No. 25 BYU 66, Virginia 49
The loss at BYU on Saturday has to rank up there for me in terms of all-time Virginia football roller-coaster rides. Especially when I was younger, I really liked roller coasters, and they still interest me. So bear with me and allow me to draw out this metaphor.
I went into the game pretty hopeful. I didn’t expect the Cavaliers (6-3, 4-2 ACC) to beat the No. 25-ranked Cougars (7-2) on the road, but I expected a close, thrilling game. A victory would not have surprised me. I probably would’ve picked Virginia to win had the game been in Charlottesville. This is like arriving at the theme park and getting your first glimpse of the roller coaster. It looks cool from the parking lot, and then the queue line builds up anticipation for the ride, and it looks even more impressive as you are able to get a better look at it.
Virginia had no answer for BYU's bruising tailback, Tyler Allgeier, who rushed for 266 yards and five touchdowns on 29 carries (9.2 ypc). (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
The 10:15 p.m. game time made for a long day. It reminded me of a couple of recent years when we’ve had to wait past 10 p.m. for UVa basketball’s NCAA tournament first-round game. And then, kickoff didn’t end up taking place until 10:25. This is like when you first get in line for a roller coaster. There may be a sign indicating how long the wait will be at the entrance. In this case, for whatever reason, you end up having to wait longer than you expected to get on the roller coaster, and that can be a bit frustrating.
To make matters worse, for those fans watching on ESPN2 and not the WatchESPN app, the Houston-SMU game inevitably bled into BYU and Virginia’s timeslot because it is a rule that all college football games must last a zillion hours these days. Those fans were unable to see the first couple minutes of the game on TV. So they either had to switch to the app or wait until Houston-SMU finished. This is like when you finally are able to get onto the coaster after waiting through the long line. You sit down in your seat but then realize you are unable to immediately figure out how to strap all the buckles and restraints because it is some new-fangled ride. So you panic for a second before an attendant comes to help you out.
Turns out, anyone who missed the start of the game didn’t miss much. The majority of the first quarter was tough for the Wahoos. Their first three drives went punt-interception-punt. Meanwhile, BYU’s offense went through the defense like a knife through butter. Before the midway point of the quarter, it was 21-0. This is like the beginning of a roller coaster that can trick you. It rolls out of the station gently and maybe has a small chain lift hill to get things started on a few little hills, but it’s not too exciting yet. Did your eyes deceive you? Maybe this isn’t the awesome ride you saw from the parking lot.
Then the offense started clicking. Brennan Armstrong and the ‘Hoos got things started with a nice 12-play drive that lasted 4:42 and ended with Armstrong plunging into the end zone from 5 yards out. Virginia scored touchdowns on an incredible six straight possessions from the end of the first quarter through the end of the second quarter – each seemingly more explosive than the last.
Jelani Woods rumbled to the end zone with a 40-yard TD catch. Dontayvion Wicks bested that with a 70-yard catch and run, grabbing an intermediate pass at midfield and doing the rest, picking up some nice blocks from Woods and Demick Starling on his way to pay dirt. Devin Darrington took a simple handoff and took it the distance from 49 yards out, untouched. And then Armstrong did his best Bryce Perkins imitation on a 30-yard scramble and score.
During this time frame, the defense managed to force BYU into two punts and a made field goal. Armstrong’s TD run put the ‘Hoos up for the first time, 35-31. After another Cougars TD, there was still 1:27 left in the half. Virginia didn’t blink, racing down the field, and Armstrong found Billy Kemp IV on a 12-yard score and somehow, the Cavaliers went into the locker room with a 42-38 lead in one of the most incredible halftime scores you’ll ever see.
The second quarter was the fun part of the roller coaster. After rounding a turn, the gentle section of the ride ends. And there it is. You were right. The massive lift hill rises 200 feet in the air, through the treetops. This is what you saw from the parking lot. The classic sound of the chain lift ramps up your nervousness and excitement at the same time. The gigantic drop that follows lifts you out of your seat, and what follows is a pure adrenaline rush. Plenty of huge hills, excellent airtime, twists, turns, and a couple nice loops and inversions – just enough to be fun, but not too many to completely disorient you.
Brennan Armstrong celebrates his 30-yard second-quarter touchdown run with Ra'Shaun Henry. Before leaving the game, Armstrong completed 22 of his 34 passes for 337 yards, with four TDs and two INTs. He also ran for 94 yards and two scores. (George Frey/Associated Press)
The third quarter was a mixed bag for Virginia. Just over a minute into the second half, BYU scored on a Tyler Allgeier 49-yard run to go up 45-42. Then, UVa’s offensive hot streak was broken with a three-and-out. After that, BYU put together a long drive, taking up more than five minutes, but the Wahoos’ field goal “defense” stepped up again, and the Cougars’ Jake Oldroyd missed a 33-yarder.
The Cavaliers’ offense got back on track with a nice drive of their own, which included a circus catch by Wicks that was originally called incomplete. The ’Hoos methodically worked their way down the field and then faced fourth-and-1 at the BYU 2-yard line. Virginia lined Keytaon Thompson up next to Armstrong, and Thompson slipped out of the backfield and into the flat, caught an easy pass from Armstrong, and Thompson did the rest, crashing over a defender and over the goal line as UVa recaptured the lead.
But BYU had already made it to the red zone again before the end of the third quarter. After the fireworks of the first half, though, these teams combined for only 14 fourth-quarter points. Virginia held the edge, but it felt very temporary. I had an uneasiness going into the fourth quarter, but I was still fairly confident that Armstrong and the offense would it least give us a decent chance to win.
This is like when the roller coaster is taking a bit too long to finish. You’re starting to feel a bit queasy perhaps, but you are hopeful the end will still be smooth and fun. But then the coaster train starts to take a dive down a dark tunnel, and you realize there’s more to this ride than you expected …
Whew boy, that fourth quarter. In four plays, the score flashed from 49-45 UVa to 59-49 BYU. In between BYU TDs, Wayne Taulapapa took a vicious hit and fumbled the ball. It was scary to see him think about trying to chase after the ball and then hold his head and stay on the ground instead.
And on the next Virginia drive, we know what happened. Armstrong scrambled and reached for a first down, giving his all. But he was clearly injured as he pointed to his rib area. It may have happened on an earlier play because you can see him kind of poking at that area before the run, perhaps feeling the first twinge of pain. On the next play, he threw his second interception, and Armstrong, the ultimate gamer, indicated he couldn’t play anymore and said as he was walking off the field, “It’s broken.” For many Virginia fans, at that moment, there was a dread and fear that the meaning, hope, and excitement that was tied up in the regular season’s final three games had vanished.
The underground portion of the roller coaster really takes you by surprise. It’s unseen from the parking lot and not something for which you can prepare mentally or physically. The heat of a summer’s day and lack of light can leave you feeling pretty sick as the ride does some crazy underground maneuvering. Finally, the train emerges from under the ground and pulls into the station. You fumble around with your restraint trying to get out, stumble around a little on the platform, and eventually head for the nearest bathroom.
That’s kind of how this truly up-and-down Virginia defeat left me feeling. I was able to remember how fun parts of the game were, but in the end, I was left feeling nauseous.
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