The Result: The Cavaliers lost to Virginia Tech 34-31 in overtime on Friday night. The loss was UVa’s 15th straight to the rival Hokies and dropped the Hoos to 7-5 on the season with a 4-4 record in ACC play.

The Turning Point: Ryan Willis’ 45-yard pass to Dalton Keene late in the fourth quarter. There were about 50 different turning points in this game but Willis’ prayer to Keene—that was nearly intercepted but was instead wrestled away— bailed out a Tech offense that had started to struggle when forced to throw the ball after UVa took the lead. That play set VT up to score the game-tying touchdown two plays later, and if it falls incomplete, the Hokies would’ve had to convert a 4th and 10 with their season on the line.

The Stat That Tells the Story: Tech scored 24 points on four red-zone trips while UVa scored just 10 on its four trips. More on that later.

Wahoo of the Week: It's obviously Bryce Perkins. While Joe Reed and Charles Snowden are also good candidates this week, Perkins put the team on his back in the second half and willed them back into the game and into the lead. On a bum ankle, the junior quarterback threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 119. Despite his two fumbles, Virginia likely gets blown out without him on Friday.

24+ Points? YES (31)

+1 Turnover Margin? NO (-1)

+5 Average Starting Field Position? NO (-2 yards)

Finish drives with touchdowns.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Virginia scored four touchdowns on its first four drives of the second. Some of those points came on big plays and UVa only ended up with four red-zone possessions in the game. And from those four possessions, including their overtime possession, the Wahoos came away with just 10 points. The inability to finish drives in the red zone has haunted the offense all season and those issues showed up again on Black Friday. Perkins was charged with a fumble on UVa’s first red-zone possession, though he looked down by contact on replays. Virginia scored on its next two trips, with a Jordan Ellis 12-yard touchdown run and a Brian Delaney field goal. That FG came after an interception gave the offense the ball on the 11-yard line with a chance to put the game away with a touchdown. Instead, UVa settled for three and Tech marched down the field, forced overtime, and eventually won the thing. And in overtime, after an 11-yard pass on the first play, Perkins lost the ball attempting to hand off to Ellis and Tech recovered to seal the win. Virginia’s offense scored 31 points but something has to be done about the red-zone offense going forward. Too often UVa moves the ball down the field but then ends up with three points or sometimes even none at all. On the flip side, Virginia Tech scored 24 points on its four red-zone possessions, which goes to show how red-zone efficiency can swing a game.

Grade: D-

Win the mental battle.

In the first half, it looked like UVa was well on its way to another meltdown against the Hokies. After some unnecessary and costly penalties and a pair of lost fumbles, Virginia found itself in a 14-0 hole at the break. The Hoos didn’t give up, though, and fought back to eventually take the lead and force overtime. But something was still off throughout the game. Many of the plays they would’ve made throughout the season just didn’t get made on Friday night. Fumbles bounced the other way, plays that looked like sacks or interceptions for the defense got away, and at the end of the day it all added up to another heartbreaking loss. In the movie “Any Given Sunday,” Al Pacino’s character’s speech about fighting for every inch became the most iconic scene in the film, and is still referenced all the time. And on Friday, Virginia wasn’t able to get those inches. Brenton Nelson was so close to recovering what would’ve been a game-winning fumble, but instead the ball slipped away and became a Tech touchdown. Two plays earlier, Bryce Hall seemed set up to pick off a deep pass by Willis, but instead Keene wrestled it away. Tavares Kelly and Perkins couldn’t connect on a sure touchdown in the first half, and Tim Harris’ pick-6 attempt to close the half was thwarted by Willis, who pushed him out of bounds with no time remaining 10 yards from paydirt. It’s hard to say whether UVa coming up short on those plays, some of which involve some luck, or the simple bounce of the ball, was just bad luck or reflective of some sort of mental block against their arch-rivals. Virginia fans should appreciate the effort the Cavaliers gave in the second half but this is a loss that will sting for a long time.

Grade: C-