BLACKSBURG, Va. — A season that seemed to be full of promise ended in disappointment for Virginia when it lost to Virginia Tech 17-14 in front of a sellout crowd at Lane Stadium. With the loss, Virginia finishes the year 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the ACC, and is ineligible for a bowl game for the second time in three years.
Virginia had a golden opportunity late in the fourth to at least tie the game, but on a third-and-11 at the Virginia Tech 25-yard line, Verica threw a deep pass into the end zone intended for junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, and junior rover Dorian Porch came down with the ball for the Hokies.
“I tell [Verica] every day, ‘Protect the kick,’” Groh said. “We practice in that area of the field every day, from the 20 to the 35, all the time.”
Virginia had one last chance with 1:38 left, having to drive 87 yards, but Verica was sacked on fourth-and-9, and that sealed the Cavaliers’ bowl-less fate.
It was clear from the first offensive possession that Virginia was going to pull out all the stops in this game, because the Cavaliers lined up junior cornerback Vic Hall behind center in a Wildcat-like formation. Hall, who played quarterback at Gretna Senior High School in Gretna, Va., set a Virginia high school record for passing yards and was fifth all-time nationally in total yards. He was moved to cornerback midway through his freshman season at Virginia.
Nevertheless, on the first drive, Hall stunned the crowd with rushes of 14, 1 and then 40 yards for a touchdown, which put the Cavaliers up 7-0 early.
“I was all for [playing quarterback],” Hall said. “I felt like I could help the team a lot with the ball in my hands.”
The Hokies (8-4, 5-3 ACC), however, responded on their first drive, giving Virginia a taste of its own medicine as junior tight end Greg Boone — also a high school quarterback at Oscar F. Smith High School in Chesapeake, Va. — took snaps behind center for two plays. Eventually, sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor knotted the game at 7 with a 3-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Jarrett Boykin.
In the second quarter, Hall went back to work, as his first pass attempt of the game drew a pass interference call on Virginia Tech junior free safety Kam Chancellor, and the very next play Hall ran the ball 16 yards for a touchdown.
Virginia Tech was offsides on a missed extra point by freshman place kicker Robert Randolph, which allowed Randolph to try again and make it, giving the Cavaliers a 14-7 lead.
This was one of many missed opportunities for Virginia Tech to cut into the Cavalier lead in the second quarter. On the Hokies’ first drive of the quarter, senior kicker Dustin Keys missed a 22-yard field goal. Also, at the end of the half, with the Hokies in the red zone, senior quarterback Sean Glennon threw an interception to Virginia senior safety Byron Glaspy in the end zone.
To start the third quarter, in what ended up being the game-changing play on third-and-7 from the Hokie 18-yard line, Taylor scampered 73 yards down to the Virginia 9-yard line. Two plays later, Boone again lined up as quarterback and ran it in from 4 yards out to tie the game at 14.
As the play unfolds it “looks like we’re going to come out of it pretty good. We’ve got a spy on the quarterback, and it’s what we wanted,” Virginia coach Al Groh said of Taylor’s scoring run. “[Taylor] made the play, and our guy didn’t make the play. That’s what changes games of this nature.”
Virginia, however, continued to show resiliency. On the Hokies’ next drive, they had a fourth-and-goal at the Virginia 1-yard line, but sophomore linebacker John-Kevin Dolce and Nate Collins stuffed Boone for a loss of 4 yards.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Hokies benefited from an apparent incompletion from Taylor to Boykin being overturned by a review; Keys made a 28-yard field goal to cap the drive, putting Virginia Tech up by the final score of 17-14.
“There’s not much difference between these two teams, as was evidenced today,” Groh said. “But there’s just enough difference.”
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