Sometimes in college football, a single play can change the course and tone of a game dramatically. That was exactly what happened Saturday at Scott Stadium when Virginia pulled out its second close win in two weeks, defeating Georgia Tech 28-23.
Down 23-21 midway through the fourth quarter, the situation looked bleak for the Cavaliers (3-1, 3-0 ACC). They had not scored a touchdown since the 2:01 mark in the first quarter, and that was off an interception by sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald. Georgia Tech (2-2, 0-2 ACC) had slowly chipped away at the Cavaliers' 21-7 lead throughout the game and finally captured it when senior place kicker Travis Bell booted a career-long, 51-yard field goal to put the Yellow Jackets up 23-21 with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
The Cavaliers nearly regained the lead on the following drive but failed when freshman quarterback Peter Lalich threw an interception at the goal line, resulting in Virginia's tenth consecutive non-scoring offensive drive. Frustration was appearing to set in at this point. Junior running back Cedric Peerman came off the field looking very disappointed with the result of the drive.
"We just felt like we could have gotten more out of that [drive] than what we did," Peerman said. "So I felt like a sense of urgency [with] everybody on the offense. Everybody was a little disappointed with that we knew we expected more out of that."
After a Georgia Tech punt, Virginia's next possession yielded zero points and only produced another punt.
That was when the Cavaliers got the game-changing play they needed.
With Virginia junior linebacker Aaron Clark barreling toward him, Georgia Tech junior punt returner Andrew Smith lost control of the ball and was knocked away from it by Clark's crushing tackle a split second later. Freshman cornerback Trey Womack quickly pounced on the loose ball to give the Cavaliers excellent field position at the Yellow Jacket 26-yard line.
Clark's eyes lit up when he saw Smith bobble the ball.
"It's one of those things where you start salivating and you just want to tear his head off," Clark said.
Clark couldn't see Womack recover the ball, but he knew Virginia had just turned the momentum of the game.
"I knew right as soon as I heard our crowd roar the second time [that we had recovered the ball] because they roared for the hit, and then there was a dead silence, and all of a sudden it's back again," Clark said. "Of course that dead silence is something the players feel."
On the next play, sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell threw a dart to freshman wide receiver Staton Jobe, who was cutting across the middle of the field. After breaking one tackle, Jobe was in the end zone, and the Cavaliers were up 28-23 after senior Chris Gould's extra point with 8:56 left in the game.
"We needed to try to stick a dagger in their heart and take away some of their momentum and ... just kill their morale," Sewell said. "Staton made that catch and then became a playmaker after he caught the ball and made the guy miss and got in the end zone."
The Yellow Jackets did not give up, though. They were looking to ruin the Cavaliers' comeback when they drove deep into Virginia territory with less than two minutes to go. On fourth-and-6 from Virginia's 21-yard line, senior defensive end Chris Long all but killed any hopes of last-minute Yellow Jacket heroics when he sacked junior quarterback Taylor Bennett at the 30-yard line, preserving the 28-23 upset for the Cavaliers.
"It was a just team effort to get to [their quarterback]," Long said. "We talked being relentless all day -- just keep working, keep working.We'll be close, we'll get to him eventually, and that's what happened"
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