A Durham debacle
Associated Press
Duke’s Jabari Marshall (1) dives into the end zone ahead of Virginia’s Kris Burd (18) for a second-half touchdown on an interception.
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DURHAM, N.C. — The streak is over.
Perhaps another is gaining steam.
Thanks to 28 second-half points, Duke pulled away to blast Virginia, 31-3, at Wallace Wade Stadium, giving the Blue Devils their first ACC win since Nov. 13, 2004 and their most lopsided league win in 18 years.
Virginia (1-3, 0-1 ACC) committed five second-half turnovers and lost to Duke (3-1, 1-0) for the first time since 1999.
“I don’t look at streaks. Those are things of the past,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “What happened today by tomorrow will be yesterday. What happened three years ago to us is yesterday.
“Nobody said that Virginia had X amount of a winning streak [over Duke] and we didn’t ever think of it because it didn’t mean anything. Those players who won those games are off doing other things this afternoon, maybe raking their leaves, playing golf, doing whatever they are doing, getting ready to play a game.”
All events except actually losing to Duke would have been sufficient for Virginia’s current crop of players, which have now been outscored 128-20 by its three FBS foes.
“It is embarrassing to lose to anybody,” Virginia fullback Rashawn Jackson said. “Any loss is embarrassing for me and I am sure for the rest of my teammates because we are all used to winning. When you come from a winning program, losing is the last thing you ever think about.”
UVa, thanks to a stingy defensive effort in the opening half, appeared in position to keep the Blue Devils’ woeful streak of futility alive until the second half started.
Yet after back-to-back offensive drives netted minus-one yard, Duke slowly pounded the Cavaliers’ defense into submission.
Oddly enough, the game’s first touchdown drive developed moments after Virginia lost two starters — linebacker Clint Sintim and cornerback Ras-I Dowling — to cramps.
With the two players headed for the locker room, Duke completed a 10-play, 55-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown catch by freshman running back Jay Hollingsworth with 7:19 left in the third quarter.
“After that we were just kind of rocking along on defense without those two players,” Groh said. “We would have liked to have had them in there, for sure.”
Virginia quarterback Marc Verica, who completed 19 for 42 passes for 194 yards, promptly set up the Blue Devils with the first of his four second-half interceptions.
Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who passed for just 73 yards in the first half, pushed the Blue Devils’ lead to 17-3 with 3:29 left in the third as he connected with wideout Eron Riley for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Virginia’s woes continued in the fourth quarter.
On his first three passes of the quarter, Verica threw two interceptions, the last of which was returned 42 yards for a touchdown by Duke cornerback Jabari Marshall.
Duke added its final score, a 1-yard touchdown run by Tielor Robinson, with 1:41 left in the game.
In the second half, Lewis regrouped from a forgettable opening stanza, completing 10 of 13 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were kind of out of sync in the first half, but we came in and made some adjustments in the locker room and got into a groove in the second half,” Lewis said. “Coach [David Cutcliffe] told me that it is my job to get into a rhythm — we cannot blame it on nobody and you are the leader. I took that to heart.”
Virginia had chances to pull away early as the Cavaliers took or started each of their first three possessions in Blue Devils territory.
The three drives, however, netted only a 33-yard field goal from Yannick Reyering with 4:36 left in the opening quarter.
One play in particular summed up Virginia’s inability to convert in short-yardage situations. Facing a 4th-and-1 at the Duke 20 with 1:22 left in the first quarter, Virginia tailback Mikell Simpson failed to convert the first down.
Keeping the drive alive “would have probably provided a big positive spark and lift for us, but that’s kind of the story of the season and the game,” Groh said.
“We expect to make that. Otherwise, we wouldn’t try it. That would have had us in really positive four-down territory. I am not going to say took something out of us, but it could have added something to us, particularly points, if we had been able to do that.”
For the game, Virginia outgained Duke in total offense (304-258) and had more first downs (17-16). None of that mattered in Duke’s joyous locker room where Cutcliffe was presented a game ball by his players.
“That goes in the office,” Cutcliffe said. “It is a tribute to our players.”
