Despite an inconsistent offense and three bad snaps from freshman long snapper Danny Aiken, Virginia drove 82 yards in the third quarter to secure a 24-13 win against Duke Saturday at Scott Stadium.
"We were better than we were last week, but not as good as we need to be for next week," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "But that's for tomorrow. For today, we're real pleased for the players."
The majority of the Cavaliers' scoring occurred during the first few minutes of the game. After the Virginia defense held the Blue Devils to a three-and-out on their first drive, sophomore Vic Hall returned the ensuing punt 67 yards to the Duke four-yard line. Hall, who ran from the left to the right side of the field on the lengthy return, ran out of steam before reaching the end zone and was tripped up by Duke senior Patrick Bailey.
"That's a long run when you run from the left side of the field all the way around to the edge," Groh said. "That's usually indicative of the quality of the wall that was put up on the return."
Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Tom Santi for the game's first score.
After the Virginia defense held Duke to a second consecutive three-and-out, the Cavaliers scored again at the 8:13 mark in the first quarter when junior running back Cedric Peerman scampered down the sideline for a 58-yard touchdown. A final downfield block by senior guard Ian Yates-Cunningham sprung Peerman on the long run.
"[Cunningham] did a great job of getting out and running," Peerman said. "He really showed his ability right there. He's a hard worker so I'm just happy he's that way and he got the job done."
Up by 14 early in the game, the quick start allowed the Cavaliers to get a stranglehold on the game.
"[The quick start] was very positive and uplifting," Groh said. "Obviously it let us get the initiative on the game."
Beginning with the first of three poor long snaps by Aiken, things began to go downhill for Virginia. Aiken's punt snap sailed over the head of senior punter Ryan Weigand and through Virginia's endzone for a safety -- Duke's first score -- late in the first quarter. In the second quarter, another bad snap by Aiken cost Virginia a field goal when senior kicker Chris Gould could not get the ball up and the resulting kick was blocked by Duke.
Sewell was taken out midway through the second quarter because of cramps. Freshman Peter Lalich entered and guided the Cavaliers on a late drive, producing a field goal to put Virginia up 17-2 at the half.
After trading turnovers, Aiken blundered again when another punt snap sailed over Weigand's head for a 30-yard loss. Duke scored when sophomore quarterback Thaddeus Lewis hooked up with Duke senior wide receiver Jomar Wright for a 16-yard touchdown late in the quarter. A successful two-point conversion made the score 17-10, and the Blue Devils found themselves within a touchdown of the Cavaliers. The score was aided by yet another Aiken miscue.
"I just didn't keep my butt down," Aiken said of his errant snaps. "That's the only thing that happens on my high snaps."
Virginia continued to hurt itself on the following kickoff return when junior running back Andrew Pearman fumbled the ball, giving the Blue Devils an excellent field position at Virginia's 19-yard line. Duke settled for a field goal, closing the gap to 17-13.
But four points was as close as Duke could get. Lalich, who played intermittently with Sewell, completed a 15-play, 6:18 drive to put the Blue Devils away for good at 24-13 with 9:39 left in the game. The scoring play was another touchdown catch for Santi, this one from four yards out.
"I told the guys that it was the biggest series of the game and we needed to score and put them away," Lalich said. "I guess they listened - they blocked and they caught and we won."
Lalich is the first true freshman to play under center for Virginia in many years.
"[Lalich] orchestrated it," Santi said. He did well under pressure and had a lot of poise and it was exciting."
Lalich finished 13 of 18 for 131 yards and a touchdown, while Sewell was 9 of 14 for 60 yards and one touchdown.
Even though Lalich led the offense on its best drive, Groh emphasized that there is no quarterback controversy.
"We're going to use both players," Groh said. "They both bring some significant things to the team. They give us two set of weapons:? the players themselves, the team is in consort with it ... We were just looking into switching into a different style of play."
For now, the team knows it played well in some facets of the game but will need to improve when it plays at North Carolina next week.
"We got our first ACC win," Santi said. "We're 1-0 in the conference. We'll take them one at a time and we'll celebrate this win and get ready for next week"
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