freshman Chris Gould , making his first start, averaged 43.9 yards on seven punts. Connor Hughes made field goals of 33, 27 and 43 yards.

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    (For complete coverage of Virginia’s game with Georgia Tech, please sign up for Sabre Edge. Edge subscribers will be able to read John Galinsky’s game analysis and Greg Waters’ game grades.)