Atlanta, Ga. - The Virginia football team entered Saturday's game with a chip on its shoulder. That chip became a deep gash when Georgia Tech pasted the Virginia defense with 477 rushing yards and posted a 33-21 win before a scattered homecoming crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
A week after surrendering 256 rushing yards to Florida State, the Cavaliers (2-3, 0-2 ACC) faced a difficult task against a Georgia Tech team that entered the contest ranked sixth nationally in rushing yards. In the end, Virginia proved ill-prepared for the Yellow Jackets' formidable triple-option offense, as Georgia Tech (4-2, 3-1 ACC) saw four different players total more than 40 yards on the ground. Redshirt senior running back Anthony Allen led the way with three touchdowns and a career-high 195 yards on 25 carries. The team's 477-yard total marked the highest single-game rushing mark of any ACC team since 1981.
"It seemed like we'd stop them, we'd stop them and then all of a sudden, we'd let them out," Virginia coach Mike London said. "You can't do that against a team that's No. 1 in the conference in rushing. They're very good at what they do. We had no margin for error in what we were trying to do."
Georgia Tech dominated in the early going, gaining 128 yards to Virginia's 42 during the first quarter. A Cam Johnson fumble recovery and a bend-but-don't-break defensive mentality, however, kept the Cavaliers close. Two-and-a-half minutes into the second quarter, redshirt junior fullback Max Milien burst up the middle and scampered 37 yards for a touchdown that gave Virginia a 7-3 lead. It was Milien's only carry of the game and just his third of the season.
"It was definitely fun," Milien said. "When the line makes great blocks like that, it's real easy for us in the backfield."
The Yellow Jackets finally seemed poised to recapture the lead with five minutes remaining in the first half when they made their third trip into the red zone, but the Cavaliers forced a second turnover to keep Georgia Tech out of the end zone once again. On first and goal from the Virginia eight-yard line, redshirt senior linebacker Darnell Carter batted senior quarterback Josh Nesbitt's pitch up in the air and pulled it down like a basketball rebound for the interception. The Virginia offense promptly went three-and-out, though, and Nesbitt fell forward into the end zone from one yard out with 36 seconds left to give the Yellow Jackets a 13-7 halftime lead.
The Cavaliers were ultimately undone by a blown opportunity during the fourth quarter. With 11 minutes remaining, Virginia faced fourth-and-goal from the Georgia Tech three-yard line and called a timeout to change to a passing formation. Senior quarterback Marc Verica skipped his first two reads and fired a bullet well out of the reach of junior wide receiver Matt Snyder to turn the ball over on downs.
"We did something that I think we do very well, so I'd do it again," offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said of the play call. "They out-executed us."
On the ensuing drive, Nesbitt reeled off a career-long 67-yard run to the Virginia 21-yard line, and Allen breezed into the end zone a few plays later to extend Georgia Tech's lead to 33-14 with less than five minutes to go.
Nesbitt - who finished with 128 yards on 21 carries in addition to 59 passing yards on three completions - led the Georgia Tech offense to a season-high 536 total yards. The Cavaliers racked up 376 yards of offense, but much of their success came at the end when the game was practically in hand. Senior running back Keith Payne paced the unit with two touchdowns and 56 yards on 14 carries. Virginia was again plagued by failures on third down, this time converting just 3-of-12 attempts. Moreover, the team's leading wide receiver - junior Kris Burd - was limited to one catch for three yards.
"We're a young team that's just got to find its identity here," London said. "But I think that's the frustrating part about it a little bit. You try to find who you are, what you are and who you can rely on. We've got to get those questions answered for sure."
The Cavaliers begin a three-game homestand this Saturday when they face North Carolina for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
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