The UVA football team, which last year set an NCAA record by winning five games by 2 or fewer points, suffered a heartbreaking run-in with the law of averages today, losing at home in overtime to Miami, 24-17.
“Well, we’ve been on the other end of that deal before,” said Head Coach Al Groh after the game. “Now we’re on the other side. It’s heartbreaking to the team.” Some of the players were too emotional to speak to the media afterwards, said Groh, and he encouraged those players to stay in the locker room.
The game today against the Hurricanes mirrored the Cavalier’s overtime win two weeks ago in Scott Stadium against the North Carolina Tar Heels. In that game, UNC appeared the superior team for the first 58 minutes until UVA quarterback Marc Verica engineered an improbable 82-yard drive in a minute and a half to tie the game and send it into overtime, at which point momentum and the running prowess of senior tailback Cedric Peerman carried the Cavs to victory.
On the final play of the Miami game, however, Peerman fumbled the ball while running for extra yards after picking up a first down. The Hurricanes had already scored a touchdown during their inning of overtime with a nine-yard pass. It was the first lost fumble of Peerman’s career.
“Cedric is a guy who’s had our back for many weeks. We’ve got his back tonight,” said Groh, saying that everyone had to shoulder responsibility for the loss.
For most of the game, UVA appeared the superior team, while Miami racked up penalty yardage, including seven false starts. The Cavaliers took a 10-3 lead in the first quarter but could never get more than a seven-point lead despite a slew of opportunities from Miami turnovers and UVA’s defensive stops. But kicker Yannick Reyering missed two field goals, and, on third and short at Miami’s 27-yard line, Verica was sacked for a loss of 12 that forced the Cavs to punt. In the fourth quarter, Miami tied the game with a 95-yard drive that ate seven minutes off the clock and put the overtime momentum squarely on the side of the Hurricanes.
“It’s kind of like sand in our hand,” said Groh. “We had it, but we couldn’t wrap our hand around it.”
In addition to losing the game, UVA also probably lost its best backup running back, Mikell Simpson, for the rest of the year because of a shoulder or arm injury suffered during the game.
Next week, Virginia, now 5-4 overall and 3-2 in conference play, travels to Wake Forest.