The UVA football team, which last year set an NCAA record by winning five games by 2 or fewer points, suffered a heartbreaking run-in with the law of averages on November 1, losing at home in overtime to Miami, 24-17.
“Well, we’ve been on the other end of that deal before,” said Head Coach Al Groh after the game. “Now we’re on the other side. It’s heartbreaking to the team.”
It has been an odd season for UVA. After losing a boatload of talent to graduation, academic ineligibility and the judicial system—and subsequently losing three of the first four games of the season—Groh converted a sinking ship that threatened to drown his coaching career into a sleek man-of-war. Before the Miami loss, UVA was on a four-game winning streak.
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Sophomore quarterback Marc Verica could only look on with horror after fumbling the ball—and an opportunity to win the game—on Miami’s 32-yard line with 31 seconds left in regulation. |
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But the game against the Hurricanes proved a polar opposite of the Cavaliers’ overtime win two weeks ago in Scott Stadium against the North Carolina Tar Heels. In that game, UNC appeared the superior team for the first 58 minutes until UVA quarterback Marc Verica engineered an improbable 82-yard drive in a minute and a half to tie the game and send it into overtime, at which point momentum and the running prowess of senior tailback Cedric Peerman carried the Cavs to victory.
On the final play in overtime of the Miami game, however, Peerman fumbled the ball while running for extra yards after picking up a first down. The Hurricanes had already scored a touchdown during their inning of overtime with a nine-yard pass. It was the first lost fumble of Peerman’s career.
“Cedric is a guy who’s had our back for many weeks. We’ve got his back tonight,” said Groh, saying that everyone had to shoulder responsibility for the loss.
For most of the game, UVA (5-4, 3-2 in the ACC) appeared the superior team, while Miami racked up penalty yardage, including seven false starts. The Cavaliers took a 10-3 lead in the first quarter but could never get more than a 7-point advantage despite a slew of opportunities from Miami turnovers and UVA’s defensive stops. But kicker (and converted soccer player) Yannick Reyering missed two field goals, and, on third and short at Miami’s 27-yard line, Verica was sacked for a loss of 12 that forced the Cavs to punt. In the fourth quarter, Miami tied the game with a 95-yard drive that ate seven minutes off the clock and put the overtime momentum squarely on the side of the Hurricanes.
“It’s kind of like sand in our hand,” said Groh. “We had it, but we couldn’t wrap our hand around it.”
In addition to losing the game, UVA also lost its best backup running back, Mikell Simpson, for the rest of the year because of a broken collarbone.
Even with three-quarters of the games in the record books, it’s nearly impossible to predict where the Cavaliers will end the season. Virginia’s division of the ACC is as wide open as it could be, with five out of six teams tied with two losses. If UVA wins the remaining games against Wake Forest, Clemson and Virginia Tech, it could conceivably make the ACC championship game in Tampa and earn its first BCS bowl berth with a victory. Lose those three games, and Virginia players stay home for the holidays without the satisfaction of even a trip to a third-rate bowl.
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