ATLANTA -- Virginia's offensive woes continued Thursday night as the Cavaliers fell 24-7 to Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
"This was obviously disappointing in its result," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "We still have quite a few things to do to get through this process of getting a number of our players playing and performing like college football players."
The Cavaliers (1-3, 0-1 ACC) posted 166 yards of total offense. The lone Virginia touchdown, a 17-yard reception by Kevin Ogletree, came after the game was already out of reach with 12:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Virginia lost its conference opener for the first time since 2002.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell made his first career start, becoming the third quarterback to start a game for Virginia this season. He was 15-32 passing for 115 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown pass.
"Young quarterbacks have to go through some things and work their way through them," Groh said. "Things didn't get off to a very positive start for him. He seemed to handle that well. Part of being a quarterback is working yourself through some difficult situations. He seemed to do that and he was unflustered by his lack of success."
Facing a relentless Georgia Tech pass rush, Sewell found himself under heavy pressure after nearly every snap.
"They gave us a lot of one-high safety looks and brought pressure just about every play," Sewell said. "That's what we prepared for and that's what we got."
Sewell's season stats now stand at 22-42 passes for 166 yards along with 16 net rushing yards.
Five of Virginia's seven first half possessions ended in three-and-outs as the Cavaliers put up a mere 54 total offensive yards before halftime. The last time that Virginia was kept off the scoreboard in the first half was during last year's 52-14 home loss to Virginia Tech.
"The first half didn't go well at all for me," Sewell said. "I was extremely disappointed but I came back the next half to try to make some positive things happen."
The story of the evening for Georgia Tech (3-1, 1-0 ACC) was the play of junior wide receiver Calvin Johnson. After being listed as a game-time decision on the pre-game press release due to a leg injury, Johnson looked completely healthy as he weaved in and out of the Virginia secondary with ease, pulling in six catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball also had a stellar evening, completing 10-19 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns.
Ogletree's touchdown catch was his second of the year. He led Virginia's receivers with four catches for 41 yards.
"That touchdown was important to give our team confidence and basically just motivation to keep going -- that we've got a fighting chance," Sewell said.
Senior Noah Greenbaum was given the starting nod at the field-goal kicking spot, in place of junior Chris Gould, who had missed three field goals over the previous two games. On his only attempt of the evening, a 47-yard kick with 1:48 remaining in the third quarter, Greenbaum missed wide right. He did, however, convert the extra-point attempt following Ogletree's touchdown.
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