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Dominique Terrell led the team with 86 receiving yards. |
After struggling mightily against Georgia Tech last week, the Virginia football team flew west in search of a bounce-back game on Saturday. The Cavaliers didn’t find any redemption medicine, however, as TCU’s success at home continued in a 27-7 victory. The Horned Frogs own the nation’s longest winning streak and have won 28 of their 29 home games.
Virginia, which fell to 0-3 all-time in the state of Texas, has lost two straight games and owns a 2-2 record.
“We’ll go back and look at tape and look at who’s doing what and how we’re doing it,” UVa coach Mike London told the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “We have to assess what’s going on, how we can move the ball, how we can hang on to the ball, [how can] we keep people improving and in positions to make things happen. It’s disappointing any time you lose and it’s two games we’ve lost back to back after we started out winning two. There’s a distinct difference. … This is not a very good locker room right now, nor should it be.”
While a long season is still ahead – the schedule is only 1/3 complete – a long afternoon greeted the Hoos in Fort Worth. The issues against TCU weren’t as overt as the two games against Penn State and Georgia Tech, which is a step in the right direction. The play-calling and blocking improved on running plays, for example, to produce 164 rushing yards. The defense didn’t have as many tackling issues as before either.
So what torpedoed the Cavaliers against the Horned Frogs?
For the third straight game, the offense sputtered around the field and failed to produce points. In fact, after Saturday’s seven-point outing, the Hoos have averaged just 14.7 points per game this season against Football Bowl Subdivision teams. That’s simply not good enough. Of the 44 points scored in those three games, 27 points have come in the fourth quarter. That means UVa has posted just 17 points in the other nine quarters combined.
The Hoos also struggled on third down at TCU where they converted just 3 of 16 chances. Trailing 20-0 in the third quarter, Virginia also came up empty on 4th-and-6 from the Texas Christian 12-yard line. That followed a third down play where a defender dislodged the ball on a potential touchdown catch for Darius Jennings on the goal line.
Plus, the Cavaliers lost the turnover battle again with four more hiccups. Starting quarterback Michael Rocco had 2 interceptions, while Kevin Parks and back-up quarterback Phillip Sims each lost a fumble. TCU had 1 interception and 1 lost fumble.
Statistically, Rocco finished 13-of-28 passing for 126 yards, while Sims went 5 of 12 for 63 yards passing. Rocco rushed for 34 yards and Sims added 14 on the ground. Parks led the team in rushing with 84 yards on 12 carries. Perry Jones added 32 yards on 12 carries and 39 yards on 4 receptions. Dominique Terrell led the team in receiving with 86 yards on 5 catches. Sims delivered the only score of the game with a 5-yard touchdown pass to E.J. Scott , who has visited the end zone in back-to-back games. Sims also got away with a throw that should have been intercepted on that scoring drive.
“It’s one of those things where we’re moving it down the field and then that moment of truth – we can’t convert that third or fourth down and make that catch,” London said during his radio interview. “It just didn’t happen for us. Those are some of the things that we need to go back and look at. Who’s catching it, who’s throwing it, who’s blocking for it? Those types of things. You don’t want to sit here and be too critical after a game, right after a loss. You have to go back and evaluate by looking at tape and talk about your personnel and go from there.”
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UVa’s Jake Snyder recorded 4 tackles against TCU. |
Defensively, Virginia didn’t have a perfect outing, but it did perform better than the debacle in Atlanta. The Cavaliers forced two turnovers as corner Maurice Canady jumped an inside route for an interception and linebacker Daquan Romero knocked a ball free that went through the end zone to give UVa possession. The Hoos held TCU to 133 rushing yards.
But some of the problems persisted. Virginia gave up another big scoring play that gave the Horned Frogs a 7-0 lead early in the game. UVa blitzed two players from the outside and left safety Brandon Phelps in solo coverage downfield. TCU quarterback Casey Pachall threw the ball high over Phelps’ outstretched hand and receiver Brandon Carter made a spectacular one-handed grab for the completion. He sprinted to the end zone for a 68-yard scoring play.
Virginia also allowed another fourth down conversion (opponents are 7 of 9 on the season) and TCU scored on that 4th-and-4 play from the 17-yard line. The Frogs converted 6 of 14 third down chances as well.
“We thought we played a pretty good game, but not good enough obviously. It’s too many big plays, too many mistakes. We’ve got a mentality that everyone’s got to be accountable for their assignment on every play, and that’s not what you saw today,” Virginia defensive end Jake Snyder said. “Even if we play 90 percent of the snaps well, if one guy makes one mistake on one play you know that’s going to be too much, and that’s when you saw those mistakes happen. It’s not any one person; it’s not any one group of people. It was all of the guys on the field today, and it’s just not good enough to win.”
The Cavaliers will try to remedy that situation when they return to Scott Stadium next week to take on Louisiana Tech. That contest marks the start of what could be a crucial four-game stretch leading into the team’s bye week in late October.
