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Mike London’s team battled to the end, but came up short at USC. |
In many ways, Virginia’s 17-14 loss at Southern California on Saturday night is encouraging. In others, it’s disappointing. But one thing is for certain as the Cavaliers head into a bye week with a 1-1 record: the road ahead, even in 2010, looks more promising than it did one year ago.
That’s what happens when a team picked to finish last in the ACC’s Coastal Division and expected to struggle to meet or exceed last season’s three-win total travels across the country and competes toe to toe with USC, the 16th-ranked team in the Associated Press poll. That’s the same program that whipped UVa 52-7 just two short seasons ago with a star-studded offense. Still, with two missed field goals, more than 100 yards in penalties, and an interception in the end zone, the Hoos have to be feeling a tinge of ‘what might have been’ as they return to Charlottesville.
“I look at this game and I’m so proud of those guys in the locker room in there. This is not a moral victory or anything like that, but 14-7 going in the fourth quarter with an interception in the red zone and two missed fields,” Virginia coach Mike London said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “You look at the game that way, it was an opportunity for us to come out here, steal one, and get back to Charlottesville, but it didn’t happen.”
For most of the night, the game proved to be a penalty-laden defensive struggle. Both teams fell short of 400 total yards after putting up at least 488 yards in week one. Neither team scored in the first or third quarters. Both teams piled up more than 100 yards in penalties, killing drives and swinging field position wildly in the process. Neither team sustained drives with third down success, combining for a 9-of-30 performance on the keep-the-chains-moving down.
In the end, the Trojans did just enough to overcome their miscues on the scoreboard. USC took a 14-7 lead when it scored a touchdown with one second remaining in the first half, a drive that was bolstered by a personal foul, late-hit penalty on safety Trey Womack . The hosts also added a field goal after a running into the punt returner penalty against UVa on special teams; that gave the Trojans a 17-7 cushion that stood until a touchdown in the waning seconds by the Hoos. Those two scores helped USC rise above 140 yards in penalties, including one holding call that negated a 47-yard touchdown pass, and a missed field goal of its own. Lane Kiffin’s team finished with 322 total yards and 18 first downs.
UVa, on the other hand, couldn’t shake its mistakes to pull off a potential upset. In addition to 101 yards in penalties, the Cavaliers missed a field goal in the fourth quarter (a high snap led to a delayed hold and kick) that could have cut the Trojans’ lead to one score again instead of two. Plus, quarterback Marc Verica tossed an interception in the first quarter to squander a scoring opportunity inside the 10-yard line. Beyond that, Robert Randolph pushed a 45-yard field goal attempt wide and a penalty negated a well-timed fake punt that had given the visitors tremendous field position. Virginia ended the game with 340 total yards and 22 first downs.
“We’ve got to get better with penalties and just make sure that our exchange, snapper, holder, kicker, timing exchanges are perfect because we need those points,” London said.
The Hoos showed plenty of moxie in the loss. Take UVa’s first scoring drive for example. Immediately after USC scored to post a 7-0 lead, the Cavaliers orchestrated a 69-yard rebuttal. On the drive, Verica completed 3 of 3 passes to three different receivers and Keith Payne capped things off with his fifth touchdown of the season on a 6-yard run. Payne finished with 57 yards rushing, while Perry Jones added 77 yards on the ground and 26 more receiving. Joe Torchia posted 73 receiving yards and Verica finished 17 of 36 for 190 passing yards.
Or look at the defensive effort just after the fake punt was called back. In what could have been a deflated sequence of plays, the Cavaliers stayed focused. Punter Jimmy Howell fired off a 50-yard punt and the coverage team allowed just a 1-yard return. Then the defense buckled down and forced USC to punt the ball back.
UVa also battled to the end, even though the last-ditch effort didn’t pan out. Verica found Kris Burd for a 3-yard touchdown that made the score 17-14 with just 4 seconds to play, but the Hoos didn’t recover the ensuing onsides kick to set up a potential Hail Mary attempt.
All in all, that’s enough of an effort to give Cavaliers everywhere hope for a better 2010 season than expected – and certainly beyond – with a bye week on the horizon to get healthy (Ras-I Dowling and Rodney McLeod sat out for the second straight game) and work on making improvements.
“For our guys to come in this place, travel, 11 National Championships, a ton of players in the NFL, to come and go toe to toe with these guys for a while and know that we missed on some opportunities to capitalize and come out of here with a win, but I feel confident about these guys. I’m proud of them,” London said. “I’m just so proud of the cumulative effort of everybody because I think we’ve got a chance to do something this season.”
