Virginia 49, Central Michigan 35
It wasn't easy, but the Cavaliers got their first win of the Bronco Mendenhall era Saturday at home against the previously unbeaten Chippewas. Interestingly, it was Mendenhall's 100th career victory, and the last and only other time these teams met, in 1996, Virginia won, which was George Welsh's 99th win at UVa. The Virginia faithful hope Mendenhall can recreate some of what Welsh did in Charlottesville.
For awhile, UVa was making it look easy. The Wahoos displayed no hangover from the very, very tough loss at Connecticut the week before, running out to a 28-0 lead with touchdowns from four different playmakers: running backs Albert Reid and Taquan Mizzell and wideouts Olamide Zaccheaus and Keeon Johnson. Quarterback Kurt Benkert was on point as he helped Virginia record more points in the first half than it had scored in any entire game this season. One of the highlights of the opening run was a 99-yard scoring drive from Virginia, something that had never been done in program history. Just think for a second what similarly long drives often looked like in recent years, and you'll smile to yourself. The team is making progress.
Then, as they have many times in the past, things started to go wrong. The offense was finally stopped. Central Michigan started to move the ball and score and got a big play on an 85-yard TD pass from Cooper Rush to Corey Willis. Veteran center Jackson Mattero committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set Virginia back from a third-and-2 to a third-and-17 that it did not convert. And a pick-six by Amari
Coleman on one of the few mistakes Benkert made made it 28-21. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Chippewas tied the game up and the fans in attendance were surely thinking, "Here we go again." I surely was. And Mendenhall even said after the game, paraphrasing here, that he could feel the weight of the culture and the fans weighing down. It was palpable. We've been so used to seeing things go wrong the past several years that we start expecting it, even when a lead is 28-0. I never thought we were out of the woods. And sure enough, CMU came storming back. This was a team that needed some good things to happen, or to make good things happen, so the fans could start believing again.
Then, CMU was driving for the go-ahead score in the fourth and got inside the Virginia 40-yard line when the defense stiffened and snuffed out a pitch play for a loss putting the Chippewas in third-and-long. After Virginia got the ball back, it took two plays for the Cavs to get their own long scoring play when Benkert spun out of the pocket to his left, non-throwing side and launched a pass down the sideline to Zaccheaus, who made a nice catch with the ball on his shoulder pad. He outran the defender the rest of the way for the TD that sparked the team, the crowd, and the first win for Mendenhall at UVa.
Virginia wasn't done, getting a nice play-action pass at the goal line from Benkert to Reid, a really nice throw from Benkert where he threw off his back foot but floated the ball perfectly over a defender and into Reid's hands. And UVa's final scoring play came on a little quick pass out to Mizzell, who then scampered down the field with some nice moves and got downfield blocking to assist him into the end zone.
The 'Hoos provided the response they needed and so often have lacked when faced with a tough situation. Along the way, Benkert set the single-game UVa record for passing yards, 421, and his five TDs were tied for second most in history, and it was the first five-TD-pass game for UVa since Matt Schaub did it against Akron in 2002. The defense did some nice things, too. Until a minute left, the Cavaliers gave up 21 points -- seven were on the pick-six -- against a team that had been putting up 41 per game. That's not too shabby. And new names continue to emerge on that side of the ball. Cornerback Kareem Gibson had his first interception and six tackles. Defensive end Eli Hanback had six tackles. Linebacker Matt Terrell had a half-sack as did defensive end Juwan Moye, who also had a pass breakup. Defensive end Jack Powers had three pass breakups. And the usual suspects had good games also. Safety Quin Blanding led the team with 12 tackles and added a breakup. Linebacker Zach Bradshaw tallied nine tackles, a half-sack and a breakup. Andrew Brown added another sack after his breakout game at UConn.
It would have been awesome had UVa just finished the blowout. But the way the Wahoos won the game was probably more impressive because they were faced with adversity and instead of buckling, persevered, and hopefully proved to themselves they can win those kinds of games.
It wasn't easy, but the Cavaliers got their first win of the Bronco Mendenhall era Saturday at home against the previously unbeaten Chippewas. Interestingly, it was Mendenhall's 100th career victory, and the last and only other time these teams met, in 1996, Virginia won, which was George Welsh's 99th win at UVa. The Virginia faithful hope Mendenhall can recreate some of what Welsh did in Charlottesville.
For awhile, UVa was making it look easy. The Wahoos displayed no hangover from the very, very tough loss at Connecticut the week before, running out to a 28-0 lead with touchdowns from four different playmakers: running backs Albert Reid and Taquan Mizzell and wideouts Olamide Zaccheaus and Keeon Johnson. Quarterback Kurt Benkert was on point as he helped Virginia record more points in the first half than it had scored in any entire game this season. One of the highlights of the opening run was a 99-yard scoring drive from Virginia, something that had never been done in program history. Just think for a second what similarly long drives often looked like in recent years, and you'll smile to yourself. The team is making progress.
Then, as they have many times in the past, things started to go wrong. The offense was finally stopped. Central Michigan started to move the ball and score and got a big play on an 85-yard TD pass from Cooper Rush to Corey Willis. Veteran center Jackson Mattero committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set Virginia back from a third-and-2 to a third-and-17 that it did not convert. And a pick-six by Amari
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| Big offensive lineman Eric Smith (72) escorts Taquan Mizzell downfield for Virginia's final touchdown against Central Michigan. |
Then, CMU was driving for the go-ahead score in the fourth and got inside the Virginia 40-yard line when the defense stiffened and snuffed out a pitch play for a loss putting the Chippewas in third-and-long. After Virginia got the ball back, it took two plays for the Cavs to get their own long scoring play when Benkert spun out of the pocket to his left, non-throwing side and launched a pass down the sideline to Zaccheaus, who made a nice catch with the ball on his shoulder pad. He outran the defender the rest of the way for the TD that sparked the team, the crowd, and the first win for Mendenhall at UVa.
Virginia wasn't done, getting a nice play-action pass at the goal line from Benkert to Reid, a really nice throw from Benkert where he threw off his back foot but floated the ball perfectly over a defender and into Reid's hands. And UVa's final scoring play came on a little quick pass out to Mizzell, who then scampered down the field with some nice moves and got downfield blocking to assist him into the end zone.
The 'Hoos provided the response they needed and so often have lacked when faced with a tough situation. Along the way, Benkert set the single-game UVa record for passing yards, 421, and his five TDs were tied for second most in history, and it was the first five-TD-pass game for UVa since Matt Schaub did it against Akron in 2002. The defense did some nice things, too. Until a minute left, the Cavaliers gave up 21 points -- seven were on the pick-six -- against a team that had been putting up 41 per game. That's not too shabby. And new names continue to emerge on that side of the ball. Cornerback Kareem Gibson had his first interception and six tackles. Defensive end Eli Hanback had six tackles. Linebacker Matt Terrell had a half-sack as did defensive end Juwan Moye, who also had a pass breakup. Defensive end Jack Powers had three pass breakups. And the usual suspects had good games also. Safety Quin Blanding led the team with 12 tackles and added a breakup. Linebacker Zach Bradshaw tallied nine tackles, a half-sack and a breakup. Andrew Brown added another sack after his breakout game at UConn.
It would have been awesome had UVa just finished the blowout. But the way the Wahoos won the game was probably more impressive because they were faced with adversity and instead of buckling, persevered, and hopefully proved to themselves they can win those kinds of games.
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