A classic ACC trivia question was answered Saturday: Against which team did Duke snap its 25-game ACC losing streak?
The Cavaliers became the answer to that question in an embarrassing fashion Saturday, falling to Duke 31-3. The Blue Devils earned their first ACC win since defeating Clemson Nov. 13, 2004.
“The only thing that really counts is what’s up there on the scoreboard,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “That’s what we play for. Despite what we see up there, there were a lot of areas in which we saw positive improvement with the team.”
A loss to traditional ACC doormat Duke is not the game from which to take away something positive, but for a game with such a large of a margin of defeat, the statistics were not as lopsided as one would expect. Virginia actually out-gained Duke in total offensive yards and had one more first down. Turnovers, however, can make all positive statistics meaningless, and the four interceptions thrown by Virginia sophomore quarterback Marc Verica proved costly. Verica ended going 19 of 42 for 194 yards, but Groh did not think about pulling Verica after any of those interceptions.
“That’s part of growing up as a quarterback,” Groh said. “You can’t run for the hills when things get tough. You have to stand out there ... [It’s good], one, for him to be put in that circumstance, and two, for us to see how he’ll deal with it and how he’ll handle it ... We have every confidence that Marc will go in the right direction, but this will be his opportunity.”
Virginia’s cause was also hindered when junior running back Mikell Simpson was stopped on a fourth-and-1 at the Duke 20-yard line with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
“One of the things we understand is that if you don’t take control of a game, the game eventually gets away from you,” Groh said. “We had the opportunity [late in the first quarter] to take control of the game.”
The turning point of the game could easily, however, be considered the time when Virginia senior linebacker Clint Sintim and sophomore cornerback Ras-I Dowling left the game with cramps on the same play with 11:35 left in the third quarter. Both Sintim and Dowling had great games leading up to that point: Sintim had two sacks and Dowling made two critical interceptions.
“It was frustrating,” Sintim said. “I was definitely in a groove in the first half. I just felt comfortable, I told Coach I felt like I could win on that side and I was doing a pretty good job. Unfortunately, the cramps came in.”
The Cavaliers missed Sintim and Dowling dearly. By the time those two returned with 10:47 left in the fourth quarter, the scoreboard read 24-3.
“Those were clearly not just two real good players for us, but ... two of our principal playmakers on defense,” Groh said. “After [they got injured], we were just rocking along on defense without them. We would have liked to have them in there, for sure.”
One notable play that occurred with Sintim and Dowling out of the game was a 30-yard touchdown pass from Duke junior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis to senior wide receiver Eron Riley, in which Riley was uncovered. It was the second time Riley was left uncovered on a play, but only the second instance proved costly to the Cavaliers.
“The first time [Riley was uncovered], I just said ‘Snap the ball,’” Lewis said. “The second one, I just said ‘Down, set hut’ and he snapped it.”
It was just that kind of day to Virginia, which has a legitimate chance to go winless for the rest of the season. If that were to happen, it would be the first time that Virginia had not won an ACC game in a season since 1981.
“I just feel like we have to go back and study this tape, stay focused and fix our wrongs,” Virginia junior fullback Rashawn Jackson said.
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