| Comeback Cavaliers |
| UVa overcomes 21-point halftime deficit |
By DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Wherever the ghosts at Scott Stadium are buried, they were awakened at halftime Saturday. Virginia, on the brink of its first home loss to North Carolina since 1981, scored 37 straight points in the second half and roared to its sixth victory in a row, 37-27. In four of those games, UVa (6-2, 4-1 ACC) trailed at halftime. Only three weeks earlier, the Cavaliers had overcome a 17-point second-half deficit at Wake Forest. "I've never been associated with a team that has been more remarkable than this one," said Virginia coach Al Groh, who has been in his profession for 30 years. This time, the Cavaliers trailed 21-0 after a mistake-filled first half in which delay-of-game penalties stopped two UVa drives inside the Carolina 10-yard line, the second one nullifying an apparent touchdown. "I was mad [at halftime], but I was mad at myself," Groh said. "I didn't think I had a very good half. The No.1 thing I wanted to make sure I did at the half was the same thing you try and do with your team. I wanted to get some things corrected and I wanted to have a better half. "Players execute physically, but coaches execute, too." Only once in its history had Virginia overcome a second-half deficit of greater proportions, when it rallied to beat Virginia Tech 36-32 in 1998 after trailing 29-7 in the third quarter. The turnaround Saturday couldn't have been more stunning, starting with a school-record 100-yard kickoff return by the Cavaliers' Marquis Weeks to start the second half. "The first one I could have taken to the house, too," said Weeks, who had earlier returns Saturday for 33 and 39 yards. "There were some other games where I felt I could have broken one." Virginia had few answers for North Carolina quarterback Darian Durant in the first half, and Durant was no less impressive to start the second half, responding to Weeks' return by quickly driving the Tar Heels into Virginia territory. On third-and-four from the Virginia 13, Durant connected with chief target Sam Aiken, who already had picked up a first down and was headed toward the goal line when he met with ball-hawking cornerback Muffin Curry. While he was using one arm to wrestle Aiken to the ground, Curry used the other to dislodge the ball, which Curry then pounced on within inches of the sideline. It was his third fumble recovery of the season. It looked as if Curry had prevented a touchdown or at least a field goal. And when the Cavaliers proceeded to drive 98 yards for a touchdown, the momentum turned. "It could have been 28-7 and the next thing you know it's 21-14," Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub said. "That was definitely a big lift for our team." Schaub had a nightmarish first half that included two completions in his first eight attempts, a fumble that led to Carolina's first touchdown, and the two delay penalties. "A few bogeys on the front nine?" Schaub, an avid golfer, was asked. "Maybe a couple double bogeys," Schaub said. "I think I hit a few in the water, too." Schaub, who entered the game as one of the most accurate passers in Division I-A, failed to approach his pregame 69.7 completion percentage but finished 14-of-26 for 194 yards and two touchdowns. "I was kicking myself after those delay penalties," said Schaub, who has tossed at least one touchdown pass in eight straight games and has 19 TD passes for the season, two shy of the UVa record. "It's my responsibility to keep my eye on the clock." Durant was 14-of-18 for 226 yards and three touchdowns, but when the Tar Heels took the field after the Virginia touchdown that made it 21-21 with 13:59 left, it was backup C.J. Stephens behind center. It was several minutes before it was announced to the press box that Durant had injured his right (throwing) thumb. "He came out after the series that it happened," Carolina coach John Bunting said. "Then, he went back in but we felt it was in everybody's best interest to get him out of there." The Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3 ) failed to gain a first down in their first three series with Stephens in the game. In the meantime, UVa had gone ahead 37-21, which provided some much-needed breathing room when Stephens threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Aiken with 1:01 left. An apparent two-point conversion pass to Chesley Borders was nullified by penalty, which gained in significance when Carolina recovered a subsequent onside kick and drove to the UVa 29. The two late drives left Carolina with 451 yards in total offense, marking the fifth straight game in which UVa has been outgained. The Cavaliers finished with 423 yards, including a season-high 229 on the ground, with freshman tailback Wali Lundy getting a season-high 108 yards on 18 carries. "There were some things that hurt us that just eat you up because you know they're [the players] trying," Bunting said. "The No.1 emphasis with our young players, starting in training camp, is learning how to finish." Virginia, which has outscored its first eight opponents 177-76 in the second half, has learned that lesson well. |
