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Mike London’s UVa team grabbed its fifth win by defeating Miami. |
The Virginia football team has been anything but predictable in October.
An overtime nailbiter against Idaho, a steamroller win against Georgia Tech, and a disappointing setback against NC State opened the month. Then in the Cavaliers’ first Thursday night game since 2006, they led wire to wire in a 28-21 victory over Miami, which had won three of its previous four games. Not to mention Thursday’s triumph marked the first ACC road win in Mike London’s tenure and just the program’s second win ever in the state of Florida.
Unpredictable indeed.
“It’s a great feeling,” Virginia running back Perry Jones told The Associated Press. “We did what we came here to do. … It’s a big win, especially against these guys.”
Considering the unpredictability of the month, it was fitting that Virginia took an unconventional offensive route to the win too. After all, UVa entered the game with just six scoring plays of more than 20 yards on the season. Plus, the Cavaliers finished last in the ACC in 2010 with just six scoring plays of that variety a year ago as well. On Thursday night against Miami, all three of Virginia’s touchdowns came from long distance.
First, true freshman receiver Darius Jennings opened the game’s scoring with a 53-yard touchdown catch. The Hoos called a wide receiver screen to the right side where Miami happened to blitz two defenders toward the pocket. That resulted in an easy blocking situation for the screen where tackle Morgan Moses and tight end Paul Freedman teamed up for a double kick-out block while guard Luke Bowanko pulled out to the lead the way through the hole. Jennings exploded into the open field and went untouched for the score, the first of his career.
Jones – certain to create an uptick in hero costumes among Virginia fans this Halloween with his nickname Superman – had a role in the other two long-range scores. In the first half, Jones took a quick pitch and ran to his right where the Miami defense started its pursuit. Jones pulled up on the run and fired a pass over the top of the D to Tim Smith for a 37-yard touchdown on the option pass. That gave UVa a 17-0 lead out of the starting gates with less than five minutes to go in the first half.
By the end of the third quarter, however, the Hurricanes had chopped the Cavalier lead to 20-14. That’s when Jones came through again. On 3rd-and-2, he caught a pass on the right side of the field after motioning out of the backfield. When the diving Miami defender failed to make the deflection or the tackle, Jones was off to the races and easily scored the 78-yard touchdown. That TD is the longest scoring play in Jones’ career and the longest career touchdown pass for sophomore Michael Rocco, who finished 11-of-20 passing for 226 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions. In the last four games, Rocco has 5 touchdown passes and just 1 interception. Rocco’s two-point conversion pass to Smith moments after the Jones’ touchdown catch provided the Hoos with the points they needed to win by seven.
“We’ve been working on that since training camp,” Jones told The Daily Press. “Me and Rocco, we talk about if a linebacker comes out there with me one-on-one, … he just looks for me to beat him.”
While the offense ripped off several big scoring plays, the defense came up with a strong first half and enough of the second-half plays that it needed to preserve the win. Overall, the defense had some struggles with deep passes and 6’5″ Tommy Streeter, who recorded 176 receiving yards. That’s good enough for ninth in Miami’s single-game record book. Streeter had two of the Canes’ TDs, including a 51-yard grab that beat double coverage.
On the flipside, the Cavaliers posted an outstanding effort against the run. Miami’s Lamar Miller entered the game second in the ACC at 114.1 rushing yards per game, but UVa held him to just 70 yards on the night. The Hurricanes had just 85 total rushing yards.
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LaRoy Reynolds and the Hoo defense shut down the run in the win. |
Arguably, the biggest run stop of the night came in the final three minutes. Trailing 28-21 with a chance to tie, the hosts had used almost five minutes of game time to march to the UVa 15-yard line. Facing a 4th-and-2, the Hurricanes used a jumbo set and tried a running play with Mike James to get the needed yards to extend the drive. LaRoy Reynolds had other ideas. He shot through a gap to the offense’s left side and blew past blocker Chase ford to stuff James for a 1-yard loss, one of Eight Tackles for Loss on the night for the Hoos. Reynolds finished with five tackles in the game as one of eight UVa defenders with at least four stops.
The Cavaliers survived one final desperation drive from Miami in the final 25 seconds to preserve the victory.
“We had to stop the run for sure,” London said in The Daily Press. “That was the main focal point of the game plan this week and make them throw the ball. They threw the ball and made some great catches, but guys did a great job on the things that had given us problems and making plays in those situations.”
As a result of the strong effort at Miami, the Cavaliers finished October with a 3-1 record. They have at least two conference wins for the first time in two years and they now stand at 5-3 overall on the season. That puts Virginia one win from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2008. But the Hoos aren’t interested in projections, predictions, or possibilities just yet. No, with an unpredictable month in the rearview mirror, they’re only looking as far ahead as next Saturday at Maryland.
