Is there something to be said for outside circumstances determining the outcome of football games? Saturday’s victory against Maryland demonstrated a complete turnaround from past weeks, leaving some Cavalier fans wondering how their team could have improved so quickly. When one tries to examine the many factors involved in a victory, lots of little things can add up to create a favorable situation for a win.
The mystique surrounding night games has long been a point of contention for football fans. Historically, the home team in a night game has the advantage. This season, Virginia was blown out by the Huskies in Connecticut’s first night game against an FBS opponent. Virginia has its own home-field advantage in night games, too, having gone undefeated in home night games since 2004.
“We’ve been intrigued by it and done some research on it, and it seems to be one of the phenomena of college football in general,” coach Al Groh said of night games in which “one team doesn’t have an overwhelming talent advantage.”
Virginia demonstrated there are exceptions to this phenomenon last season, though, winning three night games away from Scott Stadium, including a 48-0 shutout in the Hurricanes’ last game in the Orange Bowl.
“I thought that what that team did last year to win three night games on the road was pretty substantial,” Groh said.
In Saturday evening’s contest, the crowd, relatively small compared to the one that showed up for the home opener against Southern California, had reason to cheer. Sintim throwing up the “L” and celebrating with his friend and former Cavalier standout Chris Long brought back shades of last season’s run to the Gator Bowl. The level of positive energy was high, with the crowd offering the team a standing ovation while the Cavaliers headed to the locker room at halftime.
“We do feed from the crowd, and they were very energetic out there, and I think that that got us going a little more,” redshirt freshman safety Corey Mosley said. “It was exciting out there.”
The element of surprise in the stands Saturday may have contributed to fans’ high energy level. Heading into this game, against a team that had knocked off California earlier in the season and downed ACC powerhouse Clemson just last week, expectations were not sky-high for a struggling Virginia team. The win, combined with the sheer dominance displayed by the Cavaliers did not just surprise spectators.
“It would be pulling everybody’s leg to say that I was sitting in the room Friday night thinking, ‘I think we can win this 31-0,’” Groh said.
Moving from the realm of intangibles, the return of Virginia senior tailback Cedric Peerman provided a badly needed jump-start to the Cavaliers’ running game. Junior running back Mikell Simpson, after having struggled during the early part of the season, displayed flashes of the ability that allowed him to shine during last season’s matchup against the Terrapins, one of the three games the Cavaliers won at night away from home.
“To have Cedric back essentially, for all intents and purposes, for the first time this season, as everybody could see, made a great difference,” Groh said.
Maryland’s poor pass defense, currently one of the worst in the nation, meanwhile, allowed Virginia quarterback Marc Verica to turn in a standout performance more along the lines of Tim Tebow than Jimmy Clausen. His diving touchdown run and 51-yard bomb to Kevin Ogletree for the first passing touchdown of the season showed Verica’s versatility and vindicated him after last weeks embarrassment at Duke.
The Cavaliers showed signs of improvement this week, which allows a bit of hope for fans heading into Virginia’s next matchup at home Saturday against East Carolina.
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