After a difficult road trip that included visits to Louisville and North Carolina, Virginia defeated Georgia Tech 33-28 at Scott Stadium. With the victory, the Cavaliers (7-3, 5-2 ACC) are in the driver’s seat of the ACC Coastal division with just one conference game left.
The Cavaliers’ defense struggled, allowing Graham to pass for a season-high 229 yards in addition to giving up 143 yards on the ground. Perkins and company, however, made up for the defensive lapses, producing 413 total yards and four touchdowns.
The Yellow Jackets (2-7, 1-5 ACC) took an early lead with freshman quarterback James Graham launching a 59-yard touchdown pass on just their fourth play of the game. The score was the longest play from scrimmage of the season for Georgia Tech.
Virginia responded immediately with a long drive down the field capped off by sophomore running back Wayne Taulapapa’s 10th touchdown of the year. Georgia Tech, however, retook the lead with a rushing score of its own on the very next possession.
After forcing the first punt of the afternoon, the Yellow Jackets were driving again until junior safety Joey Blount intercepted an errant pass and returned it 37 yards into Georgia Tech territory. The subsequent touchdown pass by senior quarterback Bryce Perkins tied the game at 14-14.
The Virginia defense finally forced a punt on the next drive, and the Cavaliers took their first lead of the game after a field goal from junior kicker Brian Delaney.
With less than a minute left in the first half, Georgia Tech capitalized on a slew of Virginia defensive errors and scored the first touchdown of the second quarter. Graham lofted a 25-yard pass into the corner of the end zone and sophomore wide receiver Malachi Carter made a diving catch to put the Yellow Jackets the lead.
Just when it looked liked Georgia Tech would go into the second half with the advantage, Virginia put together a stellar scoring drive in just 33 seconds. Sophomore wide receiver Tavares Kelly Jr.’s 40-yard kickoff return and Perkins’ 44-yard run powered the Cavaliers into the red zone with all three timeouts and 27 seconds left in the game. Virginia scored on a three-yard rush from Perkins and led 24-21 at the half.
The Cavaliers couldn’t keep up the momentum in the second half. A long drive — lasting nearly seven minutes — ended in a punt after multiple sacks pushed Virginia out of field goal range. Neither team could score in the third quarter after trading two punts each.
Virginia finally ended the scoring drought early in the fourth quarter through another Delaney field goal. The Cavaliers ran three plays in the red zone before the kick, but could only amass two total yards.
A few minutes later, Taulapapa barreled into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day, extending Virginia’s lead to 33-21. With 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to five after scoring their first touchdown of the second half.
Despite making it a one-score game, Georgia Tech never got the ball back as Virginia made a couple of critical third-down conversions before finishing the game in victory formation.
With the 33-28 win, Virginia earns back-to-back victories for the first time since September and builds momentum heading into the bye week.
Virginia stays in Charlottesville for its next game, against Liberty Saturday, Nov. 23. Kickoff time has yet to be announced.
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