These are some likely thoughts that passed through Virginia students and fans’ minds with 2:18 left in the fourth quarter and Virginia down 10-3:
“We have to drive 82 yards in that little time left?”
“How is Verica going to pass the ball when he’s struggled during the game?”
”Well, it looks like Virginia’s not really that good.”
Admittedly, all of those thoughts went through my head, and in what will go down as one of the greatest games in recent U.Va. football history, the Virginia offense managed to stun the 52,342 in attendance and pull off a drive for the ages.
To fully comprehend what just happened in the last 2:18 in the game and in overtime, a couple things must be rehashed. The first is that Virginia has been through this exact situation before, in fact as recently as last season.
“We did this against Middle Tennessee State and Maryland last year.” Virginia senior linebacker Clint Sintim said. “We had a different quarterback last year, but the same thing remained constant: We were able to come through.”
The second thing is that this year’s starting quarterback — sophomore Marc Verica — has shown poise and the ability to right an uneven keel throughout the season, and that was no more apparent than during the game-tying drive. Verica did miss some easy throws during the rest of the game, which cast doubt on whether he could lead an 80-yard charge to the end zone, but the way he drove the offense down the field was much more impressive than the game-winning drives of last year’s starting quarterback Jameel Sewell. Against Middle Tennessee State, all Virginia needed was a field goal — which makes a drive a little less stressful — and during the Maryland drive running back Mikell Simpson did most of the work.
Except for Cedric Peerman’s 2-yard touchdown run, Verica did all the work on this game-winner. He completed seven straight passes, the most impressive being a 26-yard pass to senior wide receiver Maurice Covington on the second play of the drive that put the Cavaliers at their 43-yard line and seemed to give the team some hope. Verica provided more than hope as he completed subsequent passes of 7, 6, 16, 17 and 9 yards to put Virginia at the North Carolina 2-yard line.
“As soon as I saw the offense start clicking, I was like ‘We’ve got this in the bag,’” Sintim said.
Well, not exactly, Clint. After the touchdown, there was the little business of an extra point, which was blocked and looked to be no good, but somehow pushed through.
“I just heard the crowd’s reaction; I wasn’t watching it a whole lot,” Virginia senior linebacker Jon Copper said about the extra point that almost was missed. “But then [the crowd] started cheering, so I knew it was good.”
Instead of heartbreak, after North Carolina surprisingly elected to kneel down even though there were 47 seconds left, the game was going to overtime.
It was fitting that after everything Virginia went through, it won the toss and elected to go on defense. It was also fitting that the defense, after allowing a first down, decided to hunker down and stop the Tar Heels and force a field goal.
“We had to step up and make plays,” Copper said. “I think overall we did that.”
Then the offense decided to make plays in overtime, and four plays later Virginia completed the shocking turnaround. Right when Peerman scored the touchdown to win the game, the students went absolutely nuts and, for a few seconds, it felt like there was some apprehension about whether to rush the field. All it took was a brave few souls to rush the field, and the flood began.
“They weren’t [supposed to rush the field],” Copper said. “But you have to let some celebration go, so it was good.”
There should have been no shame in rushing the field. Virginia seemed dead in the water with 2:18 left in the game, and for Virginia to pull off the drive in regulation and then in overtime was amazing. Three weeks ago, Virginia was 1-3, and hope for the season was lost.
After upsetting Maryland and East Carolina, hope seemed lost at the end of this game, too. 2:18 and one overtime drive was all it took for Virginia to not only save a victory but — thanks to Virginia Tech’s loss to Boston College Saturday — to reach a position from which they could potentially win the Coastal Division. Who would have thought?
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