Break out the champagne. Crank up the MGMT. Run around the neighborhood naked. The Virginia football team just beat an FBS opponent for the first time in more than a year.
Negative Nancy: Not so fast, Eilerson. Let's not forget that the team just beat Eastern Michigan, the 111th-ranked team in the land. The mighty Eagles have lost 19 of their last 20 games. Beating them is like defeating Snooki in a game of Jeopardy.
Positive Polly: Maybe so, but keep in mind that this was an historic game. According to Black Coaches and Administrators, it marked the first-ever football game on the Division I FBS and FCS levels - excluding historically black colleges - in which the two opposing coaches and athletic directors were black.
Negative Nancy: Pretty sad that such a milestone only ended up as a mere sidenote to a thoroughly uninterestingfootball game. Imagine the attention that fact would have received had it happened in an SEC contest.
Positive Polly: But the firsts didn't end there, Nancy. Junior Terence Fells-Danzer recorded his first career start at the full back position and scored his first career touchdown in the third quarter. Then he made another trip to the end zone just minutes later off a kick return!
Negative Nancy: 'Bout time that dude did something good. I was beginning to think he had feet for hands after all those dropped passes.
Positive Polly: I'm not done. During his third multiple-touchdown game of the season, Keith Payne became the first Virginia player to rush for 10 touchdowns in a single season since Wali Lundy did it in 2005. Raynard Horne further bolstered the ground game with a career high 44-yards on 11 carries. And Jimmy Howell's spectacular 56-yard touchdown pass to Trey Womack made him the first Cavalier punter since 2002 to complete a pass! You had to love that play call, Nancy.
Negative Nancy: Yeah, I think it's pretty clear that Howell is easily the best quarterback on the roster.
Positive Polly: Hey, Verica's night wasn't too shabby. He finished 18-31 for 203 yards and two touchdowns. And best of all, no interceptions.
Negative Nancy: That's quite impressive against a defense that was giving up 43.4 points a game before facing Virginia, Polly.
Positive Polly: I think I smell sarcasm coming from you.
Negative Nancy: I think I smell a giant pile of rotting elephant carcasses coming from the dumpster. Oh, no wait, it's coming from Verica. That kid couldn't hit water if he fell out a boat. At one point he had two open receivers within 10 yards of each other, and he somehow managed to over-throw one and under-throw the other.
Positive Polly: I was actually pretty impressed with Verica tonight. Sure, he made a few ugly throws. But he displayed really nice accuracy for most of the night, which struck me as impressive coming off last week's demoralizing performance. He's definitely got some guts. Maybe this was just the confidence boost he needed to turn over a new leaf.
Negative Nancy: Sorry, I kinda tuned you out there. I just can't stop thinking about all the missed tackles tonight. Did you happen to notice Eastern Michigan running away with touchdowns of 55, 53 and 31 yards? Not to worry though, Polly, I'm sure Miami players will seem like tortoises in comparison when they visit Scott Stadium next weekend.
Positive Polly: Come on, Nancy, there has to be something that impressed you about yesterday's game.
Negative Nancy: Hmmmm ... I will admit to being intrigued by the Eagles' hometown, Ypsilanti, Mich. There's no denying that beginning a word with the letters "y, p and s" is an absolute feat of human ingenuity.
Positive Polly: Word has it Domino's Pizza was founded in Ypsilanti in 1960.
Negative Nancy: Word has it I don't care. I will also say that there was a point where I got kind of excited tonight: the descent of the parachute guy before kickoff. I was hoping he'd accidentally fall into the stands, but other than that, it was pretty awesome.
Positive Polly: I can't argue with that.
Negative Nancy: Seriously, though, you really think this game was a step forward for the Hoos?
Positive Polly: A win is a win, Nancy. I don't care who it's against. Wins reap confidence, and that's exactly what this team needs heading back into ACC play. Sophomore tailback Perry Jones said, "This win does a lot of good for us. We have forgotten about the past and started a 'new' season. To us, this is the first game of that season, and it is good to get a win." I hope he's right.
Negative Nancy: Can't wait to see how that new season kicks off against a resurging Miami squad Saturday ...
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