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Miranda Mason reports on UVa’s loss to Louisiana Tech. |
In a game full of penalties and self-inflicted wounds for Virginia, it is only fitting that the game with Louisiana Tech on Saturday was decided on an infraction.
Trailing by six with 1:45 to go in the fourth quarter, the UVa defense forced the Bulldogs into a 4th-and-1. La Tech lined up in an attempt to draw the Cavalier offsides before eventually calling a timeout. During the timeout, the Cavaliers sent their punt return team onto the field, as the visitors appeared to be punting the ball away. However, the LT’s offense returned to the field mid-timeout, and the Cavs did not have enough time to make the appropriate substitutions, and were hit with a 5-yard illegal substitution penalty. The 5-yard infraction was enough to advance the chains, and the Bulldogs ran out the clock with a 44-38 victory in front of a crowd of 42,027 fans at Scott Stadium.
“From a technical standpoint, they put their punt team on and we put our return team on. Khalek Shepherd went to the back to receive the punt. Somewhere along the way, I guess they decided to bring their regular offense in. Due to that, however, you have to be allowed the opportunity to substitute your correct personnel into the game. As they brought their regular offense in, Khalek was 40-50 yards away. Normally it is the technique of the umpire to stand over the ball and allow the substitutions to take place,” UVa coach Mike London said. “We ran one of our corners on the field, because their regular offense was there. But, 50 yards downfield, was our punt returner, who should have been given the opportunity to leave the field. The official counted 12 players on the field, outside of the absence of knowing what’s going on with the personnel going in and out. A penalty is called. That’s the technical aspect of it, my interpretation of how it went down.”
If the final penalty was the most devastating, the second most costly penalty of the game took place in the second quarter. The Cavaliers led 24-10 and had moved the ball into Louisiana Tech territory when offensive guard Sean Cascarano was whistled for a dead ball personal foul. On the ensuing play, Louisiana Tech’s Quinn Giles picked off a pass that was tipped off of the hands of Dominique Terrell . From there, the floodgates opened for the Bayou visitors. The Bulldogs seized the momentum and scored 34 unanswered points to build a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter.
That exchange described how a potentially productive day went sour. The Hoos piled up 625 yards of offense, but penalties and turnovers absolutely killed the Cavaliers throughout Saturday’s game. UVa finished with 3 interceptions and 16 penalties, which cost the team 145 yards on the day, the same amount of total rushing yards for the team.
“You talk about playing smart. There was a lot of chippiness going on,” London said. “We talk about being physical, but also playing with poise. We had six [penalties] last week, and it’s amazing the number is what it is. I’ll take responsibility for that. We have to play with better poise and have to be smart about what goes on.”
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UVa’s Perry Jones recorded 100 yards receiving and 82 yards rushing. |
As par for the course this season, all eyes were on the Cavalier quarterbacks. Junior Michael Rocco got his 18th straight start and came out swinging. He finished the first half 13-of-19 passing for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did throw 1 INT in the half, but that was the aforementioned ball that tipped off Terrell’s hands.
Things unraveled for the Lynchburg native in the second half. Rocco only completed one more pass for 13 yards, but he threw a pair of costly interceptions, including one that LT returned for a touchdown. Rocco headed to the bench following his third pick of the day; he finished 14-23 with 2 TDs and 3 INTs.
“As a competitor, it’s never fun whenever you’re down and things aren’t going your way,” Rocco said. “My teammates pick me up, and my coaches pick me up, and I pick them up and we just keep each other in line. As a competitor, you want to go back out there and kind of make it right, but coach makes those decisions, so we can live with it.”
For the third week in a row, sophomore transfer Phillip Sims entered the game with his team down by a wide margin. Sims opened 3-of- 5 passing on a 10-play, 53-yard drive that culminated with a 39-yard missed field goal by Drew Jarrett . The former Oscar Smith quarterback then led the Cavaliers on a 16-play, 70-yard scoring drive; Sims found Jake McGee in the end zone from 6 yards out. On the Cavaliers’ next possession, Sims displayed his impressive arm strength with a 47-yard bomb to Darius Jennings along the visitors’ sidelines to quickly move into Louisiana Tech territory. Sims finished off the drive with a 24-yard strike to freshman Adrian Gamble in the end zone. The sophomore finished 10-17 for 166 yards and 2 TDs.
