Two weeks ago, Virginia Coach Al Groh hinted that if his Cavaliers had to play without quarterback Matt Schaub, the results would be ugly. His prediction proved accurate Saturday, as Virginia fell 31-7 to South Carolina in Schaub's first full game on the bench. The Virginia offense struggled without their veteran quarterback, gaining only 170 yards of offense and often looking lost without Schaub. Freshman back-up Anthony Martinez, making his first collegiate start, threw two interceptions and completed only 10 passes for 54 yards. Martinez also lost 26 yards rushing. But Groh was careful to not place the blame on his young quarterback.
"I think he's right in line with everybody else," Groh said. "I don't think anybody played very well over the course of 60 minutes. I'm sure there are a few plays that he'd like to have back."
Last week, Martinez received help from Virginia's rushing attack, which posted 202 yards against Duke. Against the Gamecocks, however, the Cavalier running attack failed to provide the same offensive spark. Sophomore Wali Lundy rushed for only 35 yards after gaining 88 and scoring a touchdown last week.
"He just didn't seem to have that much juice today," Groh said.
Junior Alvin Pearman led the Cavaliers with 91 rushing yards, but was often unable to find holes to run through. The Gamecock defense consistently gained a good deal of penetration into the Virginia backfield and was able to string out the sweeps that proved so successful against Duke.
"I think the game started with both of our lines," Groh said. "I didn't think either one of our lines played up to the way that we expected they would today."
Pearman scored the lone Virginia touchdown, punching in a four-yard run early in the second quarter. The Charlotte, N.C. native set up his touchdown run on the previous play, taking an outside handoff 34 yards on a fourth-and-1 in South Carolina territory.
"We did something that we didn't do many other times" on Pearman's long run, Groh said. "We blocked a lot of guys. There weren't too many plays as the game went on that we did that."
With the offense struggling to move the ball, the Virginia defense dug in and held South Carolina to 10 points in the first half. Ahmad Brooks played particularly well, recording five tackles and putting constant pressure on South Carolina quarterback Dondrial Pinkins.
"It was just a fist fight," Brooks said. "They were throwing punches at me, and I had to throw them back. I just can't sit there and let them beat us up like that. So I just had to play my part."
On one of his more impressive plays, Brooks downed a Tom Hagan punt on the South Carolina one-yard line late in the second quarter. Unfortunately for Cavalier fans, the defense followed up with their worst play of the game, as Pinkins proceeded to throw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Gamecock wideout Troy Williamson. The completion tied a record for the longest play from scrimmage in SEC history.
"The disappointing thing is, it's the play we anticipated, with the coverage that we practiced," Groh said. "It just goes to show you sometimes, you make the play and you're okay. [If] you miss the play, you got a big problem. That was a very embarrassing play."
Pinkins' strike to Williamson changed the complexion of the game by forcing the Cavaliers to play from behind and re-igniting the crowd of 80,000.
"There are things that teams do that usually cause you to get beat," Groh said. "If you give up long touchdown passes, you're usually going to get beat."
Virginia's defense folded for good in the second half. After Pearman fumbled on the Virginia 11, Gamecock running back Daccus Thurman put USC up 17-7 with a six-yard rushing touchdown. Following another short Virginia series, the Gamecocks engineered an 80-yard touchdown drive without completing a pass.
"They kept pounding the ball and bounding the ball on us," senior cornerback Almondo Curry said. "I think our defensive line was wearing down. Their offensive line just kept surging, and with the crowd behind them, they just kept pulling and pulling. We didn't want that type of game."
The future looks uncertain for the Cavaliers, who must travel to Western Michigan next week.
"It's now time for us to step up," Curry said. "We need to watch film and see who are the men on this team."
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