| Curry on winning side, Blizzard on losing end |
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By DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Ronald Curry never won a game at Scott Stadium during his college football career and neither will his fellow one-time Virginia recruit, Bobby Blizzard. The last laugh belongs to their ex-Hampton High School teammate and Curry's cousin and former housemate, UVa's Almondo "Muffin" Curry. "I'll be calling Ronald tonight, just to let him know what the outcome was," said Muffin Curry after Virginia's 37-27 come-from-behind victory over North Carolina. "He's an alumnus, you know." A Carolina alumnus, that is. Curry, Blizzard and a third Hampton player, Darnell Hollier, all committed to Virginia early in their senior year at Hampton. Although Blizzard withdrew his commitment within days, Curry waited until the spring before signing with the Tar Heels. Blizzard spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy before signing with Kentucky, where he spent two seasons before transferring to Carolina. After sitting out the 2001 season, he has one year of eligibility after this one. Blizzard had two receptions for 38 yards Saturday, the most important on a fake field-goal attempt at the end of the first half, but he had to be helped from the field after a lights-out hit by UVa safety Jerton Evans. Blizzard later returned to action, but the Hampton High School graduate with the biggest influence on Saturday's outcome was also the smallest, 5-foot-8, 178-pound Muffin Curry. With Carolina leading 21-7 in the third quarter, Curry caused and recovered a fumble by the Tar Heels' Sam Aiken at the UVa 2-yard line. "I did what I do best," Curry said. "I went for the ball while trying to make the tackle also. We were in man-to-man coverage, he ran a hitch route, I got knocked down and got back up. Receivers don't really think about taking care of the ball after they catch it." Aiken was maybe a yard from the sideline when tackled and it seemed likely that the loose ball would bounce out of bounds. Instead, it hit the long Scott Stadium grass and stopped. "That was just a miracle," Curry said. "When I looked at the ball, it looked like it was going to bounce out. We just got a great roll and I happened to pick it up." Virginia wasn't awarded possession until the officials conferred. There was a flag on the play, with Carolina getting called for offensive pass interference, which the Cavaliers declined. "Our penalties were inexcusable," said Carolina coach John Bunting, whose Tar Heels were whistled five times for 59 yards, not including a second offensive pass interference on a late Carolina two-point attempt, which otherwise would have succeeded. "It's the first time I've been involved in a game where I saw two offensive-pass-interference penalties. That's interesting," he said. PERSONNEL: Willie Davis became the fifth true freshman to start for the Cavaliers this season when he took the Cavaliers' first defensive snap at outside linebacker. Davis, who also has played safety and returned kickoffs, suffered an apparent ankle injury that left him on crutches by the end of the game. Returning to action after missing five games was outside linebacker Raymond Mann. Freshman running back-kick returner Michael Johnson made a brief appearance after missing four games. Angelo Crowell started at inside linebacker after injuring a knee against Clemson but was spelled repeatedly by Rich Bedesem. TIKI FACTOR: Ex-Virginia star Tiki Barber from Roanoke was featured Saturday on the pregame video in which the Cavalier mascot enlists the aid of some UVa-related celebrity in slaying the opposing mascot. Barber is in his sixth season as a running back with the New York Giants. UP NEXT: The Cavaliers, needing one more victory to become bowl-eligible, travel to Georgia Tech for a game that will be broadcast by ABC at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. UVa (6-2, 4-1 ACC) is looking for its first victory in Atlanta since 1994. The Yellow Jackets (4-3, 1-3) are coming off a 34-10 loss Thursday night at Maryland. |
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Heels again fall apart in second half
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Cavs come back from 0-21,
defeat Tar Heels
A lingering drought afflicts the University of Virginia, where students routinely clean their hands without water and hotels beg visitors to use towels twice.
The football visitors from North Carolina had trouble comprehending the crisis yesterday as their three-touchdown lead and frail bowl chances drowned in a flash flood 37-27.
The Cavaliers trailed 21-0 at halftime, but Marquis Weeks returned the second-half kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and triggered the school's greatest ACC comeback.
Although stung, Carolina was on the verge of blunting the rally when receiver Sam Aiken fumbled 2 yards short of the end zone. Virginia drove 98 yards for another touchdown.
