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Quarterback David Watford completed 10 passes and threw one touchdown pass. |
Before the 2011 schedule started, most observers pointed to a one-month stretch of Virginia’s season as the critical part of the calendar for the team. Unfortunately, it’s not off to a good start.
UVa opened a four-game home stand with a disappointing 30-24 defeat against Southern Miss on Saturday. The Hoos committed turnovers on offense, gave up some key big plays on defense, and after playing the bamboozler on special teams last season, they got duped by a gutsy fake punt that changed the tenor of the day too.
All in all, it proved to be a frustrating evening for the team and the 43,220 on hand at Scott Stadium.
“Whenever you take a loss like that, a tough loss, there’s always a feeling like everything you did just wasn’t right and you want it to get better,” Virginia linebacker LaRoy Reynolds said. “That feeling of hurt, that feeling of pain that we have is going to motivate us to do better next week. I mean I just don’t want it to be the same old story with us. We’re going go out here practice hard and work hard and we’re going to do what we have to do to get better.”
For many fans, Saturday did seem a lot like the same old Virginia.
Trailing much of the afternoon, the Cavaliers couldn’t make the plays when they needed them most. The defense forced a fumble at midfield, but the offense gave the ball back after failing to move 10 yards in four downs. The offense scored a touchdown to pull the score within a field goal, but the defense couldn’t make a needed stop. It’s that critical late-game drive that will stick out in people’s minds in the postgame aftermath.
On 3rd-and-23 from its own 41-yard line, Southern Mississippi dialed up a two-sided screen play that gained 41 yards. UVa anticipated the possible call because the Eagles had used a similar play earlier in the contest, but after a subtle fake to one side of the field where the running back waited, Austin Davis wheeled around and threw it to receiver Tracy Lampley toward the visiting sideline.
The Cavaliers appeared to be in position to swallow up the pass with Demetrious Nicholson and Reynolds pursuing toward the pass. But Lampley slithered through a crease and broke the play up the sidelines before finally getting tackled at the Virginia 18-yard line. That play allowed Southern Miss to wind the clock down near 1:30 and kick a field goal before the Hoos got the ball back for a last-ditch comeback effort.
“I was in a position to make a play and I didn’t make it. I’m taking the blame for that one,” said Reynolds, who posted a team-high 12 tackles. “I’m going go out there next week, go out there tomorrow, and get better. Learn from it. … Playing good the entire game, but giving up the one that counts the most, it really doesn’t matter [because] you gave up the one that counts the most. That’s just going to stick with me. That’s the one that hurts.”
Still, after all the issues of the day – a failed fake extra point attempt, three interceptions, a Michael Rocco injury (he took a hard hit late in the first half and finished 16-of-24 passing for 140 yards and 3 INTs), and more – the hosts needed just a touchdown drive to win the game in the final 1:30. After moving the ball across the 50, however, a dropped pass stopped the rally attempt. In the end, Virginia finished with 374 yards of offense (153 yards rushing, 221 passing) and 24 first downs, but not enough points as the defense once again allowed 30 points to hit the board (in the 13 games against FBS competition during Mike London’s current UVa tenure, the Hoos have allowed 31.4 points per game).
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UVa receiver Kris Burd set a career-high for catches with nine on the day. |
On the death knell play, Watford stood tall in the pocket and found Burd crossing the field ahead of the defense. He delivered the ball, but it fell incomplete to the turf. The pass appeared to be a bit behind Burd, but the senior receiver did get his hands on it. Both players took blame for the drop that ended the comeback hopes.
“I should have made that play. The team expects me to make that play regardless of it’s behind, in front, low, high – if it’s on my frame, I’ve got to catch the ball,” Burd said. “It’s going to eat me up for a while, but it’s a learning step and I’m going to be better next week when it comes down to it.”
“I just told him I could have thrown a better ball. He’s running across the field and I threw it kind of behind him so he had to stop and try to adjust for it,” Watford said. “It’s a ball he catches in practice, catches it in a game too, but I could have put it better on him and made it easier for him to keep the drive going, keep the drive alive.”
Of course, that final miscue proved to be the clinching moment of a day that started to unravel way back in the first half. In fact, the second quarter could not have gone much worse for the Cavaliers. After ending the first quarter with a sack that pinned Southern Miss against its own goal line, the Hoos appeared to be on track for good field position and an opportunity to add to a 13-7 lead. Instead, they ended up on their heels and behind the rest of the day.
That’s because USM called for a fake punt to start the second quarter. Yes, from its own end zone. Virginia’s coverage already had turned to run back into blocking position and it appeared that only Rijo Walker got a reasonable read on the fake call. As a result, Danny Hrapmann bolted up the sideline for a 31-yard gain.
Moments later, the Golden Eagles had regained the lead at 14-13 after a 14-play, 87-yard touchdown drive. They added another touchdown thanks to a short field when the officials ruled the ball down at the 1-yard line on a USM punt. After UVa inserted Watford for his only series of the half, a three-and-out possession, the visitors drove 35 yards on 8 plays for their third TD of the game. That set up the eventual 21-13 halftime score, but the last 5 minutes of the nightmare quarter did feature two Rocco interceptions and a Southern Miss missed field goal.
“Emotionally, we never got down. A fake special teams play is definitely a momentum changer and it can change the mood of things, but our coaches pride ourselves on staying focused and executing when we get our chance,” Burd said. “The mood on the sidelines didn’t really change. … We came up a little short and we have a lot of things to correct to get better for next week.”
Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said it was a risky play, but one that he felt was worth it. As the game played out, it seemed to change the entire outlook of the day.
“It’s something we practiced and obviously it’s a calculated risk. I felt confident our guys would execute it. It just so happened they gave us the look we wanted. It was either call it off or stay with it and we stayed with it and picked up a first down,” Fedora said. “My thought process was not to give them the ball at midfield and put our defense with their backs against the wall. We had done that two weeks ago and really put a lot of stress on our defense. I said, ‘what the heck let’s go right now.’ I knew it was a risk, but I felt comfortable with our guys executing the play.”
As a result, the Golden Eagles (3-1) continued to be comfortable with winning – they’ve made nine straight bowl appearances. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, stood on the Scott Stadium turf at the end of another disappointing day and tried to figure out how to get back on a winning track. Virginia, now 2-2 on the season, has not had a winning season since piling up nine victories during the 2007 season en route to the Gator Bowl.
UVa coach Mike London believes the program remains headed in the right direction, but that the players have to turn around perceptions by making enough plays and claiming some key victories.
“As we all got there and all came out of the locker room and gathered around, we just talked about last week : close but not close enough. This week, close but not close enough. In order to change the perception of this program and this team in games like that, then we need to come out and win games like that,” London said. “It’s one of those things that the taste of losing doesn’t taste very well when you’re at home. You’ve got to do better. You’ve got to make those plays. You’ve got to get the coverages. You’ve got to stay onsides. It’s different things like that. We just wanted to re-emphasize that preparation for this week’s upcoming opponent has to start in a film room, the practice field, and everything that they do to rededicate themselves. These are close games, but you can be on the other side of a close game by just executing. So that’s basically what we talked about, and that’s what we’re going to work on this week.”
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