ATLANTA-Try this: Register for that one class you absolutely need a good grade in to graduate, attend every lecture, buy every book. But when it comes to the first midterm, don't study, fail it. Get a big, fat 'F'. Can you come back and salvage a decent grade?
Not unless you're a genius.
In football, in school, in life, you can't fall behind and expect to make a big comeback. You can't, that is, unless you're a big-time player.
Last year, needing a win to have a chance at seven wins, the Cavs fell behind to Georgia Tech 17-0 in the first quarter, essentially failing the midterm. But then Thomas Jones forced the Cavs to shake off the bad start and, along with unheralded backup David Rivers, willed the Cavs to victory. Jones had 213 yards on a school-record 39 carries. It was a heroic effort.
But this year, there was nobody for Virginia. By the time Tech took a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, you knew it was over. There was nobody who could take this team on his shoulders and stage the same comeback for the Cavs.
"Definitely, I thought we could come back," Cav offensive tackle Brad Barnes said. "We did it last year. I thought when we came out, even in the third quarter, we had a chance."
But these are not the same Cavaliers you saw in that 45-38 win last season.
After the first quarter, the Virginia defense didn't allow any points in the second and third quarters to the Georgia Tech offense, which averages 17.5 points per game over the middle quarters. And considering the Cavalier offense couldn't put together more than three adequate drives all game, you can't blame the defense for breaking late in the game and giving up two more passing touchdowns.
"You can't have the defense on the field for that long," Dan Ellis said. The offense "just didn't show up. We don't know what it is."
And therein lies the problem: The Cavs don't need a solution, they need a savior. Look at the Virginia offense and name one player who could have dug the Cavs out of that 21-0 hole. Georgia Tech has three players with that potential: quarterback George Godsey, receiver Kelly Campbell and running back Joe Burns. Campbell and Godsey are the reasons that Georgia Tech has seven wins and sole possession of third place in the ACC.
That's what Virginia wanted. Now, it looks very doubtful that the Cavs will win seven for their 14th year in a row and less likely they'll win one more game and become bowl eligible. With the way they're playing, next week's game against N.C. State is not a gimme, and everybody knows you don't want to go into Blacksburg Thanksgiving Weekend with a bowl bid on the line.
Even if the Cavs do beat N.C. State next weekend, it's not guaranteed they'll get a bowl bid. Who wants to feature a team that hasn't won a game they weren't favored to win and hasn't shown they have a true star player who will attract television audiences and casual fans?
Who wants a team that, for most of last night, didn't look like it had much hope at staging even a minor comeback? Unless Virginia shows excitement and leadership in the next two games, no bowl will.
And that, you can be sure, will make this season a big, fat 'F' for the Cavaliers.
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