BLACKSBURG -- A week after finishing off the home portion of its schedule with a convincing 17-0 win over Miami, the Virginia football team traveled to Virginia Tech and laid another egg on the road as the Cavaliers were shut out by the Hokies 17-0 in front of a crowd of 66,233 at Lane Stadium.
Virginia (5-7, 4-4 ACC) finished its season one win short of attaining bowl eligibility. This marks the first time since 2001 that Virginia has not qualified for a post-season bowl appearance. The Cavaliers were 4-2 within the comforts of Scott Stadium but 1-5 away from Charlottesville.
Buoyed by a stout defensive effort, Virginia remained in a 0-0 tie with Virginia Tech (10-2, 6-2 ACC) late into the first half. But with 2:26 left in the second quarter, redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell was sacked by Virginia Tech linebacker Xavier Adibi and fumbled the ball. The Hokies recovered the pigskin at Virginia's nine-yard line and scored four plays later on a one-yard touchdown run by tailback George Bell.
"We knew both defenses were real good," senior cornerback Marcus Hamilton said. "It pretty much came down to who could make a play on defense and they made a couple of more plays on defense than we did and that was probably the turning point."
Virginia Tech put the game away with its first two possessions of the second half. A 23-yard field goal off the foot of Brandon Pace made the score 10-0 in favor of the Hokies with 9:24 remaining in the third quarter.
Virginia punter Ryan Weigand pinned Virginia Tech down at its own nine-yard line to start its next offensive possession, but the Hokies were able to mount a 91-yard drive that was punctuated with a 49-yard touchdown reception by Eddie Royal. Royal caught a short pass from quarterback Sean Glennon and burst free down the left sideline after Virginia cornerback Chris Cook missed the tackle.
Virginia's offensive output -- 112 overall offensive yards -- was the worst of the Al Groh era. Sewell completed 10 of 21 passes for 66 yards while senior tailback Jason Snelling accumulated 21 yards on 13 carries.
Virginia Tech's defense has allowed fewer points -- 9.3 per game -- than any other team in the nation.
"We didn't get into a rhythm," Groh said of the Virginia's offense. "We had a lot of second-and-long plays that are difficult to operate."
Virginia's longest offensive play of the game was a 25-yard reception pulled down by sophomore wide receiver Kevin Ogletree late in the first quarter. Ogletree was Virginia's leading receiver in 2006, finishing with 52 receptions for 582 yards and four touchdowns.
The defensive highlight of the day for the Cavaliers was redshirt freshman defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald's first quarter interception of an errant Glennon pass attempt. Fitzgerald finished his rookie campaign with 64 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
"Being able to play really well starts with a good defense and these players showed during the course of the year that they are ready to step up and play defense with anybody," Groh said. "Frankly, I'm pretty proud of my defensive team."
Virginia has now lost three consecutive games against the Hokies and seven of the last eight contests in the rivalry.
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