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Jason Snelling powers through tackles against UNC. He had 131 yards and a TD. |
It’s probably a safe bet to say that Al Groh enjoyed this one. After all, Virginia’s 23-0 victory over North Carolina on Thursday night featured a lot of the things Groh loves in a football game. His team dominated the running statistics, created numerous turnovers, and picked up a shutout on defense.
Plus, the ol’ coach got the chance to absolutely blast an official to the delight of the Scott Stadium faithful. Ahhh – now that’s a good time on the football field.
“That one looked a little bit more like what Cavalier football is supposed to look like. I thought the coaches did an excellent job getting the players prepared during a short week,” Groh said, though he didn’t like UVa’s 8 penalties for 69 yards. “This is the way we like our team to look, in all the phases, other than some regrettable penalties, penalties that we don’t expect our team to get. … We’re starting to look like what we always felt this team as it developed would have a chance to look like.”
The convincing win over the suffering Tar Heels featured a strong second half showing from the Hoos. After taking a 9-0 lead into the locker room, the Cavaliers took control of the game in the second half behind some timely turnovers and a powerful running attack. That helped UVa balloon a three field goal lead into a 23-point rout.
Jason Snelling led the way with a career high in rushing yards, which he punctuated with a fourth quarter touchdown from five yards out. Snelling finished with 19 carries and 131 yards to set his personal best mark. Jameel Sewell , who celebrated his 19th birthday on Thursday, added 40 yards and a rushing touchdown for the second straight week as well. Cedric Peerman also had 32 yards rushing as the Cavs posted 194 yards on the ground.
“Carrying the load and wearing the defense down, that’s my thing. I enjoy doing it and I enjoy the confidence the coaches have in me to do that,” Snelling said. “Any time you get an achievement, you’re excited about it. I just want to keep progressing and hopefully make another career high next week.”
“Teams that can really run the ball need somebody who does more than just carry the ball. We call it having a running back who can carry the flag for the team and Jason did that for us tonight,” Groh said. “He wasn’t the only one who did it, but some of those runs he made were some warrior runs. He really did, I thought, carry the flag and set the tone.”
With the team running the ball so well, particularly after the half, all the Cav defense had to do was keep North Carolina’s offense in check. The D had no problem doing that, preventing the Tar Heels from sustaining any sort of drives. In fact, UNC’s best drive of the second half was its first and the visitors self-destructed to stop the threat.
With the score still reading 9-0, the Heels came out after intermission with a new quarterback at the helm and hopes of making it a close game. At first, that’s exactly what it seemed like was happening. Joe Dailey led a march directly into Virginia territory, but a critical mistake stopped the momentum.
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Chris Long helped the Hoos get their second ACC shutout. They also blanked Duke. |
Dailey tossed a backward pass at the Hoos’ 38-yard line and the ball squirted toward the Virginia sidelines. Nate Lyles rushed onto the scene and pounced on the ball near midfield. The Heels would never truly get any offense going again.
In the end, Virginia’s defense held Carolina to 182 total yards, which included just 98 rushing yards. The Hoos recorded three turnovers (two fumbles and a Chris Cook interception) and three sacks while holding the visitors to just 3.4 yards per play.
The combined defensive effort gave the team its second ACC shutout of the season. The last time the Cavaliers accomplished that feat? The Hoos blanked Duke (59-0) and N.C. State (31-0) in 1990.
“I want to make sure that I don’t go too far without paying credit to what the defensive players did to get their second ACC shutout of the year,” Groh said. “They certainly continue to step up and meet a lot of different challenges.”
“It means a great deal,” UVa’s Chris Long said of the shutout. “Anytime you win, you want to be critical of your own performance, and there are things we are going to be able to take from that. But its good to shut somebody out, and that’s what we want to do more around here. We’re building a defense, and we’re excited about it.”
With the score still sitting at 9-0, UVa quickly took advantage of the early second half gift from Carolina. A 5-yard run by Snelling and a 30-yard reception by Tom Santi (off of a Sewell bootleg) put the Cavs at UNC’s 21. A holding flag and a false start penalty moved the team back on the next two plays, but after a short gain, North Carolina gave the yards back when Jacoby Watkins committed pass interference on a pass intended for Kevin Ogletree .
On the next play from the Heel’s 18, UVa went to the option, running the play to the offense’s right side. No one picked up Sewell and he accelerated through an opening to give the hosts a 16-0 lead with 9:21 remaining in the third. Will Barker led the way with a nice block on the edge and that was all the room Sewell needed to score.
The game was never in doubt from that point.
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Jameel Sewell crosses the goal line on an option keeper. |
“It was kind of weird. When Jameel was running, the back who was in coverage, he never took his eye off of me. He followed me all the way to the sideline. … He looked like he had the bull’s eye on me. He was zoned in on me so there wasn’t too much I had to do but keep running,” Snelling said. “Jameel, as good of a runner as he is, he made a play, broke a tackle, and scored.”
The option play was part of a mixed bag of runs for the Cavaliers. They, of course, ran their favorite stretch play to the perimeter, but also tossed in a variety of other rushing plays. The calls included runs between the tackles, designed shotgun keepers for Sewell, and inside shotgun handoffs as well.
“Coach Mike Groh called a great game. He mixed it up and kept UNC on their toes,” Snelling said. “They didn’t really know where we were coming from and when the opportunities came, we made big plays. I have to take my hat off to him.”
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