Those two plays broke the dam. The tidal wave reached 28 points in 19 minutes and 37 points in 27 minutes. Virginia (6-2, 4-1 ACC) won its sixth straight game, overcoming a halftime deficit for the fourth time this season.
The Cavaliers gained 296 of their 423 yards after halftime against a UNC defense that wilted during N.C. State's second-half onslaught a week earlier.
Defensive end Will Chapman tried to explain the difference.
"It wasn't: 'Here we go again,'" Chapman said. "It was like we knew they had to score four touchdowns in the second half to beat us, and we had stopped them from scoring at all in the first half. It wasn't a heads-down, here-we-go-again thing. It was more of: 'What's going on?'
"Everything we said we weren't going to do, we did - missed assignments, letting them score, letting them move the ball down on us. That was all screamed and yelled at halftime. Then some things happened, and then we're a fragile defense."
The fragility made the Tar Heels wince, including backup quarterback C.J. Stephens.
"Obviously, that's painful to watch," Stephens said.
He watched most of the second half from close range. Quarterback Darian Durant completed 14 of 18 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns before slamming his right thumb against someone's helmet. Team doctors suspect a bruise, but X-rays today will clarify the issue.
"It's sore, and there's a lot of swelling," Durant said. "There's soreness with a bruise, and there's soreness with a break."
There was extreme soreness in the Tar Heels' team psyche on a mostly cloudy day. UNC ( 2-5, 0-3) presumably will enter the next four games as an underdog.
Coach John Bunting's team foiled the odds for the entire first half, defusing the Cavaliers' attack and striking boldly.
Durant made eye contact with Aiken before a third-and-1 play near the end of the first quarter. Aiken, lining up on the left side, slanted toward the center of the field, caught the bullet and sprinted 77 yards for the ninth-longest pass in school history.
Carolina set up its third touchdown with a fake field goal, holder John Lafferty throwing a 24-yard pass to tight end Bobby Blizzard.
"I'm willing to take those chances, but at the same time you've got to put two halves together," Bunting said. "This is second week in a row we've not been able to come out and finish the job. That was the No. 1 emphasis in training camp with young players - learning how to finish. We're not quite there yet."
They took a step forward after Weeks' kickoff return opened the second half. Freshman Mahlon Carey, who rushed for 67 yards in his debut, and Durant carried the Tar Heels down the field. On third down from the 13-yard line, Durant connected with Aiken (seven catches, 179 yards).
Cornerback Almondo Curry poked at the ball while making the tackle and it came loose. Curry pounced on it at the 2, his helmet hitting the sideline before he gained possession.
"It just kind of hit the ground and bounced up and stayed where it was," Curry said. "The tip of the ball was 2 inches from the sideline."
Aiken blamed himself for the fumble. Bunting stared at the grass.
"I felt awful," Bunting said. "That was terrible. It's just a sad situation because that's one of our best players, and he tries so doggone hard.... My heart breaks for him. It really does."
UNC had one desperate chance to break Virginia hearts. Aiken stole a pass from two defenders in the end zone and a two-point conversion cut the lead to eight with a minute left, but an offensive pass-interference call nullified the conversion.
When it rains, Carolina drowns.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Matt Schaub threw two second half touchdown passes and Virginia rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit to beat North Carolina 37-27 Saturday, extending its winning streak to six.
The Cavaliers (6-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got a school record-tying 100-yard kickoff return from Marquis Weeks to open the second half and never looked back, finally taking the lead at 28-21 on Schaub's 35-yard scoring pass to Ottowa Anderson with 11:53 to play.
"We needed something to give us a spark and give us some life," Virginia Coach Al Groh said. "We said that we needed some stars in the second half. That was part of raising our game. We couldn't go out there and just rock along."
Virginia has now outscored opponents 177-76 in the second half, and five times has rallied to win after trailing at the break.
The comeback also was the second-biggest in school history, eclipsed only by a rally from a 29-7 deficit at Virginia Tech for a 36-32 victory in 1998.
"I'm not sure what it is about coming back in the second half," Schaub said. "Being down 21-0, we knew that we'd have to get a couple of scores early. We also knew that if it was close in the fourth quarter we could pull it out because that's what we've done the past couple of weeks."
The Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3), who have not won at Scott Stadium since 1981, drove inside the Cavaliers' 10 after Weeks' big return, but Sam Aiken turned the ball over on a fumble near the goal line.
