There was a sense that everything was going right for the Cavaliers under the lights in Scott Stadium on senior night. Indeed, the Virginia football team remained undefeated against ranked opponents with a 48-13 win over No. 25 Maryland on Saturday.
Virginia completed its home season with a 6-1 home record and clinched second place in the ACC with its lopsided upset.
The Cavaliers dominated all sides of the football, holding the Terrapins to only 13 points while putting up 438 yards of total offense and controlling special teams play as well.
Although Maryland drew first blood with an early touchdown drive, it was Virginia's 34-point response that dictated the outcome of the game.
After struggling all season with their kicking game, the Cavaliers activated freshman place kicker Connor Hughes last week. Hughes connected on his first career field goal attempt from 47 yards out to give the Cavaliers their first points of the game.
Leading 7-3 early in the second quarter, Maryland wide receiver Scooter Monroe dropped a potential touchdown pass after breaking open deep in the Virginia secondary.
Two plays later, Virginia cornerback Jermaine Hardy intercepted a pass to set up a 27-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Matt Schaub to freshman fullback Jason Snelling.
Schaub, who threw 23-for-27 for 249 yards and three touchdowns, was named player of the game after setting a new Virginia record for passing yards in a season and consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
Schaub attributes his success to "being able to make quicker decisions and better decisions," adding that "the game really slowed down for me this year in order for that to happen."
"When he was under duress, he did exactly the right thing," Virginia coach Al Groh said.
It was only fitting that on senior night one of Virginia's most high-profile seniors would give the Cavalier fans something to remember.
In the opening drive of the third quarter, Virginia leading 20-7, wide receiver Billy McMullen picked up the ball on a double reverse.
McMullen immediately was met by Maryland standout defensive end Durrand Roundtree, but he managed to spin off the tackle and complete a leaping throw downfield to wide-open junior wide receiver Michael McGrew for a touchdown.
"How about McMullen?" Groh said. "He has thrown for one, caught one and run one in all in the same season. I think what you saw if you wanted to encapsulate Billy McMullen's career at Virginia that's it: he just fought himself out of trouble with a will to get it done. As I've said about Billy on other occasions, he's the kind of guy that if you give him a job it always gets done very well."
McMullen finished the game with seven catches for 92 yards in addition to his touchdown pass.
Defensively, Virginia came together behind senior linebacker Angelo Crowell, who led the defense with six tackles (including two for loss). Senior Alex Seals grabbed an interception late in the fourth quarter, setting up a five-yard Michael Johnson touchdown run, the last points to be scored in the game before fans rushed the field.
Perhaps most startling was the Cavaliers' special teams performance against a Maryland team that boasts the best specialists in the ACC. Virginia sophomore Chris Canty blocked a Nick Novak field goal attempt in the first quarter to prevent Maryland from opening a two-possession lead. Hughes went 2-3 on field goals while the coverage teams kept Steve Suter to only 25.25 yards per kick-return and four yards per punt return.
"With all the kudos to the offense and the defense, one of our significant concerns coming into the game was as the records will show the conference statistics, the top punter, kickoff, field goal man and kick return guy played for Maryland," Groh said. "I thought our coverage units were tremendous tonight in making sure that nothing negative happened and that played into our advantage a little bit."
The Cavaliers, who are in contention with Maryland for a bid to the Gator Bowl, have made a strong statement by beating out the Terps for second place in the ACC.
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