Last season, the Virginia faithful became used to seeing their football team trudge into the tunnels of Scott Stadium at the end of a game, ready to forget each disheartening loss. Saturday night, however, they experienced a change of pace: at the close of the night, the fans saw their team charge toward the Virginia student section to celebrate a 34-13 victory against the Richmond Spiders, complete with high-fives and smiles.
For the first time since 2005 - before any of the team's current seniors had come to Virginia - the Cavaliers opened their season in the win column. The victory also was the team's first with coach Mike London, who spent the previous two seasons patrolling the Richmond sideline. By defeating his former team Saturday night, London became the first coach since 1961 to taste victory in his Virginia debut.
"It was really important to come out and be representative of a team that is trying to improve," London said. "We're trying to show that we have improved academically, we have improved socially and we wanted to show that we could take one quarter at a time and play a game where we don't self-destruct but rather score points and play defense. That's the improvement we're looking for."
The most noticeable improvement came in the Cavaliers' offense, which put up an impressive total of 488 yards in offensive coordinator Bill Lazor's new scheme. Senior running back Keith Payne accounted for nearly a quarter of that yardage as he plowed through defenders for 114 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries.
Payne, who walked away from the team in 2009, returned this offseason determined to show his teammates that he was dedicated to the rebuilding of the program. The Northern Virginia native seemed to channel this desire to prove himself into every carry, sometimes with multiple Richmond defenders clinging to his back.
"There was no secret as to what his ability ever was," senior quarterback Marc Verica said of Payne. "We always knew he was a really talented, big running back. When you're a 240, 250, 6-foot-2-ish running back, you can really just move the pile like he was. There was really just some plays there where he was really just enforcing will. It was truly special to watch."
Payne's first touchdown run of the night - and his first since the 2007 season - capped off a 77-yard opening drive by the Cavaliers. Sophomore running back Perry Jones began the drive by scampering 38 yards, breaking his previous career-long run of 3 yards. Verica - 24 for 35, 283 yards - then connected with junior wide receiver Kris Burd off of play-action to put Virginia in the red zone. From there, Payne did the rest, and the Cavaliers took an early 7-0 lead within the first 3 minutes of the game.
The Virginia defense successfully kept the Spiders scoreless until sophomore fullback Kendall Gaskins slipped out of a crowd of orange jerseys for a 70-yard touchdown run.
With the score knotted at 7-all, Verica assuredly led his team downfield again in a 62-yard, 10-play drive that culminated with a pass to Burd in the end zone. Burd finished the night with seven receptions for 122 yards. His performance made him the first Virginia receiver with more than 100 yards receiving since current Cowboy wide receiver Kevin Ogletree in 2008.
Shortly after the Cavaliers' second touchdown, the Spiders managed to put together a drive of their own to allow for a field goal near the close of the half, bringing Richmond within four points.
London then decided during halftime to run the ball down the throats of a Richmond defense that was struggling to stop the Cavaliers' one-two punch of Jones and Payne.
"We could see that they were kind of wearing out just a little and we had to take advantage of coming off the ball and trying to establish a run game that would eat up the clock," London said of his plan for the second half of play.
Before the Virginia offense even took the field, however, redshirt junior quarterback Aaron Corp - a University of Southern California transfer - completed a 16-yard and a 32-yard pass to allow for the Spiders to cut into Virginia's lead with another field goal.
On the ensuing drive, Payne bruised through the Richmond defense for 43 yards on three consecutive hard-fought carries. With the ball at the 2-yard line, Payne decided to go over the defensive line instead of through it as he leapt into the end zone to put his team up 21-13.
From that moment on, the momentum seemed to swing in Virginia's favor for the rest of the evening under the lights of Scott Stadium. Payne scored twice more, and junior cornerback Chase Minnifield electrified the crowd of 54,146 fans by returning an interception 65 yards out of the end zone.
Minnifield also posted seven tackles on the night to contribute to a defensive unit that was without senior captain Ras-I Dowling at cornerback and junior safety Rodney McLeod. Dowling sat out because of a hamstring injury, while McLeod's knee problems forced him to remain on the sideline. These injuries allowed senior cornerback Mike Parker, sophomore cornerback Devin Wallace and senior safety Trey Womack to step up and perform admirably in the secondary.
"It's nice knowing that we've got guys who can step up and play anytime somebody goes down," junior defensive tackle Nick Jenkins said.
Still, London expects Dowling to be ready to take the field next Saturday as the Cavaliers travel to the West Coast to face No. 14 Southern California in the Trojans' home-opener. If the Virginia team manages an upset victory, the Cavaliers will begin the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2005 season. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Pacific time.
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