The Cavaliers recovered and drove 98 yards in 12 plays with Schaub hitting Billy McMullen from 8 yards out to pull Virginia within 21-14.
"That continued our momentum," Schaub said. "We got a couple of big plays and ended up getting six points. That was a big drive for us."
Schaub was 14-for-26 for 194 yards. He was intercepted once.
The Cavaliers tied it at 21 with 13:59 left on a 2-yard touchdown dive by Wali Lundy. The freshman finished with 108 yards on 18 carries.
Schaub's pass to Anderson gave the Cavaliers the lead, and a 22-yard field goal by Kurt Smith and Alvin Pearman's 17-yard scoring run with 3:04 to play rendered a late touchdown by the Tar Heels insignificant.
"For that kind of turnaround to occur, obviously there are a lot of answers to that," Groh said. "At the heart of it is the players. They really believe in each other. Without that at the half, I mean that's all we had."
The Cavaliers scored on their first five possessions of the half, and ran out the clock on the sixth after a late interception by Shernard Newby.
"It's never one thing that changes a game," North Carolina Coach John Bunting said. "Virginia returned a kick for a touchdown, we fumbled near the goal line. Those are a couple of things right there."
The Tar Heels built their lead on three touchdown passes by Darian Durant, including a 77-yard connection with Aiken. Durant, who was 15-for-19 for 226 yards before leaving with an injured right thumb, also hit Jarwarski Pollock from 17 yards and Chesley Borders from 4 yards out.
Aiken also caught a late 14-yard scoring pass from C.J. Stephens.
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Another 2nd half stinker for Heels |
| By NEIL AMATO : The Herald-Sun namato@heraldsun.com Oct 19, 2002 : 11:36 pm ET CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Sure, Virginia had been in this spot before. But not like this. And, North Carolina — gasping-for-breath UNC — well, it had been close at halftime, or ahead in previous games. But not like this. Both teams continued season-long trends Saturday, delighting Virginia fans whose new slogan should be, "What, us worry?" Fans of UNC, well, fill in the blank on their slogan. Maybe, "So close, yet so far away." That’s what victory was for the Tar Heels at Scott Stadium, where a 21-0 lead evaporated faster than you can say Ottowa Anderson. He was the guy who had Virginia’s go-ahead touchdown, a tackle-breaking, tightrope-walking 35-yarder in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers, who have won each of the past four games in which they trailed at halftime, added two more scores and held on for a 37-27 victory. That result continued UNC’s misery in Charlottesville, where the Tar Heels haven’t won since 1981. They had a chance to end that streak — now at 11 games — with a quarterback who wasn’t alive when it began. Sophomore Darian Durant threw three first-half touchdown passes and was on his way to a fourth when he banged his throwing thumb on a helmet and his best receiver fumbled, setting in motion Virginia’s comeback that was one for both teams’ record books. Virginia (6-2, 4-1 ACC) has been outgained in each of its past five games, but Coach Al Groh’s team has won six straight and is one victory shy of bowl eligibility. Saturday’s victory was the Cavaliers’ largest comeback in ACC play, and their second-half points were the most allowed by UNC in a half. Florida State scored 36 two seasons ago, and Virginia had 36 in a 66-0 thrashing of the Tar Heels, in 1912 in Richmond. "Defensively, we couldn’t have played a better first half," said UNC coach John Bunting, whose team had yielded 127 first-half yards. "That certainly was our best half of football. It’s just a shame we couldn’t put a second half in there." Later, Bunting couldn’t say if it was the Tar Heels’ worst second half of the season. "It would be hard for me to tell you exactly where that ranks," he said, "because we’ve had a lot of bad second halves." Virginia has had many good ones, and this one was no different. It started with Marquis Weeks’ 100-yard kickoff return to open the second half. It included 296 yards of offense and ended with Alvin Pearman’s 17-yard ramble for a touchdown and a 37-21 lead. Virginia has been outscored 149-77 in first halves and outscored the opponent 177-76 in second halves. "At the heart of the [comeback] is that these players really believe," Groh said. "They really believe in each other." UNC (2-5, 0-3) isn’t sure what to believe about itself after playing so well — on both ends in the first half. The Tar Heels played well in the first 30 minutes last week against N.C. State, turning a 10-7 halftime lead into a 17-7 margin before losing 34-17. "Everything we said we weren’t going to do, we did," UNC defensive end Will Chapman said of the halftime mindframe. "We’re a fragile defense, I think." They tried to play as if the score was 0-0, but in that line of thinking, the score was 7-0 Virginia 19 seconds into the third quarter. Weeks went untouched up the middle and outran the UNC coverage. UNC still led by two touchdowns, but Virginia had life. "It was the turning point in the game for us," Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub