ATLANTA, Ga. -- There was no second-half kickoff return for a touchdown. There was no 98-yard scoring drive following a recovered fumble. There were no 200 rushing yards. There were no 37 unanswered points. But there was still a more than 20-point halftime deficit. Without the Cavalier comeback trademarks, there would be no second-half comeback for a Virginia team that fell 23-15 to Georgia Tech (5-3, 2-3) Saturday in Atlanta's Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The previous week against North Carolina, Virginia (now 6-3, 4-2 ACC) trailed 21-0 at halftime but still managed to emerge victorious by a count of 37-27. The comeback magic, however, ran out against Georgia Tech when junior quarterback Matt Schaub's deep pass to senior wide receiver Billy McMullen landed in the hands of Georgia Tech safety Jeremy Muyers at the Yellow Jacket 14 yard line with one minute, 25 seconds remaining in the game.
Down 23-0 at the break, the Cavaliers "rediscovered themselves" in the locker room, according to coach Al Groh. That discovery led to a touchdown drive on Virginia's first third quarter possession. Following a 34-yard completion to junior wideout Michael McGrew, Schaub threw a short pass over the middle to freshman fullback Jason Snelling.
Snelling read the oncoming blitz and found a vacated zone in the middle of the Tech defense for a 12-yard score. Snelling caught eight balls on the day for a team-high 93 yards; he also spearheaded the Cavaliers' dismal running game, leading the team with 14 yards and doing so on just one carry.
Snelling "has pretty much been this way all season," Groh said. "We gave him a little bit more to do [Saturday], and he stepped it up."
Georgia Tech's sizable lead for most of the game curtailed the opportunity to get the already struggling Virginia running game moving effectively. The Cavaliers would run the ball only 20 times for 53 yards but would be kept in the game by the Heruclean effort of Schaub.
Schaub threw a staggering 58 times and completed 41 of them for 372 yards and the touchdown pass to Snelling. He also ran for an eight yard score to bring Virginia within striking distance in the fourth quarter. Faced with third-and-goal, Virginia called for a quarterback draw that Schaub took up the middle to the end zone. The Cavaliers would call the same play to execute the two-point conversion to make the game a one-possession game of 23-15 with 2:58 remaining.
But the Yellow Jackets' lead was too large to surmount and Muyers' interception of Schaub would seal the game after the Virginia defense held Tech.
"We waited way too long to get started," said senior wide receiver Billy McMullen, who had 10 receptions for 87 yards. "This time it came back to bite us in the butt."
The Yellow Jackets sported a highly efficient, well-balanced offensive attack. They rushed for 137 first-half yards at a clip of nearly seven yards per carry and finished the game with 211. Junior quarterback A.J. Suggs may ultimately have been more important to the Jackets' success. He played nearly mistake-free, completing 26-of-41 passes for 220 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions.
"I thought their quarterback was the key to the game," Groh said. "He played very well. He deserves a lot of credit."
The Cavaliers' early season kicking woes returned Saturday, as redshirt freshman kicker Kurt Smith missed a 25-yard field goal attempt wide right midway through the first quarter.
That missed field goal came back to haunt Virginia. Twice in the second half the Cavaliers were thus compelled to go for it on fourth down deep in Georgia Tech territory because of the still significant score differential and the lack of confidence in its kicking game. Groh even admitted that it changed team philosophy down the stretch.
"We went for it on those two first downs," he said. "At that point I decided in any critical situation, we would utilize all 11 players on the field and not just one."
He has stressed kicking in practice, opening up the spot for frequent competition without a clear, consistent frontrunner. The answer to this problem, he says, is still very far away.
"I'd need a pair of binoculars to see it clearer," Groh said.
Virginia's bowl situation is similarly murky. It needs just one more win to qualify for bowl eligibility but faces with one of the nation's toughest remaining schedules. The Cavaliers do benefit from a bye this week and return to action at Penn State Nov. 9.
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