Entering Saturday's matchup against Idaho, sophomore quarterback Michael Rocco said the Virginia football squad "came out thinking we were the better team."
For one quarter, Rocco and the rest of the Cavaliers (3-2, 0-1 ACC) were correct. The Cavaliers bulldozed Idaho, moving the ball virtually at will against a porous Vandals defense, and assumed a 14-0 lead. But three quarters, three turnovers and a multitude of sloppy plays later, Idaho sat three yards away from winning the better-team distinction.
Down 21-20 in overtime, the Vandals (1-4, 0-1 WAC) decided to risk a two-point conversion, seeking a win on the road against heavily-favored Virginia. Senior quarterback Brian Reader's pass dropped incomplete, however, and the Cavaliers escaped with an eyesore victory.
"It was an ugly game, I'll go ahead and admit that," senior cornerback Chase Minnifield said. "It was a game where we went to the max, but we didn't break."
During the game's first quarter, Virginia's offense was anything but ugly. The team's leading rusher, redshirt freshman tailback Kevin Parks, missed Saturday's matchup with an ankle injury, but junior Perry Jones and freshman Clifton Richardson responded to an increased workload by dominating the early highlight reel.
After Virginia went three-and-out on its first possession, Richardson sustained the next drive by turning the corner on a third-and-two play and bursting for an 11-yard rush. Jones capped the series with a 10-yard touchdown run, bouncing to the left and side-stepping a Vandals defender as he skirted into the end zone.
The two struck again on the next possession as Jones jetted up the sideline for a 22-yard carry and snagged an 18-yard pass, while Richardson followed with a 17-yard carry of his own. On third-and-goal, Rocco swung out to Jones in the flat, and the tailback cruised for a touchdown and 14-point lead.
Virginia finished the first quarter with 156 yards to the Vandals' 47 and seemed nearly invincible. But as the game continued, a blitzing Idaho defense and a series of Cavalier miscues corrected that impression.
"Everything we were running was pretty much working - I think it was just kind of that vibe that 'The time is now, the time is now,' and we just went out there and executed," senior wide receiver Kris Burd said. "Then things just didn't happen as we wanted and we kind of slacked off a little bit or didn't produce as many points."
Freshman quarterback David Watford entered the game with 50 seconds left in the first quarter as part of the team's plan to play him during its fourth possession. Last week, Watford nearly overcame an 11-point deficit against Southern Mississippi, and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said coach Mike London committed to playing the true freshman during at least two series this week.
Watford's first series ended in an interception, and Rocco returned under center the following drive. Turnovers continued to plague the Cavaliers, however, as Richardson fumbled in Idaho territory, setting up a 19-yard field goal for the Vandals. Jones then fumbled on the first play of Virginia's next possession, and Idaho again capitalized with three points.
Virginia looked poised to respond with a field goal of its own to end the half, marching to Idaho's 20-yard line with six seconds remaining. The team tried to sneak one more shot at the end zone, but as the play deteriorated, Rocco scrambled to the six-yard line and was tackled after time had expired.
"If the guy wasn't open, I wanted Michael [Rocco] to throw it out of the end zone and have at least a second on the clock to kick a field goal," London said. "Instead of going down, I guess he thought he might have had the opportunity to get into the end zone. It was a mistake that cost us three points at the end of the half."
Those three points loomed large during the second half, as Virginia's defense continuously stuffed the Vandals, but its offense failed to generate any momentum. London leaned on a quarterback platoon which switched Watford and Rocco three separate times after halftime, but neither player could find a rhythm. Idaho entered the game ranked No. 102 nationally in scoring defense, and Virginia finished the game with nearly 500 yards, but the Cavaliers could not translate that movement downfield into points. After the game, Lazor said "it's hard to find play calls when you're trying to do it with two personalities," and the Cavaliers' miscues on special teams compounded that confusion.
Senior placekicker Robert Randolph missed two mid-range field goals, but Virginia's most costly mistake came during the fourth quarter's waning minutes. Idaho blocked senior Jimmy Howell's punt and sophomore wide receiver Daniel Micheletti recovered and ran the ball for a four-yard touchdown. Reader then found redshirt junior wide receiver Marsel Posey for the two-point conversion to knot the game at a 14-14 tie which lasted through regulation.
The Cavalier offense opened overtime, and a facemask penalty pushed the Cavaliers back to first-and-goal at the 27, but two Virginia freshmen were unfazed. Watford hit freshman wideout Dominique Terrell on a screen pass, and Terrell scampered up the sideline for his first career touchdown and the Cavaliers' first points since the first quarter.
Idaho floundered during its first two plays in overtime, but on third-and-eight, Reader escaped pressure and gunned the ball to the back of the end zone where senior wideout Armauni Johnson hauled in an over-the-shoulder touchdown grab. Virginia could then only watch nervously as Idaho tried a two-point conversion, but the Cavalier defense continued its game-long dominance and thwarted Reader's passing attempt. The team then mobbed the field after a shaky 21-20 victory, knowing that the win column does not give beauty points.
"That was probably an ugly football game right there, but in the end, what matters is that we found a way to win it," London said. "It's a huge win for us going into this bye week. It sets a mindset and tone that it's better to be 3-2 right now"
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