said. But with Durant still on target — he completed 14 of 18 passes for 226 yards before leaving with the injury — the Tar Heels appeared ready to answer. Durant threw a pass to Sam Aiken, who turned a second-quarter slant play into a 77-yard score. Aiken had been called for offensive pass interference against Almondo "Muffin" Curry — Ronald’s cousin — but then he committed a second football sin. Curry jarred the ball loose at the 2-yard line, and, with the pigskin hovering near the sideline, recovered it. "Moving that ball all the way down there and coming out of there with no points was deflating," Bunting said. Even more crushing to the Tar Heels: Virginia turned that turnover into a touchdown, going 98 yards and cutting the lead to 21-14 on Billy McMullen’s touchdown catch from Schaub. Durant played one more series but couldn’t grip the ball and was replaced by C.J. Stephens. Before Stephens could get in, though, Virginia scored again, on Wali Lundy’s 2-yard run that capped an eight-play drive in which none of the 58 yards came through the air. Stephens and the Tar Heels went three and out on the next series, and Marques Hagans’ 13-yard punt return gave Virginia the ball at the UNC 35. Two plays later, Schaub hit Anderson, who eluded UNC safety DeFonte Coleman, who had a grip on Anderson’s jersey but let him slip away. Anderson avoided stepping out of bounds and scored. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Four touchdowns in 18:07. Virginia’s winning streak, this season and over UNC at home, lives on. The margin grew to 37-21 before Stephens found Aiken for a touchdown with 1:01 left. Aiken, who leaped over defender to steal the ball, finished with seven catches for 179 yards, the fifth-most in a game in school history. Chesley Borders caught a two-point conversion pass but was called for offensive pass interference, and Stephens was sacked on the second conversion try. UNC recovered the onside kick, but it meant nothing with the margin 10 points instead of eight. UNC had winnable games against Miami (Ohio), Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Virginia. Each time, the opponent either ran the clock or scored in the second half with its ground game. Something about the attitude on the sideline told Bunting this game would be different. It wasn’t. "I don’t think this one’s any different from all the others," he said. "But at the same time, I was with them on the sideline. I felt like we were going to get something going, make a play. … Somebody’s gotta step up and make a big one." In the second half, when it mattered, that somebody
wasn’t wearing white and light blue. |
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Game turns thumbs down for UNC on 1 play |
| By Neil Amato : The Herald-Sun namato@heraldsun.com Oct 19, 2002 : 11:36 pm ET CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- John Bunting said that no football game can turn on one play, and he’s right. Multiple second-half occurrences were UNC’s downfall at Virginia. However, one snap in the third quarter changed everything, though no one at the time knew its effect on multiple levels of the Cavaliers’ 37-27 comeback win. On third and four from the Virginia 13, Darian Durant rolled right and found wide receiver Sam Aiken for an apparent first down. Aiken made a lunge toward the end zone against Virginia’s Almondo "Muffin" Curry. Aiken fumbled and Curry recovered, giving Virginia possession at the 2. Curry said the ball was perilously close to going out of bounds before he snagged it. "It was a couple inches away from the sideline," he said. "I didn’t think it was going to stay right there. It landed right in the same spot." If the ball goes out of bounds, UNC retains possession, though the Tar Heels would have been backed up by Aiken’s offensive pass-interference penalty. Still, they would have had a chance to score, a fact not lost on Curry. "That was a huge play," he said. "They were knocking on the door. It could have been 28- or 24-7." Another knock occurred on that play, the knock of Durant’s thumb on a player’s helmet. Durant wasn’t sure if he hit it on teammate James Faison’s helmet or a Virginia player’s helmet, but the damage was done. Durant struggled to grip the ball and was done for the day, which had been a good one for him: 14 of 18, 226 yards, three touchdowns. "It’s terrible," Durant said. "I was playing so well. I felt like I was in a real good rhythm, and then all of a sudden, the injury. It hurt a lot." So, too, does the thumb, which Durant was icing after the game. He said it was sore and swollen but couldn’t tell how long it might sideline him. Durant is scheduled for an X-ray today, but team doctors said that they don’t think Durant has a broken bone. Bunting said he had a broken heart for Aiken on that play. "I felt awful," Bunting said. "It’s a sad situation. That’s one of our best players, and he tries so doggone hard." Backup quarterback C.J. Stephens was 9 of 15 for 103 yards in relief, one of two players who played somewhat unexpectedly in the UNC backfield. Gone is the redshirt season of tailback Mahlon Carey, who was pressed into action with injuries to Jacque Lewis (bruised calf) and André Williams (back). Carey rotated with Willie Parker and led the Tar Heels in rushing, with 10 carries for 67 yards. Bunting was pleased with Carey’s effort, and so was Durant. "He’s a bigger guy, and he has a lot of shiftiness to him," Durant said. "He did well for us." So, too, did Durant, who moved up to third on UNC’s career touchdown-pass list with his 32nd scoring pass in 1½ seasons. Matt Kupec threw 33, and leader Chris Keldorf had 35. Durant remains UNC’s career leader in completion percentage, but he was reduced to spectator on Saturday. |
