With one minute to go, the win was in sight. Sitting on Maryland’s 27-yard line, Virginia had four chances to get a score and enough time to do so. Junior tailback Kevin Parks ran twice but could only pick up three yards. Sophomore quarterback David Watford tried, but he could not make forward progress. With time winding down, the Cavaliers sent out junior Alec Vozenilek to attempt a game-winning field goal.
The kick went wide right, and Virginia’s hopes were dashed. But while Vozenilek’s miss was the dramatic conclusion, the Cavaliers’ (2-4, 0-2 ACC) fate had been sealed much earlier. Series after series, Virginia drove deep into Terrapin territory, but series after series they were forced to settle for field goals. Maryland (5-1, 1-1 ACC) gladly traded touchdowns for field goals, and a late score was enough to squeak by in a 27-26 win.
“When you get down in the red zone … you want to get touchdowns,” coach Mike London said. “It you don’t, then you have to get those three point opportunities. Looking at it, all those three points didn’t add up to enough.”
Virginia’s offense seemed to be firing on all cylinders Saturday, racking up 505 yards of total offense — including 242 on the ground — and the team had no trouble making their way into Maryland territory. Watford used his mobility, scrambling in the backfield as his receivers tried to find openings, and it proved effective. He threw for 263 yards on 27 completions, including a touchdown to junior tight end Jake McGee.
But all afternoon, the offensive power seemed to stall at the least opportune times. Virginia found itself in Maryland’s red zone four times in the first half, but McGee’s grab was the team’s only touchdown. Vozenilek’s consistency aided the Cavaliers, as he hit three field goals and provided enough offense to send the team into halftime up 16-14.
“There were a lot of opportunities out there that we kind of let pass,” senior guard Luke Bowanko said. “You’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities, they don’t come up very often.”
The Cavalier offense has been prone to lapses all year, with an ACC-worst turnover margin, but they had almost the opposite result against Maryland. The Terrapins had three turnovers Saturday — two muffed punts and a fumble — to Virginia’s zero, and two of Maryland’s fumbles set Virginia up with field position inside the 25-yard line. The Cavaliers were able to create just six points from those opportunities.
“It’s frustrating from the standpoint of having what we did and not having the opportunity to be on the plus end of [the game],” London said. “We make the [winning] field goal and it’s a moot point right now, but you want to win the game — pretty, ugly, you want to win games … We’ve got a ways to go and we just need to keep finding ways to get points in those red zone areas and capitalizing when we do get turnovers.”
Maryland was without starting senior quarterback C.J. Brown, who was injured in the previous week’s loss to Florida State, but sophomore backup Caleb Rowe was steady in his place, throwing for 332 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore tailback Brandon Ross was dangerous all afternoon, rushing for 102 yards and two touchdowns, and grabbing three passes for 88 yards.
Many of the Terrapins offensive attacks came on big plays. Ross grabbed a screen pass in the second quarter and broke it loose for 77 yards, setting up an easy touchdown run. A 37-yard catch and a 33-yard run set up Maryland’s second touchdown, a seven-yard run from Ross. All in all, the Terrapins had six plays of more than 30 yards, and there were noticeable missed tackles in the Virginia secondary.
“Obviously, I saw a couple long runs and those passes,” London said. “That one screen that was 77 yards, the guy that was supposed to spy the back didn’t do what he was supposed to do, and it results in that long run … You want to limit explosive plays, those plays over 15 plus, because those are the types of things that can open games for the opposing team. They had their share.”
The most damaging big play came at a crucial moment. Up 26-20, Virginia had Maryland pinned to a 3rd-and-22 on the team’s own 40-yard line with five and a half minutes left in the game. Rowe let loose on a deep pass and despite double coverage, junior Deon Long came down with the 47-yard reception. Two plays later, Rowe found senior tight end Dave Stinebough for a 12-yard touchdown to reclaim the lead.
The teams traded punts on the next two drives, but Virginia got the ball back with 2:34 on the clock and no timeouts. Watford found five different receivers on the drive, and the Cavaliers quickly made their way into Maryland territory. With just more than a minute on the clock, Virginia took the field for a first down from the 27-yard line. Instead of throwing for the end zone, the team rushed three consecutive times to set up a field goal.
“Everything toward the end was predicated upon knowing that … we’re going to try to get the ball, center the ball, and get it to the hash that Alec [Vozenilek] is most comfortable with,” London said. “We were able to do that, but we weren’t able to get the points out of that.”
Vozenilek had been sure-footed all day, hitting four of four field goals, and he estimated that his range would be anything inside 50 yards. His one miss came with the game on the line, but his teammates were quick to deflect the blame.
“The game doesn’t come down to Alec’s kick,” Parks said. “We make some plays in the first quarter when we are on the goal-line and get stopped and the game could be different.”
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