Wahoo Wire

As the saying goes, “almost only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades.”  Sadly for Cavalier fans, football doesn’t qualify.  Virginia played well for three quarters, but that wasn’t enough to top the Golden Eagles Saturday afternoon.

The game started well for the Virginia offense, which through two games had amassed only 445 yards of offense and averaged a measly 3.6 yards per play.  Senior quarterback Jameel Sewell threw a pretty pass to streaking freshman wideout Tim Smith for a 69 yard touchdown to get the Cavaliers on the board early.

By halftime, Sewell had added two more touchdowns (one pass to sophomore Kris Burd and a five yard run) and sophomore kicker Robert Randolph knocked home two field goals.  All told, the Hoos almost doubled their season average for points per game in one half with 27.

The defense did its part as well in the first half as they forced two early fumbles and had an interception to hold the potent USM offense to only 10 points.

With a 17 point lead at the break and no signs of any offensive problems, it looked like the Hoos were well on their way to their first win of the season.  After halftime, however, the tide began to turn as the Golden Eagles took the kickoff to the Virginia 32 yard line and quickly punched it in for six.

Virginia looked like it was up for the fight when they responded with a touchdown drive of their own, but gave the points right back on the ensuing kickoff as USM took it 100 yards back the other way.

From then on, it was all Southern Miss.  The Hoos had no answer for USM senior running back Damion Fletcher, as he accounted for 115 of USM’s 214 rushing yards and two of their three rushing touchdowns.  Simultaneously, the Virginia offense could not remain on the field to spell the defense as they punted on four of their final six possessions.

There was still hope at the end as the Cavaliers blocked the extra point on the go-ahead USM touchdown to keep the lead at three, but the Hoos’ final two possessions were a three and out and a turnover on downs at midfield to end the game.

Virginia fans can take solace in the fact that the offense put up a substantial amount of points and looked capable of playing with decent opponents, but at the end of the day, the Cavaliers are 0-3 and off to their worst start in Coach Al Groh’s tenure.