Two years ago, Virginia escaped "Death Valley" on a last-second touchdown pass in which receiver Billy McMullen may have gotten away with an offensive pass interference no-call. Last Saturday, Clemson (4-2, 2-1 ACC) returned the favor as sophomore quarterback Charlie Whitehurst found senior Kevin Youngblood in overtime on a 4-yard fade route, where once again a possible offensive pass interference penalty went uncalled.
Youngblood "went up and made a play," Virginia coach Al Groh said, refusing to elaborate. "That's football; that's football in the end zone."
When Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub was later asked whether or not he thought a flag should have been thrown, Groh quickly interjected that "there was no push off,;don't even ask that."
In the end, the Cavaliers (4-2, 3-1 ACC) fell to Clemson in overtime 30-27 on a day where the offense failed to score in the first half.
Of Virginia's seven first half possessions, five ended with punts, another by a Travis Pugh interception and one by halftime itself.
Offensively, the Virginia front line struggled to establish the run. After coming off a dominate performance the week before against UNC, in which sophomore Wali Lundy and junior Alvin Pearman combined for 229 yards on the ground, the two mustered a mere 26 yards and 35 yards respectively.
"You got to be able to run the ball, especially on the road," junior guard Elton Brown said. "We needed to have run the ball better today."
At the beginning of the second half, however, Schaub took matters into his own hands to help get Virginia on the board. After only attempting 13 passes in the entire first half, he came out and threw 22 third-quarter passes, completing 16 for 146 yards and two touchdowns to give the Cavaliers a 17-10 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Despite missing tight end Health Miller in the end zone at the end of the quarter -- a play which would have given Virginia a 21-10 advantage -- Schaub did find the sophomore earlier in the third for an 11-yard score.
The touchdown reception, the 12th of Miller's young career, put him in a tie on the ACC all-time list for most receptions in a career by a tight end.
On the other side of the ball, Virginia had trouble stopping Clemson in the first half, allowing the Tigers to rack up 273 yards. Yet the defense still managed to get into halftime only down 10-0 as Virginia caused two Clemson turnovers in the red zone: An interception by safety Jermaine Hardy right before halftime and a missed field goal attempt by Clemson kicker Aaron Hunt kept Virginia close.
The third quarter however, brought with it a revived Cavalier defensive unit that forced the Clemson offense to four straight punts.
"The third quarter is symbolic of how Virginia plays defense," junior defensive end Chris Canty said.
But it was only an aberration, as Clemson turned the tide in the fourth with two touchdown drives, including a 29-yard reverse pass late in the fourth from Derrick Hamilton to Kevin Youngblood.
On the first play from scrimmage in overtime, Virginia was called for a false start penalty that left Al Groh biting his lip in disgust after the game.
"Mondays, we practice overtime," Groh said. "We can't get penalties in overtime."
After failing to convert a third and one on the same set of downs, Virginia elected to kick a 33-yard field goal. This set up Whitehurst and Youngblood to end the contest on a game-winning fade route.
Nonetheless, Virginia needs to bounce back quickly if they hope to compete with a feisty Florida State team (5-1, 4-0 ACC) coming into Charlottesville Saturday that is looking to avenge a tough loss to Miami last weekend.
Chris Canty guaranteed that a letdown wouldn't follow and that the Cavaliers would "definitely be hungry next week," with a tie for first place in the ACC on the line.
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