Wahoo Wire

Perry Jones' 62 yards on 15 carries were not enough to beat the Wolfpack

Just one week after upsetting the twelfth-ranked team in the country, the Virginia Cavaliers took a step backwards at home on Saturday against NC State.  The Wolfpack capitalized on Virginia mistakes, turning four Cavalier turnovers into 14 points, including returning an interception for a touchdown with just over 6 minutes remaining to seal the win.  After the game, Mike London said this showed his young team “just how devastating turnovers can be.”

Virginia opened the scoring with a six yard pass from Michael Rocco to Clifton Richardson in the second quarter, capping a 14 play, 72 yard drive that took over 7 minutes off of the clock.  The touchdown was the first receiving score of Richardson’s career.  The Wolfpack instantly answered, driving 70 yards ending with a five yard touchdown pass from Mike Glennon to Tony Creecy on 3^rd and goal.  Despite the touchdown on their previous possession, the Cavaliers made a change at quarterback and substituted David Watford for Michael Rocco.  Watford’s first pass was intercepted by David Amerson, giving the Wolfpack a short field that led to a touchdown on the very next play: a 33 yard pass from Glennon to Bryan Underwood.  Coach London explained the change in quarterbacks by saying “if they continued to blitz like that, Watford gave us an escapability option.”

The two defenses began to dominate the game after halftime, forcing a combined nine 3 and outs and 10 punts in just the third quarter alone.  The Cavaliers often squandered good field position in the 2^nd half due to their inability to complete passes, as Rocco and Watford were a combined 4-22 in the second half.  The Wolfpack struck first in the second half on a 79 yard completion from Glennon to Underwood on a 3^rd and 10.  Underwood caught the pass, broke a tackle, and tiptoed down the sidelines before racing into the end zone before the Virginia defense for his second touchdown of the day.  The Cavaliers refused to go down without a fight, and on the first play from scrimmage after Underwood’s touchdown, they answered with a 60 yard completion from Watford to Tim Smith to pull within a touchdown 21-14.  This play was the only completed pass for the Cavaliers in the 3^rd quarter.

With about 6 minutes remaining in the fourth, the Cavaliers got the ball with a chance to tie on their own four yard time, but on 2^nd and 10, Watford’s pass bounced out of Smith’s hands and into Amerson’s who returned it 12 yards for the score, giving the game its final margin 28-14.  The interception was Amerson’s 8^th of the season, tying an NC State school record for a single season.  The Cavaliers had two more chances in the quarter, but one drive ended in Watford’s third interception, and the other never got started after Dominique Terrell muffed a punt.

After the game, Coach London said, “it’s always a letdown when turnovers occur…right now we are in that middle of the pack with the other 4-3 and 5-2 [teams], and we need to turn it around for the rest of the year to get out of the middle of the pack.”  Watford responded to his forgettable day by saying that quarterbacks “gotta have a short-term memory” and claimed that he will “use this as motivation.”

The Cavaliers travel to Miami next week to play the Hurricanes on Thursday as they continue to work towards bowl eligibility.