“Before I get into the game, the coach always says, ‘This is not an opportunity to just go out and see what you can do, this is an opportunity for you to get better within the offense,'” Sims said. “You just have to keep it in perspective that everything is not about you. You have to go out there, and time is a virtue. When the time calls for me to be able to do the things that other people want me to do, that’s what it will come to. But as of right now, I’m just doing what the coaches are asking me to do. I just go out there every play like it’s another practice snap. Every rep that I get in a game in or practice is just another practice rep for me to get more comfortable and getting better within the offense.”
So the question now, of course, is who is the starter from here on out at Virginia? London was mum on the issue in the postgame press conference. London did not make any statements on who the quarterback of the future would be and said that he and the staff will have to review the strong points and the mistakes that the quarterbacks made on film this week.
“I haven’t seen the tape and I can’t make any decisions about that right now,” London said. “As we go into watching the tape, we’ll have an opportunity to make that kind of an evaluation. Outside of making an evaluation based on seeing tape, knowing the call, and the assignments of those that are involved with it, it’s hard to do that.”
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The quarterbacks remain a hot topic among Virginia fans. |
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One decisive advantage that Rocco has had over Sims all along is the knowledge of the playbook. Rocco has been in offensive system for three seasons now, while Sims has only been in practice since August. After a crash course during training camp and five games, Sims says he has a greater understanding of the offense now.
“I think I’ve improved. I think I’m about 95 percent there,” Sims said. “Now it’s just the small things. I know the plays now. I know the reads. Now I just have to get the timing down, and get my feet coordinated with the routes. In a new offense, the hardest thing is trusting the receiver because you don’t have chemistry with a lot of the guys. You have to throw the ball before the guy is open, and that is what I’m working on right now.”
UVa offensive coordinator Bill Lazor once again displayed his commitment of getting the tight ends more involved in the offense in 2012. McGee had another solid outing with four catches for 41 yards and 1 TD. Paul Freedman caught his first touchdown pass of the season, and Colter Phillips recorded a 9-yard reception of his own.
“I think we really made an emphasis to them that we got a group of four that have played in games before, and we expect them to be productive players, run and pass,” Lazor said. “I think they have stepped up to the challenge. The younger guys are getting better, and the older guys are being the kind of players that we expect them to be. As a coach, you feel good when guys that you know work hard have some success and get some production.”
Running back Perry Jones rushed for a season-high 82 yards, while also leading the Cavaliers in receptions with 7 catches for 100 yards. Darius Jennings bounced back from a tough performance a week ago to catch 6 passes for 136 yards. Shepherd made his only reception count as he took it 73 yards for a touchdown.
Defensively, the Cavaliers surrendered 385 total yards. The Tech offense, however, set the tone for the second half on its opening drive when quarterback Colby Cameron went 8-9 on a 15-play scoring drive. Cameron used several screen and flanker routes to pick apart the Cavalier defense. The short screens turned into significant gains, and became a problem for UVa in the second half.
“You have to be careful about basically playing three over two sometimes,” London said. “You take a safety out of the box, or you walk an outside linebacker out and you defend that. They did a great job with their back out of the backfield of also running kind of a post play. In the second half, being cognizant of the run because of the hurry up offense they run, a couple of runs hit us. That’s a play that they run, but it’s a play that also the rushers on defense can help turn and run after the ball is thrown. They did a good job of executing that part of their offense in the second half.”
Middle linebacker Steve Greer led the Cavaliers with 14 tackles, while safety Anthony Harris turned in 12 stops of his own.
Up next for the Cavaliers is a trip to Durham to take on the surprising Duke Blue Devils. Duke is 4-1 for the fist time since 1994 and is looking to make a case for its first bowl game since the 1995 Hall of Fame Bowl. The Hoos have lost three of their last four games against the Blue Devils, including two straight at Wallace Wade Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
