Wahoo Wire

Seven Turnovers Prove Deadly in Virginia’s Season Opener

Entering Saturday’s matchup, Virginia hoped to put 2008’s disappointing 5-7 season behind them and establish momentum against Football Championship Subdivision William & Mary. On the game’s third play, senior quarterback Vic Hall broke for a 34 yard rushing touchdown, igniting fans into a hopeful frenzy. Seven turnovers later, Cavalier fans were left to wonder how dismal their season might be.

Following UVA’s opening score, William & Mary quarterback Jeff Archer took the Tribe down the field and tied the game with a 5 yard touchdown pass to Rob Varno. The Cavaliers regained the lead after back-up QB Jameel Sewell authored a flawless 84 yd drive, capped by his 8 yd rushing TD. The rest of the game, however, was a series of mishaps and lost opportunities for the Cavs, as William & Mary shut out Virginia for the game’s final 37 minutes.

This was not the start that new offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon envisioned when he brought his spread style offense to Virginia. Using a quarterback carousal that featured three separate passers, the Cavaliers were limited to 135 passing yards, no passing touchdowns, and three interceptions. William and Mary’s talented defensive back B.W. Webb came down with all three interceptions, including a 50-yard pick six that effectively sealed the game. Had Webb been wearing navy and orange, he would have been third on the team in receptions.

The football proved slippery for the Cavaliers, who fumbled the ball four times. Vic Hall lost the ball twice, including a third quarter muffed punt that placed William & Mary deep into Virginia territory. Such good field position was a common luxury for the Tribe. Although the defense limited William & Mary to one touchdown in four red zone possessions, the offense’s blunders were too much for Virginia to overcome.

The Cavalier’s displayed a quarterback-heavy attack, with passers providing the majority of the team’s rushing offense as well. Sewell and Hall combined for 155 yards and two rushing touchdowns, while Mikell Simpson, the team’s starting tailback, carried the ball only 5 times for 32 yards.

As for silver linings, the Virginia defense did contain last year’s CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year Jonathan Grimes to just 46 yards on 19 carries. The offensive line allowed just one sack despite losing talented tackle Eugene Monroe to the NFL.

This is little consolation, however, to Al Groh and his staff, who suffer a season opening embarrassment for the second straight year. Virginia never recovered from last season’s 52-7 drumming by the USC Trojans. Saturday’s game hardly inspires optimism that this season will be different.

With a 26-14 victory, William & Mary handed Virginia its first loss to a Subdivision team since 1986. In doing so, Tribe players silenced Cavalier fans that had taunted them as “UVA Rejects”–most of these fans had left by the time the so-called rejects ran off the field in victory.