After Virginia football cleared its first hurdle in conference play with a win over Louisville, in its second weekend of ACC action the Cavaliers (3-2, 1-1 ACC) came up short in their road game against N.C. State.
“We played well enough to make it interesting," Coach Bronco Mendenhall said following the game, "but not well enough to win the game."
The undefeated Wolfpack (4-0, 1-0 ACC) posed a challenge to both Virginia’s offense and defense, as they came away with the 35-21 win.
N.C. State got on the scoreboard first with a 34-yard field goal. However, the Cavaliers moved into the lead after picking up 67 yards on eight plays to get into the Wolfpack’s end zone. On the game’s first touchdown, junior quarterback Bryce Perkins threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus.
Virginia didn’t hold on to its lead for long, though, and in the second quarter, N.C. State graduate student quarterback Ryan Finley started to find some success. Finley entered the game as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, amassing 1,056 passing yards in the three games prior to the contest with the Cavaliers. His first two touchdown passes of the game were 16- and 14-yard passes to give N.C. State a 17-7 lead. A 44-yard field goal from the Wolfpack concluded the half and extended their lead to 20-7.
N.C. State continued to generate offense in the second half, as a 2-yard touchdown run from running back Reggie Gallaspy made the game 27-7. The Cavaliers finally found themselves getting back on the scoreboard when Perkins threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Zaccheaus.
In the final 15 minutes of play, Finley had one more touchdown pass in him as he connected with his teammate, junior wide receiver Kelvin Harmon, to bring the score to 35-14. Finley finished the day completing 22 of 32 passes and amassing 257 passing yards. In addition to Finley’s passing, the team had 176 rushing yards to make for 433 total yards on offense.
“Even when we would get there, he stood in the pocket strong,” sophomore linebacker Charles Snowden said of Finley. “On all his throws, he gave his guys a chance. He had a lot of confidence in his guys, and he's a really good player."
With over three minutes left in the game, the Cavaliers closed in on the lead as senior running back Jordan Ellis rushed for a touchdown making it 35-21. After a successful onside kick that enabled Virginia to regain possession, Virginia moved down the field to find itself inside N.C. State’s 10-yard line. However, the Cavaliers couldn’t pull off the comeback as Perkins’s pass was intercepted.
The Cavaliers finished with 351 total yards on offense, which mostly came from Perkins’s 258 passing yards on 20-for-35 passing. Zaccheaus had nine receptions for 109 receiving yards, putting him in fourth place for career receiving yards in the program’s record books. Besides Ellis’s 7-yard touchdown, Ellis was largely ineffective on offense, finishing with 30 yards on 13 carries. Perkins, who usually is a successful runner, only picked up 24 rushing yards.
"Our inability to run the ball consistently and their surprising ability to run the ball, those two things were the backstory of what led to the outcome," Mendenhall said.
Virginia’s defensive unit was missing key players going into the game, including junior defensive end Richard Burney, senior linebacker Malcolm Cook and junior linebacker Jordan Mack due to injuries. The Cavaliers also lost sophomore safety Brenton Nelson in the second quarter when he went down with a concussion. Snowden led the defense for the day with a team-high and career-high 11 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Robert Snyder, who started in Mack’s place, also had a good showing with a career-high seven tackles.
“The loss of Jordan Mack certainty did affect the outcome. The loss of Brenton Nelson certainly did affect the outcome,” Mendenhall said. “But that doesn’t excuse the outcome.”
Virginia is now entering a bye-weekend, giving them plenty of time to address the struggles they faced against N.C. State and work on correcting some of those errors.
"We're going to get back in the film room, see exactly what we need to correct, and we're just going to get to work,” junior cornerback Bryce Hall said. “This loss isn't going to define us. I know we're going to come back stronger. That's really the bottom line. We've got to see our mistakes, fix them, and get back to work."
The Cavaliers are back in action on Saturday Oct. 13 when No. 17 Miami comes to Scott Stadium. Kick-off time is still to be determined.
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