November 4, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- This day probably won’t be as memorable to as many Wahoos as every other installment in this series but those who were on hand that day saw one of the most entertaining games in Scott Stadium history.

It was a dreary and rainy early November afternoon in Charlottesville with 4-3 Georgia Tech in town. The game wasn’t on the national radar and didn’t have a lot of fanfare going in. But the two run-of-the-mill Coastal Division programs were prepared to square off in a game that was pivotal to the postseason aspirations for both.

Virginia entered this game with a 5-3 record in Bronco Mendenhall’s second season in charge. But despite the decent record following five-straight losing seasons, UVa was in a bit of a slide when the Yellow Jackets came calling. After a 5-1 start that included a big win at Boise State and back-to-back league victories over Duke and UNC, the Wahoos were blown out at home in surprising fashion by Boston College (led by its backup quarterback) 41-10. UVa followed that with a 31-14 road loss at Pitt, another game that wasn’t very competitive.

It seemed like a sure thing after the first six games that Virginia would gain bowl eligibility in one of those two (BC was 3-4 and Pitt was 3-5), but now the Cavaliers found themselves with their backs against the wall as the calendar turned to November.

Despite having four more opportunities to get to six, the odds were stacked against UVa with games remaining at Louisville, led by reigning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson, a trip to then-undefeated and No. 2-ranked Miami, and a home date with Virginia Tech, a team the Cavaliers had lost to 13 times in a row at that point.

So, beating the Yellow Jackets at home, a decent team with a pair of one-point losses to Tennessee and Miami and a loss at Clemson the week prior to coming to Charlottesville, was UVa’s best chance to make a bowl.

The weather, perhaps coupled with the back-to-back losses and cautiousness around the program in Mendenhall’s second year, led to a less-than-capacity crowd at Scott Stadium, to be kind. The announced attendance was just over 38,000 and there were far fewer than that in the stands by game’s end. But the crowd that showed up that day were as loud as they could be given the circumstances and were ultimately rewarded with a great one.

It was obvious right out of the gate that this one was going to be a wild one. Joe Reed returned the opening kickoff back to the Georgia Tech 34, setting up an eventual 36-yard field goal from AJ Mejia to give the Hoos an early 3-0 lead. After a few drives that ended with punts, Georgia Tech struck back with a 49-yard pass from TaQuon Marshall to Jalen Camp, which was followed up by a 1-yard TD run from the Jacket quarterback. After another Mejia field goal, GT extending the lead after a fumbled comeback route to Olamide Zacchaeus at the UVa 20-yard line. Another goal-line score put Tech up 14-6 with just 2:31 left until halftime. Then Reed struck again, this time returning the ensuing kick all the way back for a TD—his first return for a score—to make it 14-13 at the intermission.

The second half got off to a terrible start for the Wahoos. On the first play from scrimmage, Marshall broke a 78-yard touchdown run right through the heart of the Cavalier defense to put the Jackets up 21-13. And things would get worse for UVa, with Kurt Benkert throwing an interception right to linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling that was returned for another score on Virginia’s first play of the ensuing drive. Having scored touchdowns on back-to-back scrimmage plays, a rare feat indeed, Georgia Tech led 28-13. According to ESPN, Virginia had an 8.1 percent chance to win the game at that point.

It seemed that the pick-6 really flipped the switch for the Cavaliers, who rallied quickly. A few Benkert completions and one Tech penalty got the Hoos into opposing territory, where Benkert threw a perfect pass down the left sideline for a 34-yard score. Then, Virginia’s defense continued the rally, with Quin Blanding camping under a deep lobbed throw from Marshall and picking it off, returning it into Tech territory. Virginia would strike quickly again, with Benkert hitting Doni Dowling, this time down the right sideline, for a 28-yard touchdown strike. A successful two-point try tied the game at 28-28 with plenty of drama yet to unfold.

The two teams would trade punts for the remainder of the third and UVa eventually grabbed the lead back with a 33-yard field goal from Mejia with 10:44 to play. On Tech’s drive, Brenton Nelson seemingly came out of nowhere to make a diving pick deep down the field and set the Cavaliers up with good field position. They didn’t take advantage, but a brilliant 58-yard punt from Lester Coleman pinned the Jackets at their own 3-yard line. And with GT deep in its own territory, Marshall lost the ball in the sloppy conditions, and recovered it in the end zone for a safety, giving the Wahoos a 33-28 lead and the football.

The Jackets didn’t go quietly, however. After forcing a punt, Georgia Tech went 90 yards on nine plays in four minutes, capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Ricky Jeune, as a successful two-point try put Georgia Tech up 36-33 with 3:10 to play. In the slop, UVa would need to put another drive together to pull out what had become a wild game after halftime.

And the Cavaliers did just that.

Benkert hit Zacchaeus for 19 yards to start the series, and then three plays later, threw another strike to Andre Levrone who once again beat single coverage and hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass to put the Hoos back in front. It was 40-36, with 1:22 to play. The Wahoo faithful that had braved the rain and stayed through the entire game went nuts.

Georgia Tech got as far as the UVa 32-yard line, but needing a touchdown pass against a defense that knew it was coming the Jackets came up short with an incomplete pass on 4th and 15. UVa took over with 15 seconds to go and after a kneel down, the program was bowl eligible for the first time in six years.

The Cavaliers had pulled out a game that featured 76 total points, a 27-8 run by Virginia with an 8 percent chance to win, a kick returned for a touchdown, a 78-yard rushing touchdown by a quarterback, a blocked punt, several circus interceptions including one returned for a score, a safety, an extra point that hit both uprights on its way in, multiple 30 -yard TD passes, 29 points in the first 4:55 of the second half, including scores on back-to-back scrimmage plays, two lead changes in the final four minutes, and an outright win by a 10-point underdog. Oh, and all of that took place in a driving rainstorm.

The Result:

Georgia Tech 36

UVa 40

The thing I’ll remember most is truly all of the chaos that I listed above, but really the takeaway was that it got Virginia bowl eligible. After a disappointing 2-10 season that forced a lot of recalibration from a coaching staff that wasn’t accustomed to losing seasons, making the postseason the following year demonstrated real progress that was important to the program.

UVa would go on to lose its remaining three regular-season games playing Miami and Virginia Tech pretty tough, and then getting blown out by Navy in the Military Bowl. But none of that really matters now, just the fact that the win in the rain was another box that could be checked off and another goal accomplished along the way fo a football program that is now on much better footing.

Where would the Wahoos be if they came up short in this game? It’s likely they would’ve finished the year 5-7 and on a six-game losing streak. Does that make the pitch to Bryce Perkins, who attended UVa’s loss to Virginia Tech later that month, a bit tougher? It’s hard to say now, but being able to sell making a bowl in Year 2 to recruits probably didn’t hurt either. And it had to help grow confidence in the program, both in the locker room and in the fanbase.

It was a wild wet Saturday at Scott Stadium and a memorable one for everyone who went home soaked that night.

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