Brennan Armstrong completed 5-of-8 passes for 56 yards and added 14 yards rushing on Virginia football’s opening drive against Virginia Tech this past Saturday. An 11-yard touchdown pass to Keytaon Thompson capped off the 75-yard drive, which gave UVA a 7-3 lead over the homestanding Hokies.

Based on the success of the opening drive, Armstrong seemed headed towards another impressive performance in the latter half of the 2020 season and perhaps UVA’s first win in Lane Stadium in 22 years. That’s not how the game played out, though, as the Cavalier offense managed only four first downs in five second-quarter possessions as Tech surged to a 27-7 halftime lead, Virginia’s largest halftime deficit of the season.

In the two previous games between the Hoos and Hokies, the Virginia offense has been able to find a second-half spark. In 2018, Bryce Perkins connected on passes of 18, 29, 75, 18, 50 and 29 yards – three of which went for touchdowns – as the Hoos nearly pulled off a victory before losing 34-31 in overtime. Virginia Tech delivered a punch to the Hoos to start the second-half last season, scoring two touchdowns to take a 20-13 third quarter lead before Perkins delivered passes of 42, 25, 37, 30 and 67 yards and Virginia rallied to defeat the Hokies, 39-30, and snap the streak.

Second-half fireworks fizzled for this year’s Cavalier offense. UVA managed to cut Tech’s lead to 30-15 in the third quarter, but an Armstrong interception on an apparent miscommunication with the receiver thwarted the Hoos’ hopes of closing to within one score. Tech converted the turnover into three points before cruising to a 33-15 victory.

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