After a demoralizing loss to Pittsburgh last week, Virginia (1-1, 0-0 ACC) squeaked by Wyoming with a 13-12 win Saturday.
After several failed attempts to create offense by both sides during regulation, the Cowboys won the overtime coin toss and elected to go on defense first. Junior quarterback Kevin McCabe -- who replaced starter Christian Olsen with 12:49 left in the fourth quarter -- delivered a 25-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide out Kevin Ogletree on the first play of overtime. It was the Cavaliers first touchdown of the game and gave the team a 13-6 lead.
After driving down to Virginia's three-yard line, the fate of the game hinged on Wyoming's fourth-and-two opportunity. Cowboys quarterback Jacob Doss went back to pass and found wide receiver Chris Sundberg for a touchdown, drawing the visitors to within 13-12. Only a Cowboys extra point away from double overtime, it looked as if Virginia would have to gear up for another period. But Wyoming kicker Aric Goodman chunked the extra point wide right, giving the Cavaliers their first win of the season.
"I was lucky enough to be part of a team to win the Super Bowl on a kick on the last play of the game that went wide right," coach Al Groh said of his time as an assistant with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV. "This one felt almost as good."
The win was only Virginia's first overtime victory in its last five tries. The last was a 37-34 loss to Fresno State in the MPC Computers Bowl Dec. 27, 2004. The Cavaliers, though, broke this losing streak thanks to the McCabe-to-Ogletree connection.
"We ran that play at the end of the fourth quarter, and [Kevin] Ogletree said the defender was in position where we could hit one," McCabe said on the touchdown play. "He lined up the same way the first play, and I didn't want to force anything, but when you have a chance, you've got to take it."
That play was McCabe's first career touchdown.
Several others also had career-days.
Ogletree registered career-highs in receptions (10) and receiving yards (95), as well as his first career touchdown. Sophomore linebacker Jon Copper recorded his first career sack in the first quarter, and finished the game with a career-high 11 tackles. Sophomore cornerback Chris Cook made his first start in nearly a year and was strong on defense with 12 tackles.
Virginia's special teams looked a bit flustered when the Cowboys successfully completed two fake punts in the first quarter. The first was a 4th-and-15 and the second was a 4th-and-12, and both times punter John Wendling ran for over 25 yards for a first down.
The Cavaliers regained the momentum, though, when on the same drive as the second fake punt, senior cornerback Marcus Hamilton intercepted Doss's pass at the Virginia four-yard line and returned it for 29 yards. This marked Hamilton's 11th career interception.
The Centreville native made another game-changing play when he recovered a fumble at the Virginia one-yard line, snuffing out an 11-play drive for the Cowboys.
The special teams corps redeemed themselves with 3:47 left to play in the third quarter. With Wyoming up to punt, junior fullback Josh Zidenberg hustled through the line to block the kick. Freshman safety Rico Bell recovered at the Wyoming 14-yard line. The block eventually led to junior kicker Chris Gould's game-tying 34-yard field goal.
"It was something I was expecting," Zidenberg said on the blocked punt. "Coach told us to expect to come free and the two plays before that I was getting close. This time it just happened. It was a great feeling."
Virginia is scheduled to face Western Michigan next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
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