On Saturday, the Virginia football team needed a hook and a ladder to raise itself from the hole it dug in the first half against No. 20 Georgia Tech.
After offensive miscues left the Cavaliers trailing the Yellow Jackets, 20-7, at halftime, Virginia (4-5, 3-5 ACC) capped a seesaw second half battle with a trick play for the game-winning score to earn a 39-38 win at Scott Stadium.
With less than a minute left to play, Virginia junior wide receiver Billy McMullen caught a 10-yard pass from quarterback Bryson Spinner on the Georgia Tech 27-yard line. As three defenders converged to tackle him, McMullen tossed the ball to running back Alvin Pearman on the 30-yard line. Pearman took the lateral and ran untouched into the end zone to give the Cavaliers a one-point lead with only 22 seconds left on the clock.
"Its something you dream about," Pearman said. "I dreamt about that kind of moment for a long time, and God blessed me with this at this time and I really don't know what to say. I'm at a loss for words."
Virginia coach Al Groh said he was very happy with the call for a trick play.
It was a "great call by [offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave] there at the end," Groh said. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say."
Pearman's touchdown was the last of four touchdowns Virginia scored in the second half, all of them passing touchdowns from Spinner. Spinner overcame an 88-yard and one interception performance in the first half to finish the game with 327 yards passing and five touchdowns. He also rushed for a game-high 72 yards.
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As Spinner's fortunes reversed in the second half, so did McMullen's. After finishing the first half with no catches, McMullen caught 10 balls for 98 yards and two touchdowns after the break to lead all Cavalier receivers. He also set a new Virginia record for career receptions at 129 on the Cavaliers' game-winning drive and finished the game with 131 career catches. John Ford, who played in 1984 and from 1986-1988, held the old record of 128.
"It feels good" to be Virginia's all-time receptions leader, McMullen said.
Virginia battled back to take a 21-20 lead with 13 minutes, 12 seconds left in the game behind Spinner and McMullen. The pair hooked up for two touchdown passes to bring the Cavaliers back from their halftime deficit. But Georgia Tech quarterback George Godsey kept the Yellow Jackets (6-3, 3-3) in the game by responding to every second half Virginia score in kind. On the ensuing drive, Godsey led Georgia Tech into the endzone on a nine-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a one-yard rushing touchdown by Yellow Jackets' junior running back Joe Burns. Godsey set school records with 39 completions for 486 yards on the day. He also had one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.
"We tried everything we could to cool [Godsey] down - a variety of coverages and pressures," Groh said. "He sees them coming. He is a hard guy to deal with."
Virginia quickly responded to the Georgia Tech touchdown with Tavon Mason's school-record 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Mason's score, which gave the Cavaliers a 27-26 lead, was the third of seven fourth-quarter lead changes. Led by Spinner and Godsey, Virginia and Georgia Tech scored a touchdown in each of the next four possessions.
"I haven't seen our offense play like that in a long time," Virginia senior running back Antwoine Womack said. "Every time we got the ball we scored. It just kind of shocked me a little bit."
With tough games against Virginia Tech and Penn State still looming on the horizon, Virginia's win over the Yellow Jackets sheds new light on a season that looked lost after Wake Forest took Virginia out of bowl contention on Nov. 3 with a 34-30 win.
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