Cavaliers falter in 2nd half

CLEMSON, S.C. — There was a massive roar inside Memorial Stadium long before Saturday’s contest reached its opening kickoff.

A gift-wrapped berth in the ACC championship game was announced for Clemson as Boston College’s loss to North Carolina clinched the Atlantic Division title for the Tigers.

With the chance to play spoiler gone, the few Virginia fans in attendance were clinging to the hopes that 18th-ranked Clemson might look ahead to more meaningful games.

Yet in a season mired with missed opportunities, reality dealt Virginia yet another cruel reminder: winning requires 60 minutes.

Clemson blanked the Cavaliers in the second half, becoming the third opponent to do so this season, and cruised to a 34-21 victory at Clemson Memorial Stadium.

Already eliminated from bowl contention, Virginia dropped to 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the ACC. The fifth-straight setback also secures a last-place finish in the league’s Coastal Division and the program’s worst finish since 1986.

“We had some guys step up and make some plays today,” Virginia coach Al Groh said, “but unfortunately we had some mistakes against a team that, clearly, can now be called of championship caliber, having won their division.”

Clemson, in the midst of a five-game winning streak, used its high-powered offense and special teams in the first half and relied on a seven-sack performance from its defense after halftime.

The Tigers had held on after Virginia running back Mikell Simpson, who shocked the Tigers by lining up at quarterback in the Wildcat formation, was unable to play the second half with a hamstring injury.

It showed. In fact, the Cavaliers managed just three first downs as they ran 26 second-half plays for just 40 yards. Only nine of those snaps came in Clemson territory.

“We didn’t play smart in the first half,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who turned 40 on Friday. “We weren’t disciplined with our eyes, and they had a lot of trick plays in the first half.

“This team came out in the second half to win this game.”

Leading 24-21 at halftime, Clemson pulled away midway through the third quarter as quarterback Kyle Parker completed two passes for 41 yards to help set up a 5-yard touchdown by Andre Ellington with 7:17 remaining.

“He keeps getting better and better,” Swinney said of Parker, who finished 19 of 26 passing for 234 yards and two touchdowns. “He is efficient and continues to make plays.”

It was all the scoring that the Tigers needed as Virginia managed just nine second-half plays in Clemson territory on offense as the day’s top weapon, Simpson, watched helplessly from the bench.

“It just seemed like [Clemson] blitzed a lot more,” said Simpson, analyzing the second half. “I don’t think they blitzed not once when I was in there.

“When they blitzed they were catching us off guard.”

That was not the case in the opening half after Virginia went to the Wildcat on its third possession, trailing 7-0.

Simpson, who did not play last week despite being deemed healthy, ran for three first downs and helped to guide the Cavaliers to the end zone. The score, however, came on a 6-yard keeper from starting quarterback Jameel Sewell as he faked a handoff and raced to his left untouched.

After a 7-play, 71-yard drive Clemson answered as running back C.J. Spiller scored for the 11th straight game on a 4-yard run.

As Clemson remained confused on defense, Virginia evened the game at 14-14.

This time, Virginia used trickery as wideout Vic Hall took the ball on a reverse on play-action and threw a wobbly 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joe Torchia, who was wide open in the right corner of the end zone.

“I can’t say that I was surprised, but I was excited to see him that open,” said Hall, who did not practice in the week leading up to the game. “We work on that play a lot. It worked out pretty well.”

Added Torchia: “I was wide open enough to think, ‘Don’t drop the ball.’ It just worked exactly the way that we wrote it up.”

As they did with the Cavaliers’ first score, the Tigers struck right back — placekicker Richard Jackson, considered inconsistent, nailed a 21-yard field goal after a 13-play drive stalled at the Virginia 4.

Simpson did his part to help set up the next Clemson score, fumbling at the Cavaliers’ 27-yard line. The Tigers scored three plays later as Parker scrambled, stepped up in the pocket and fired a 24-yard bullet to former Fork Union star Jacoby Ford at the front of the end zone with 1:52 left in the half.

Ford, who finished with six catches and 106 yards receiving, easily eluded coverage from Virginia cornerback Chris Cook and safety Brandon Woods.

“We made mistakes in handling the ball today that created some field position issues that made it very challenging for us,” Groh said. “Ultimately, those are the things that swung the scales.”

While Groh claimed that Virginia was running the two-minute offense, it was four straight rushing attempts that led to 33 yards and allowed Sewell to go to the air.

Facing 1st-and-10 at the Clemson 23, Sewell showed all indications that a field goal was not an option. As the first half expired, he lofted a perfect floater to Simpson, who beat a linebacker to the left corner of the end zone.

Suddenly, Virginia was heading into halftime against a ranked opponent trailing just 24-21.

“Everybody was energetic, positive and upbeat,” said Simpson, who rushed for 84 yards on 14 carries a week after being benched. “We were playing a Clemson team that was trying to go to the championship and we were hanging in there.”

Virginia, which amassed 273 yards of total offense and averaged 4.6 yards per play, will close out the season on Saturday at home at 3:30 p.m. against Virginia Tech (8-3, 5-2).

“We are going into this game full throttle and I am trying to let everyone know that we are treating this as a bowl game,” Virginia defensive end Nate Collins said. “This is our game. No one on our team has beat Tech since they have been here, so this is a big deal.”