It took 1:35 for sophomore quarterback Marc Verica to be a hero.
For the first 57:38 Saturday against North Carolina, Verica had done very little to put his team in the scoring column. As Verica went under center at Virginia’s own 18-yard line with 2:18 remaining in the fourth quarter, with the score reading 10-3 in the Tar Heels’ favor, he had completed 16 of 29 passes for 118 yards. It took a fingertip interception from Virginia’s 285-pound redshirt freshman nose tackle Nick Jenkins in North Carolina territory to muster the lone field goal that stood on the scoreboard.
“It’s difficult to push through that,” Verica said. “It’s easy to just fold and give up.”
Indeed, with the futility of the offense for the majority of the game and Verica’s inexperience in his first year not only as the starter but also as anything beyond the quarterback of the scout team, it seemed unlikely that he would orchestrate an 82-yard march into the end zone against the then-No. 18 team in the country.
“Marc’s status last year on the team was such that even when we gave different quarterbacks a shot at [the two-minute drill in practice], he wasn’t necessarily one of the quarterbacks who was getting it,” coach Al Groh said. “These turns that he’s been getting in training camp and in practice, and [Saturday] in the game, this is all new stuff for him.”
Virginia’s ensuing nine-play touchdown drive, which included 80 yards in the air on seven of eight passing for Verica, however, was a textbook two-minute drill, shocking the offense back to life as the Cavs did the unthinkable and snatched a 16-13 victory in overtime.
So how did Verica go from futile to fiery from the first 10 drives to the 11th Saturday? The sophomore indicated that his work in practice this year was all the preparation he needed.
“We practice end-of-game situations, end-of-half situations all the time,” Verica said. “So it was nothing new to us.”
The two-minute drill, Groh said, is the subject of a large chunk of Virginia’s work in practice, particularly during the preseason.
“In training camp, when game preparation isn’t obviously a factor in our practice week, we do it every day,” Groh said. “We put a situation up on the scoreboard; how many minutes are left — how much time exactly — how many timeouts each team has, where the ball is on the field. We do it just like in the game.”
Come the start of the season, Groh said, the team’s work in this area is never finished.
“During the regular season, we’ll work once a week against ourselves, just our offense against our defense,” Groh said. “We’ll also work against the opponent specifically, what we would expect from them.”
In addition, though this was Verica’s first two-minute drill at the end of a game, it was not the first time this season he executed such a strategy well. A week ago against East Carolina, Verica took over with 0:53 remaining in the first half and the ball spotted at his own 41-yard line, and drove the offense to the Pirates’ 21 with a few ticks remaining. Though the team saw no results from the drive — senior kicker Yannick Reyering missed a 38-yard field goal — Verica certainly proved that he could pick apart a defense with the clock acting against him.
Of course, as Groh paced the sidelines while the clock ticked away the final two minutes of regulation Saturday evening, East Carolina was the furthest thing from his mind.
“To be truthful, when we were grading the tape last Sunday [the drive against East Carolina] crossed my mind, but I didn’t think about it and I didn’t hear anybody on the headset hookup mention it either [Saturday],” Groh said.
In addition to his ability to execute strategies, Verica can coolly command the huddle in late-game situations. Described by his teammates as laid-back off the field, Groh has said of Verica, “he’s kind of unflappable.”
“You’ve just got to trust the system and believe in your teammates and your coaches,” Verica said. “That’s all I did.”
That may have been all he did, but it was not all he accomplished. With this win, the Cavaliers seemed to have made it official that, after losing three of their first four games by a combined 108 points, they have turned their season around.
All thanks to 1:35.
“We understand — as we talked about before — that in this conference, so many games come down to the end,” Groh said. “We understand that being able to handle those situations is one of the really significant factors.”
Read More
Cavaliers collapse, lose 3-2 in walkoff to North Carolina
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayVirginia will head to the loser's bracket Sunday after a disappointing loss to North Carolina.
Gertrude out for season after scooter accident
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayThe hype around his second season will have to wait.
Tony Bennett’s contract extended to 2030
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayWith the legendary coach secured in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers can focus on returning to a standard of postseason success.
