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Phillip Sims had the only UVa TD pass of the night. |
The Virginia football team’s post-bye week magic ran out as the Cavaliers came up short – literally – against North Carolina on Thursday night. The primetime showdown remained a closely contested affair until UVa failed to score on fourth down from the one-yard line late in the third quarter and things spiraled out of control for the hosts the rest of the way as the Tar Heels rolled to a 37-13 victory.
The loss drops Virginia to 4-7 on the season, eliminating the possibility of bowl eligibility and ending the team’s quest for back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004-2005.
“We’re not happy. You play for a bowl game, you play for championships, and you play to win. After a loss, it’s tough. Especially knowing that you’re not going to be able to go to a bowl game for our seniors and the guys graduating,” Cavalier quarterback Michael Rocco said. “But we’ll move on. We have a big one next week.”
The South’s Oldest Rivalry settled into a hard fought battle for 44 minutes with Carolina holding a 20-13 lead late in the third quarter, but Virginia knocking on the doorstep of a tie with 1st-and-Goal from the 8-yard line. After Rocco gained 5 yards on a designed quarterback draw, the Hoos needed just 3 yards to reach the end zone. Three running plays later (all to the short side from the left hash marks), they had netted 0 yards. On 2nd-and-Goal from the 3, an outside zone run to Perry Jones from a jumbo set gained just 1 yard after the play short-circuited due to a missed block by Luke Bowanko .
On 3rd-and-Goal from the 1-yard line in a jumbo set, Kevin Parks carried ahead and to the left to pick up 1 yard when he was met just shy of the goal line. Then on 4th-and-Goal from the 1, the Cavaliers handed off again to Parks going left from a jumbo set (ESPN’s Jesse Palmer said before the snap the Hoos needed to go to the right and away from UNC’s Sylvester Williams, who had 8 tackles on the night) and he was swallowed up by a wave of Tar Heels on a play that never had a chance.
When that play didn’t work, the Cavaliers clearly seemed deflated.
“It was a big turning point in the game. We get it, it’s a different ball game,” said Parks, who had 12 carries for 53 yards. “I think it would have been a different story of a game. We came up short. We didn’t get in. It hurts.”
“It’s very disappointing. You get down in that situation there where you have the chance to tie the score. It seemed like the game kind of turned on that, not getting that fourth down opportunity,” UVa coach Mike London said.
The story of Virginia’s season can be summed up in the moments following that drive. North Carolina took over at the 3-yard line and marched the length of the field for a touchdown to make it a two-score game. That drive ended with a blown coverage that led to a wide-open touchdown pass to Giovani Benard, who the Cavaliers bottled up otherwise in the game; he finished with 57 yards rushing and 47 yards receiving.
On the ensuing kickoff, a holding penalty negated a big kickoff return. Then a first-down sack put UVa behind the chains when protection broke down and Phillip Sims (8-17, 50 yards, 1 TD) held the ball a tick or two too long. On 3rd-and-14, a wide-open Darius Jennings (3 catches, 24 yards, 1 TD) got behind the secondary but dropped what likely would have been an 81-yard touchdown pass. Next, Alec Vozenilek shanked a punt for just 28 yards at the worst time to give the Tar Heels great field position. The visitors capitalized with another middle clearout passing play for another wide-open touchdown.
After that grew the Carolina lead to 34-13, Khalek Shepherd fumbled on the next kickoff return to ensure that the Heels would win the turnover margin category on the night. The Hoos picked up an offsides penalty on a missed field goal moments later and UNC promptly made the redo count for 3 points and a 37-13 edge. Teams simply can’t have that many mistakes in a row and expect to win many football games.
Unfortunately, those types of miscues – penalties, turnovers, coverage hiccups, dropped passes, and missed blocks – have crept up frequently this season. The turnover margin category in particular has been a key storyline for the Wahoos. In the three games this season where Virginia has won or stayed even in turnovers, they’ve posted a 3-0 record. In the eight games where the Cavaliers have lost the turnover battle, they own a 1-7 record. Against Carolina, UVa had the late kickoff fumble and a Rocco interception that UNC’s Tre Boston returned 36 yards for a touchdown in the first half.
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The Hoos slowed Giovani Bernard but they couldn’t shut down the entire UNC offense. |
Rocco, who finished 11-of-16 passing for 155 yards, said that Boston made a good play on a below-average throw on that one.
“The pass was intended for Tim Smith . The safety rolled down into cover three, and I tried to fit one in there. The ball was too low. It could have been a big play if I had gotten it over top of him, but the safety made a good play, and then made a good return,” Rocco said. “It wasn’t my best throw. We were going to run that play later in the game, and if I were to do it again I would try to get it to him a little earlier. The ball was just too low that time, and it got picked.”
With bowl eligibility now out the window, the Cavaliers will finish their season next week with a trip to Blacksburg to take on rival Virginia Tech. London said the team will treat that last game like a bowl game and give everything it has to try to get another win.
“You tell them that’s there one more game left. There’s one more opportunity. We always like for the guys to have a positive college playing experience, one more opportunity to play with your teammates, play your in-state rival. You’ve got to make it your bowl game,” London said. “That’s what it is: one last game to play. I know the players will be up to the challenge. It’s a very quiet locker room in there with a lot of disappointments. We’ve got to pick ourselves up and get ready to play one last football game.”