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Much More Of Same for Cavs Amother Comeback Leads to 6th Straight Win: Virginia 37, North Carolina 27 y Jim Reedy CHARLOTTESVILLE, Oct. 19 -- The Virginia Cavaliers, masters of the second-half comeback, did it again today by scoring 37 consecutive points after halftime to beat North Carolina, 37-27, for their sixth straight victory. The Cavaliers (6-2, 4-1 ACC) owned the second half in each of their first five wins, but those turnarounds paled in comparison to their performance today after trailing 21-0 at the break. That deficit merely set the stage for the second-largest comeback in program history. "I've never been associated with a team that's any more remarkable than this one," said Virginia Coach Al Groh, whose 13-year tenure as an NFL coach included two Super Bowl teams. "These players really believe. . . . At the half, that's all we had. We didn't have any performance to speak of." Marquis Weeks jump-started the Cavaliers by returning the second-half kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and quarterback Matt Schaub threw two scoring passes, including a 35-yarder to Ottawa Anderson with 11 minutes 53 seconds remaining to give Virginia a 28-21 advantage. Virginia, which last won six consecutive games in 1994, managed just 127 yards in the first half and came away empty on its two trips into the red zone. The defense, meantime, allowed 266 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown pass from Darian Durant to Sam Aiken. The Cavaliers had a 296-185 advantage in yards in the second half. "We executed very well in the first half. . . . But you have to play two halves," said North Carolina Coach John Bunting, who lost Durant to a thumb injury late in the third quarter. Weeks, who averaged 36 yards on his first two kick returns today, burst untouched up the middle on his 100-yard return that tied the program record. "We needed something to give us a spark," said Groh, whose team has now outscored its opponents 177-76 in the second half this season. "That was part of raising our game. We couldn't just go out there and rock along and try hard. Some guys had to be willing, whenever the opportunity presented itself, to become the star." The Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3) answered with an efficient drive that moved the ball to the Virginia 1-yard line with a 12-yard completion to Aiken. But Virginia cornerback Almondo Curry poked the ball away as he tackled Aiken along the sideline. The ball stayed inbounds, and Curry pounced for his third fumble recovery of the season. Inheriting the ball two yards from their goal line, the Cavaliers marched the length of the field for a touchdown that cut UNC's lead to 21-14. Schaub, who had 154 of his 194 passing yards after halftime, threw a 42-yard pass to tight end Heath Miller and an eight-yard touchdown pass to wideout Billy McMullen. Virginia drove 58 yards on its next possession, scoring the tying touchdown on a two-yard run by freshman Wali Lundy (108 rushing yards) one minute into the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers ran for 229 yards on 47 carries, their biggest total of the season. "We ran the ball very well," Groh said. "I said to [the offensive linemen] on Tuesday that they would be the key to the game, and they really were." The Tar Heels, meantime, were in the midst of a four-drive stretch in which they produced a total of three yards. They punted with the score tied at 21 to Virginia's Marques Hagans, whose 13-yard return put the ball at the UNC 35. After an incompletion, Anderson caught a short pass in the flat and worked his way down the left sideline for the go-ahead touchdown. Virginia added a 22-yard field goal and a 60-yard touchdown drive to increase the lead to 37-21 with three minutes remaining. North Carolina backup C.J. Stephens threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Aiken with just over a minute remaining to complete the scoring. The plan was to "come out in the second half and just make 'em crack," said Virginia outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock, who tied an ACC freshman record with his seventh and eighth sacks of the season today. "Once they cracked, it was over." Notes: Outside linebacker Raymond Mann (knee) and tailback Michael Johnson (ankle) returned after lengthy absences. . . . Virginia won its final game in 1997 and then began the next season with five straight wins. |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- What began as a beautiful autumn afternoon in the Blue Ridge Mountains ended up as just one more lost weekend for North Carolina's football team.
