When Jameel Sewell's last-ditch fourth-down scramble was stopped just yards short of a first down in Saturday's 17-10 loss, the Cavaliers' immediate and long-term future both moved squarely under the microscope.
On paper, Virginia (1-2, 0-0 ACC) dominated the Broncos in terms of total yards (258 to 179), number of first downs (13 to 9), and third-down conversions (5-14 to 3-14). None of these statistical advantages was significant in changing the result of the game, though.
"Western Michigan knew exactly what kind of game they had to play, which was play a good, sound, solid game, see if Virginia would do enough to help them win," coach Al Groh said. "Obviously, we did everything necessary to help them win."
This was evident on the sixth play of Virginia's opening drive. With junior quarterback Kevin McCabe awarded the start after senior Christian Olsen's previous struggles, Virginia's offense looked promising. McCabe began to drive down the field, converting a 3rd-and-12 into a first down with a 15-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Kevin Ogletree. Two plays later, McCabe overthrew a pass that was intercepted by Western Michigan's safety Louis Delmas and returned to the Virginia 21-yard line.
With great field position, the Broncos utilized running back Mark Bonds six out of eight plays to reach the end zone, including successfully converting 4th-and-1 twice.
McCabe did show some progress, however, the following drive. After successfully executing on 4th-and-1, McCabe threw a brilliantly placed toss off his back foot while under pressure to junior tight end Tom Santi. Santi's over-the-shoulder catch put the cornerback behind him, giving him room to run for 34 yards to the Broncos' five-yard line. Senior tailback Jason Snelling tied the game at 7-7 with 5:14 left in the first quarter.
Virginia gave up the lead again later in the second quarter. Starting at Virginia's 11-yard line, McCabe started to take the team down the field when he threw a pass that was intended for junior wide receiver Mike Robertson but was instead tipped and picked out of the air by the Broncos' Desman Stephen. The 34-yard return by the safety gave the Broncos a 14-7 lead.
This was the last Cavalier fans would see of McCabe on the field.
"The coaches made the decision to pull me and I can't really dispute that," said McCabe. "But then when you just keep watching your team not putting points on the board, you want to just be there and pull them out of it because you got them into it. It was just hard to watch."
Olsen was put in to try and produce on Virginia's next drive. He entered with 7:30 left in the second quarter, and two drives by Olsen resulted in one 34-yard field goal by junior kicker Chris Gould, ending the half with Western Michigan on top, 14-10.
At the half, Groh decided to play freshman Jameel Sewell for the remainder of the game. But this change proved to be ineffective -- Sewell never advanced the ball further than Western Michigan's 14-yard line. Even that drive only resulted in a 41-yard field goal attempt by Gould that flew wide right.
"We were planning on doing whatever the situation during the course of the game indicated was necessary," Groh said on playing three quarterbacks. "What I saw out of the three quarterbacks was what I see everyday -- not enough production."
The successful running game was one of few good signs against the Broncos. Snelling recorded 77 yards on 14 carries, including runs of 15 and 18 yards.
"The line blocked well today and they opened up some holes," said Snelling on his day. "I was just trying to run downhill and just hit the holes, hit them hard, to try and wear them out. It worked well, but it just wasn't enough today."
In terms of preparation for Thursday's ACC opener against Georgia Tech, the offense clearly must make adjustments.
"Blitz pick-up," Sewell said. "Georgia Tech likes to bring a lot of blitzers, almost every down. So we are going to focus on the blitz pick-up."
Which quarterback is the one who will have to worry about the Yellow Jacket blitzers remains to be seen.
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