Virginia returns to action on Saturday against Maryland at 7 p.m. as it opens a pivotal three-game homestand.
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Reader Reactions
“he coaches are doing well with the cards
they have been dealt.“
I couldn’t disagree more. The coaches are playing with cards they dealt themselves. Let’s not position Groh and his staff as innocent victims - they are reaping all they have sown. This team is abysmally bad - one of the worst in the country, clearly. That’s not bad luck, it’s bad planning, bad recruiting, and bad coaching. I attended the University and it IS a special place, but that doesn’t excuse or explain what’s going on in this football program.
They have, indeed, been dealt some tough cards. But the jury’s still out on the coaches. The RB Payne has shown some promise with this line. He’s a big, stong kid. If they continue to use Simpson as the first option, the coaches haven’t learned a thing. They desperately need to establish consistent running.
Glad I could stimulate a debate. Probably what TJ would have liked, had US football been around back then. I stand by my previous comments. UVa is a special place. Anyone who implies otherwise may not understand exactly what “The University” is all about. The coaches are doing well with the cards they have been dealt. Instead of bashing the program, isn’t it ablout time that we supported it? Unless of course you are from VT…
Doug is right. The Cavs are very thin right now at many spots. They have good receivers but a young QB. They need to do something to establish a running game with a young line and their best RB who is banged up. Opponents are going to stack the box, and they are going to need to throw some to capitalize. But they need to run! Simpson is not the style they need. He’s not north-south. Too inconsistent. He’s break off one but get stuffed two out of three. If Peerman isn’t healthy they need someone else. The line is too inexperienced for long-developing zone type blocking. They need quick hitting power over the left side.
“Some don’t realize that Virginia also has to deal with touchy things that don’t always seem to fit with the D1, namely honor and academics.“
Duke, I’m sure we can all agree, has no problem with honor or academics. And they just showed UVA to be what it is: currently the worst program in D1. Notre Dame, I’m sure we can all agree, has no problem with honor or academics. And with a few exceptions they are consistently competitive while playing BY FAR the most challenging schedule in the country.
This loss and this season isn’t about honor or academics. It’s about really, really bad coaching (particularly in terms of the offense) and recruiting that just hasn’t paid off. The play calling has been abysmal - I don’t know if that’s because the coaching staff has no confidence in the players or because the offensive coordinator just doesn’t really know how to conceive an imaginative game plan.
Are you listening to yourself? “Our offense looked much improved in the first quarter.“ Unfortunately a football game consists of 4 quarters, and if 3 points is your idea of “much improved,“ maybe there is a place for you on the coaching staff or in the athletic department. There is no way to rationalize the current state of the program.
Although we lost, our offense look much improved in the first quarter. And so did the defense. Tough decision to go for it on fourth down, but we have the horsepower to convert that play 99 times out of 100. It just didn’t happen that play. Some don’t realize that Virginia also has to deal with touchy things that don’t always seem to fit with the D1, namely honor and academics. Personally, I would like to see us honor the traditions set in Charlottesville a long time ago, even at the expense of a victory once in awhile. That doesn’t mean that all of our boys will never make a mistake in judgement now and then. It is what on learns from adversity and how one changes as a result that is important. As the old saying goes, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. It is time learn and progress from this and the other adversities we have faced.
I agree that this really does come down to coaching (or a lack thereof). We continue to lose to teams that have inferior talent. Our MO used to be “beat the teams we were supposed to beat and lose to everyone else” and get our 7 wins and third tier bowl game. Now we have regressed to “we struggle with top tier I-AA programs.“ We could pay another coach a fraction of what we are paying Groh and get roughly the same results.
UVA is running an offense not suited to its personnel. The QB is too inexperienced to be throwing so much. Verica is probably not physically capable of throwing 30 passes a game, muchless 40. UVA should take better advantage of it’s RBs. They should favor the left side of their line. One part of Verica game is faking the run, but this skill is not maximized when he throws as much as he does on first down. The RBs should favor the inside to set up the outside. Coaching needs to scrap the offense they planned for Lailach and redesign completely for the personnel they now have.
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