The Tar Heels discovered yet another way to lose to Virginia Saturday when the Cavaliers needed less than 23 minutes of clock time to turn a 21-point deficit into a 10-point lead on the way to a 37-27 victory.
Virginia's 11th straight win over Carolina in Scott Stadium was one of the more improbable ones in the streak. The Cavaliers' 37-point second half was the most ever scored by a UNC opponent in a single half, breaking the record of 36 set by Virginia 90 years ago and tied by Florida State in 2000.
The outcome spoiled an exceptional performance by Darian Durant, UNC's sophomore quarterback who completed 14 of 18 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns before he left the game at the end of the third quarter with an injury to his right thumb. Though the injury appeared to be a bruise that may not sideline Durant, he will undergo X-rays today to determine its extent.
It was no surprise that "momentum" was the most oft-heard postgame word from the players and coaches in both dressing rooms.
"We came out of the dressing room determined that we weren't going to back off, that we were going to play like the scoreboard was 0-0 instead of 21-0," said Sam Aiken, Carolina's outstanding senior receiver. "Then two plays took the momentum away from us and handed it to them."
Aiken was responsible for one of those plays, marring an otherwise brilliant performance in which he caught 7 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
The first of the two game-turning plays was a school record-tying 100-yard kickoff return by Virginia sophomore Marquis Weeks that electrified what had been a subdued crowd of 55,648. Besides extending Carolina's season-long kickoff coverage miseries, Weeks' run pulled the Cavaliers within 21-7 just 19 seconds into the second half.
"Kickoff coverage is all about finishing the play," UNC coach John Bunting said. "That was a painful smack in the face."
It didn't seem to bother Durant and the UNC offense, however. The Tar Heels took the ensuing kickoff and drove from their 27-yard line to the shadow of the Virginia goal. When Aiken caught a buttonhook pass for a first down inside the Virginia 5, Carolina appeared on the verge of taking a 28-7 lead that would quiet the crowd again. But then UVa cornerback Almondo "Muffin" Curry stripped Aiken of the ball as he brought him down within two yards of the goal line. The ball bounced straight up in the air within inches of the sideline, and Curry corralled it before it went out of bounds.
"When he (Aiken) gave me a wiggle, I could see he wasn't protecting the ball. I tried to hit it," said Curry, the cousin of former UNC quarterback Ronald Curry. "It landed a couple of inches from the sideline and took a strange bounce straight up in the air. I was able to cover it before it went out."
Virginia then seized the game's momentum long enough to take command. Following Curry's recovery of Aiken's fumble, quarterback Matt Schaub drove the Cavaliers 98 yards in 12 plays.
Next, it was freshman running back Wali Lundy's turn to trample what had become a demoralized UNC defense in a 108-yard rushing performance.
His runs accounted for most of the yardage in an eight-play, 53-yard drive that tied the score at 21.
Bad field position, a short punt and an Ottowa Anderson tightrope walk along the sideline boosted the Cavs into a 28-21 lead. Contact Larry Keech at 373-7080 or lkeech@news-record.com Why the Tar Heels lost: For the second time this season, a UNC receiver fumbled within a couple of yards of the end zone on the way to what might have been a crucial touchdown. This time it was senior Sam Aiken who was trying to stake the Heels to a 28-7 lead early in the third quarter.
Beyond the stats: Carolina cornerback Michael Waddell, who wore goat's horns in a couple of earlier losses, held UVa receiving ace Billy McMullen to three catches for 35 yards and a TD.
Worth repeating: "I was mad (at halftime), but I was mad at myself. I don't think I had a very good half. Players execute physically, but there are some things coaches have to execute, too."
-- Virginia coach Al Groh
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