COLLEGE PARK, Md. - All week, Virginia coach Mike London downplayed the postseason implications of Saturday's matchup with Maryland, but after four years of frustration, players could not ignore the possibility of a bowl berth.
The Virginia football team had not been bowl eligible since 2007. In fact, the team had not won a November game during its last four seasons. All that changed Saturday when the Cavaliers downed Maryland 31-13 to secure their sixth win of the year.
"It's a great feeling," senior safety Rodney McLeod said. "Coach London tried to shy away from it, but as players you know that six wins gets you bowl eligible. We came out here and we executed and now we're bowl eligible."
After the first play from scrimmage, Virginia led 7-0. Redshirt freshman tailback Khalek Shepherd returned the opening kickoff for 48 yards and junior tailback Perry Jones immediately exploited one of the nation's worst rushing defenses with a 47-yard touchdown run.
The Terrapins, however, methodically erased that lead after sophomore quarterback C.J. Brown followed a 24-yard field goal by finding junior tight end Devonte Campbell for a 13-yard score five minutes later. During the half's waning minutes, Maryland threatened again with first and goal from the 2-yard line, but Virginia's defense refused to budge. The unit stuffed three straight running plays and held the Terrapins to a 20-yard chip shot. In defensive coordinator Jim Reid's eyes, that stop sealed the team's sixth win.
"I told [the defense] at that time when they ran off the field that we just won the football game," Reid said. "It was a great stand. They knew what we were doing, we knew what they were going to do, and it was a huge moment in the game ... Everybody's like, 'Man, this guy is old and senile,' but it's just the truth, I've seen it a hundred times."
Reid's words proved more prophetic than senile, and after that defensive stop, sophomore quarterback Michael Rocco foiled Maryland's blitz with a 35-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open freshman tailback Kevin Parks. The Cavaliers shook their bowl-game butterflies to turn a near 10-point deficit into a 14-13 halftime lead and catalyze a dominant performance thereafter.
"I think the game was a tale of two halves," London said. "We might have come out too tight or too tense. I know everybody was talking about the implications of [the game] ... It was great to see those guys compete in the second half and really have fun doing it."
Following the defense's pivotal goal line stand, the Cavalier offense set the tone for a strong second half with its own emphatic goal line series. Virginia drove 95 yards downfield but stalled for three straight plays and faced fourth and goal from the 1. Virginia owned just a one-point lead, but London gambled three easy points for a chance at seven, trusting the team's signature power play. Jones did not disappoint, bouncing to the left when the inside gap closed and crossing the goal line for a 21-13 lead.
"When coach London decided to go for it there, I just thought the best thing for our offense, if we were going to make it or fail, was to ... run our best play which is the power," offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. "As soon as coach London said we're going for it, there was no hesitation."
Maryland nearly erased that momentum on its subsequent series by marching to Virginia's 30-yard line, but McLeod cut the drive short by snagging sophomore quarterback Danny O'Brien's wayward pass. The offense capitalized on that turnover when Rocco connected with Max Milien, and the senior fullback easily pushed past his defender for a 17-yard touchdown. Rocco finished with 307 yards, and since London announced the quarterback would receive the majority of the offensive snaps two weeks ago, Rocco has accumulated 533 yards - nearly as many as the 534 yards he tallied during his prior four games. Rocco's four touchdowns during the last two games match his previous season total, and after throwing eight interceptions during his first six games, the quarterback has thrown just one in his last two.
"I think Michael Rocco has gotten better every day," Lazor said. "I felt like he was seeing things well, he was under control in the pocket, he was throwing the ball accurately. We're all still aiming for that perfect game, but from watching him on the sideline, I had confidence that he was going to have a productive game."
During the next drive, Rocco hit sophomore wideout Tim Smith for a 30-yard pass, Parks added a 24-yard run, and although the offense mustered few yards from that point, senior kicker Robert Randolph's 28-yard gave the Cavaliers a 31-13 lead with 13:38 remaining.
When McLeod reeled in his third interception and the team's fifth turnover of the day with five minutes left, the senior effectively iced the game and guaranteed his college tenure would not end without a bowl game. For Reid, sending his seniors away with a fitting postseason finale makes those previous four frustrating years worthwhile.
"When you talk about [senior defenders] Rodney McLeod, Chase Minnifield, Corey Mosley, you're talking about three men that have never questioned anything from the time that they got here," Reid said. "When something like this happens today, you think about those guys and you're happy. It's why you coach. If coaching was just X's and O's, a lot of us would be doing something else. It's the relationships that you build ... and it's very, very rewarding"
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