Whew! Wahoos Squeak Past Syracuse

Marques Hagans

In a game full of mistakes and big plays, the guy who made the most of both – Marques Hagans – led #25 Virginia to a harrowing 27-24 victory over Syracuse. Hagans directed a drive that ate up the final 6:24 and ended with a 19-yard Connor Hughes field goal as time expired, allowing the Cavs to escape the Carrier Dome with a 2-0 record.

Hagans threw three interceptions in the first half but compensated by running for a career-high 110 yards. His 26-yard scramble on third-and-6 was the biggest play of the afternoon. It extended the final drive and killed the momentum for the Orange (1-2), who overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and tied the game on John Barker’s 27-yard field goal with 6:25 left.

Cedric Peerman ‘s 37-yard kickoff return gave Virginia good field position at the 41. Three plays later, Hagans avoided a sack and scooted down to the Syracuse 29. After Peerman picked up another first down, Al Groh faced a big decision with just over a minute remaining. The ‘Hoos had a fourth-and-an-inch at the 10, and Groh elected to go for it rather than kick the field goal. Snelling ran behind left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson for a 5-yard gain. Two more runs by Snelling set up Hughes, who drilled the ball down the middle and is now 20 for 20 on field goal inside 30 yards.

“I was trying to keep my focus. I think it wavered some last year,” Hughes said. “I’m trying to get that warrior mentality like the rest of the guys.”

Virginia went to battle without injured linebacker Ahmad Brooks , who did not make the trip, and tailback Wali Lundy, who was in uniform and watched from the sideline. For most of the day, it looked like the Cavs would be fine without them. Led by Kai Parham (three sacks), the defense yielded a 56-yard touchdown drive on Syracuse’s first possession, but gave up just 13 yards the rest of the half. Peerman ran for a 1-yard touchdown and caught a 2-yard pass from Hagans for another TD, giving Virginia a 14-7 halftime lead. It would have been more had Hagans not been picked off three times in Syracuse territory.

“We’ve tried to emphasize for them to remember that things aren’t always going to go perfect. Things are going to happen,” Groh said. “You’ve got to forget about it. You’ve got to trust yourself and trust the system and go on and play. I reminded them of that at halftime.”

A 27-yard field goal by Hughes made it 17-7, but the Orange offense revived behind quarterback Perry Patterson. The junior threw a 31-yard touchdown to tight end Joe Kowalewski, who caught seven passes for 96 yards. Michael Johnson answered with a 70-yard touchdown run down the left sideline, but Syracuse came right back with an 80-yard drive that ended in Patterson’s 3-yard run on a designed rollout early in the fourth quarter.

The Cavs went nowhere and punted, giving Syracuse the ball at its own 46. Patterson converted a fourth-and-4 with a big pass to Kowaleski. A roughing-the-passer penalty on Chris Long advanced the ball to the UVa 14. Three plays later, on third-and-4, Mark Miller stopped Damien Rhodes for a two-yard loss and the Orange settled for the tying field goal.

Thanks to Hagans and company, Syracuse never got the ball back, even as the Carrier Dome crowd howled.

“In practice, Coach stressed to us we’d be playing in some difficult environments, some hostile environments, and the crowd would be all over our backs,” said Deyon Williams , who caught seven passes for 62 yards. “Our job was to concentrate and stay focused on every play. All the noise that they made today motivated us.”

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