Football loses second ACC game
Courtesy of GTAA
Mike Cox runs with a pass against UVA. He finished the day with two catches and 13 yards. With the loss, the Jackets have now dropped eight straight games against the Cavaliers in Charlottesville. The team last won there in 1990, defeating the then No.1 Virginia squad, 41-38.
The Jackets were unable to hold a fourth quarter lead as UVA scored a touchdown late on a Tech turnover to take a 28-23 lead and their eighth straight win against Tech in Charlottesville.
Tech had an opportunity to add to their lead when Morgan Burnett intercepted Peter Lalich's pass deep in Tech territory, but the Jackets were unable to mount a drive that put them in scoring position.
"We could have won that game, but that's just the way the ball bounced. We know we're in a hole now, hopefully everyone's focused on coming back and taking on a tough Clemson team," said fullback Mike Cox.
Taylor Bennett threw for 230 yards, a touchdown and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. Tashard Choice started despite a sore hamstring and ran for 19 yards, but was held out of the second half. Freshman Jonathan Dwyer replaced him with 15 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown.
On the first drive, Choice took a few carries and Bennett later unleashed a deep strike to Demaryius Thomas who took the ball in for the touchdown.
"We have to do our jobs, as the offensive line. We just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and be better on third downs," said tackle Andrew Gardner.
The ensuing drive set the tone for the first quarter. Cedric Peerman, the ACC's leading rusher, took the first snap 20 yards for a first down. The following play, a 45 yard pass to tight end Tom Santi from Jameel Sewell, put the Cavs in the red zone. On second and goal, Peerman ran in for the touchdown.
Virginia's following drive started from their own six yard line. A series of short rushes by Peerman and a pass to Santi brought fourth and one from their own 44. Virginia elected to go for the first down and converted on Sewell's one yard rush. Later in the drive, Sewell kept the option hand off and ran four yards up the middle for the touchdown.
Tech got back on track in the second quarter when Virginia's punt returner, Vic Hall, fumbled Durant Brooks' punt on the Cavs 30. Tech recovered and Dwyer found the end zone in two rushes. Tech and Virginia went back and forth on possessions before the Jackets drove 70 yards, stalling at the Cavs 12 yard line with eight seconds left in the first half. Travis Bell made a 30 yard chip shot to pull Tech within four points of the lead.
Virginia elected to receive to open the second half but did not have the ball very long. Darrell Robertson got between Sewell and the open field, tackling Sewell after a six yard gain, forcing a fumble that Tech recovered.
Bennett completed the first pass of the drive for 17 yards to Greg Smith. Two short rushes and an incompletion forced the Jackets to settle for Bell's second field goal of the game, a 43 yard kick that put Tech within a point of the lead. Tech forced the Cavs into back-to-back three and outs and had the ball at mid-field. For the third straight scoring opportunity, Tech had to settle for a field goal. This time Bell kicked a career-long 51 yard FG that split the uprights and gave the Jackets a two point lead.
The lead lasted about seven minutes. On fourth and 12, with Virginia punting from their 31 yard line, Andrew Smith fumbled the punt on the Tech 26 and the Cavs recovered. The very next play saw Sewell connect with Staton Jobe for Jobe's first career touchdown reception and a 28-23 Cavalier lead.
Near the end of the game, Tech had the ball on UVA's 16 yard line with fourth and one. Tech elected to go for it, but Derrick Morgan moved before the snap and pushed the ball back five yards to set up fourth and six. Chris Long sacked Bennett to turn the ball over on downs.
"If one person doesn't do their job right, it messes everything up. We needed to just have everyone on the same page and sometimes we weren't," Cox said.
The Jackets were able to get the ball back one more time at their own 35 after a 40 yard punt and 17 yard return by Smith. A holding penalty erased the first play and pushed Tech back to the 25 yard line. On third down, Bennett found a wide-open Demaryius Thomas, but the ball slipped out of Thomas' hands and fell incomplete to set up fourth down.
Bennett's fourth down pass was overthrown with an offensive pass interference on Tech receiver D.J. Donley. Tech turned the ball over on downs to end the game.
"It's tough not having our destiny in our hands, but we're going to have to do all we can to make sure we can win every week. We just have to keep winning ACC games," Cox said.
