Without Armstrong at QB, Wahoos handled by Notre Dame
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Jack Coan threw three touchdown passes and No. 7 Notre Dame extended its regular-season winning streak against Atlantic Coast Conference schools to 23 games with a 28-3 victory over Virginia on Saturday night.
Coan connected with Michael Mayer from 6 yards, Braden Lenzy from 4 yards and Kevin Austin from 15 yards for the Fighting Irish (9-1, No. 9 CFP), who also stretched their road winning streak against teams from the ACC to 11 games.
Virginia (6-4) played without quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who leads the nation in total offense with an average of 425.3 yards but did not dress after sustaining a rib injury in a loss to No. 14 BYU two weeks ago.
Jay Woolfolk, the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Virginia since Bryan Shumock in 1977, was ineffective. He completed 18 of 33 passes for 196 yards, two interceptions and was sacked seven times.
The Irish, playing for the sixth time against a team coming off an open date, won for the fifth time in those games, keeping alive their hopes of playing their way into the four-team College Football Playoff. They have two three-win teams remaining on their schedule.
The Irish led 21-0 at halftime and had outgained Virginia 264-92. The victory was their 40th in a row against unranked opponents.
The Takeaway
Notre Dame: Coan, who was benched for ineffectiveness against Virginia Tech before returning in the fourth quarter to lead a comeback, had no such issues against the Cavaliers. He was 15 of 20 for 132 yards when freshman Tyler Buchner replaced him after his third TD pass.
Virginia: The Cavaliers had tackling problems in their 66-49 loss at BYU two weeks ago, and despite a week off to get that fixed, the problem persisted against the Irish as running back Kyren Williams, Mayer and others routinely escaped the first hit. Williams broke three tackles on a 22-yard TD run.
