With Virginia trailing for the first time this season, quarterback Marques Hagans felt the Syracuse rush back in the shotgun. Scrambling right on the third-and-eight play, Hagans had Wali Lundy open in the flat but instead opted to tuck and run, and he didn't stop until he had scored a 59-yard touchdown.
"I thought about dumping it off at first, but when I [turned the corner], there was a lot of green field," Hagans said.
That run was the first of three unanswered first half TDs for No. 12 Virginia (4-0), which defeated Syracuse (2-2) by a 31-10 score Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium.
Hagans starred for Virginia, completing 11 of 12 passes for 202 yards and one TD and running for 81 yards and two more scores.
"Marques did a terrific job leading his team," Virginia coach Al Groh said.
Though Groh billed Syracuse as Virginia's most physical opponent thus far, the Cavalier defense fared well in slowing the Orange's ground attack. Syracuse rushed 38 times for just 113 yards. Sophomore linebacker Ahmad Brooks led the team with 12 tackles and two sacks. Cornerback Marcus Hamilton made 11 stops, and linebacker Kai Parham had nine.
Trailing by two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter, however, Syracuse marched 73 yards to the Virginia seven, where they had a first-and-goal situation. With a chance of narrowing the gap to one score, the Orange's offense faltered. Three rushes from Syracuse running back Walter Reyes netted only three yards.
On fourth-and-three, Parham put pressure on quarterback Perry Patterson, as he rolled right. With Parham in his face, Patterson floated a cross-field throw to the endzone that was broken up by cornerback Tony Franklin before it could reach the hands of tight end Joe Kowalewski.
"Give a big assist to the assistant coaches on defense," Groh said. "We practiced that play in that circumstance twice this week."
Syracuse's Patterson was 15 of 23 for 141 yards. He was particularly accurate in the first half, missing on only three of his 12 passes.
"It was a real shootout between those two," Groh said of the quarterbacks. "It didn't seem like either of them was going to miss."
Hagans' only miss was a soft pass to the right flat that bounded off Lundy's hands. Senior wide receiver Michael McGrew was Hagans' top receiver, catching four passes for 97 yards and a 39-yard touchdown on a fourth-quarter play-action.
"It was a look where we were hoping to get the safety down," Hagans said. "The safety came down, isolating Mike one-on-one with the cornerback, and that's what we've been looking for in practice."
That connection and Hagans' long TD scramble were two of four big plays that went for more than 35 yards for the Cavaliers Saturday. McGrew also had a 47-yard reception in the first half, and Hagans found tight end Heath Miller for 54 yards on a bullet that split two defenders.
"The pass to Heath was a big time throw, right on the belt, threaded in between two guys," Groh said.
Lundy was held to just one touchdown, a 27-yard off-tackle play to the right that originally looked stopped in the backfield before he reversed directions and sprinted to the endzone down the left side.
Along with the positives of Virginia's decisive win, the first signs of the injury bug appeared. Sophomore wide receiver Deyon Williams did not play, making way for tailback Alvin Pearman to take his place despite limited practice time at the position.
More troubling for the Cavaliers, however, was the sight of Chris Canty not being able to put any weight on his left leg as he left the field in the fourth quarter. Canty, the team's second leading tackler (30), exited the field on crutches and will underwent an MRI yesterday. The results of the test are still unavailable.
"Obviously you could see by the way that he left that he probably doesn't have an insignificant injury," Groh said.
Now having swept the out-of-conference portion of their schedule, the Cavaliers have a bye week to rest and recuperate before a nationally-televised Thursday night game at home against Clemson Oct. 7.
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