Penn State-UVa in-game blog
POSTGAME
Virginia defeats Penn State 17-16 as Nittany Lions kicker Sam Ficker misses a 42-yard field goal wide left as time expires. The Wahoos got the go-ahead touchdown with 1:28 left when Michael Rocco hit Jake McGee with a 6-yard pass. McGee also made a 39-yard grab earlier in the drive on third-and-11.
THIRD QUARTER
The Wahoos have a 10-7 lead thanks to a 1-yard TD reception by tight end Jeremiah Mathis. Continue to be amazed by how UVa cannot run the ball at all. The push from the guards just isn’t there.
Penn State forced a third turnover in UVa territory and, for the third time, could not score. Give the Cavs defense credit – they’ve held PSU for minus-17 yards combined — but how many times can they keep doing this and getting away with it?
We saw Phillip Sims for the first time late in the quarter. Not a stellar series. Cavs have to punt from deep in their own territory. Should be a tense finish.
SECOND QUARTER
Penn State is up 7-3 at the break but easily could be ahead by two touchdowns or more if it simply capitalized on opportunities presented. Twice the Lions have gotten turnovers deep in Virginia territory only to miss field goals.
Defensive end Ausar Walcott had a really nice first half for UVa. He seemed to be on or near the quarterback often.
Darius Jennings has been the biggest receiving threat as the Cavs have almost completely abandoned the running game. UVa’s line doesn’t seem to be getting much push up front in the ground attack and the backs have found themselves trying to dodge tacklers while still in the backfield.
Despite the score, I’d rate Rocco’s performance thus far as solid. He’s made some nice connections with Jennings, including a play where he left the pocket and spotted his man squatting wide open down the right sideline. Did a nice job delivering that on target.
Rocco has an interception on a terrific play made PSU defensive tackle Jordan Hill, who smelled the screen pass and leaped to pluck it at the line of scrimmage. Had Rocco gotten the ball over Hill’s hands, it looked like there was some room for a nice gain. He did underthrow an open Tim Smith once on a third down play that could have gone for 15 yards or so.
Dropped passes – did we mention those? Not sure everyone would consider the ball Adrian Gamble juggled near the sideline a true “drop” – it would have been a very nice play had he made it – but it was catchable.
A more consequential (and less forgiveable) drop came in second quarter, when Dominique Terrell was hit in stride on a play that could have gained 20-plus. Couldn’t hang on.
We’ve seen some weird penalties in this game. Defensive end Jake Snyder got flagged for a personal foul after continuing to play after his helmet came off. UVa also was called for the rare “delay of game, sideline interference” penalty. Not sure the specifics that prompted that one. You guys watching on TV might have gotten a better explanation than we did up here.
UVa has only 95 yards of total offense at the break. More importantly, the Cavs have run only 25 offensive plays compared to PSU’s 49. Time of possession isn’t close either, with the Lions holding it more the 20 minutes.
Steve Greer has nine tackles and two sacks, including the aforementioned biggie that likely cost PSU three points.
Virginia gets the ball to start the second half.
FIRST QUARTER
Slow start for Virginia, which trails 7-0 after one – and it could be worse. The Nittany Lions opened the game with a 17-play touchdown drive that included two fourth down conversions. The Cavs then turned it over on their first play from scrimmage, as Paul Freedman was stripped after making a catch that would have gone for a first down. The good news for UVa? Steve Greer got a huge sack that forced a 40-yard field goal, which Penn State missed. Cavs have it facing a third and long near midfield.”
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Clear skies and warm here at Scott Stadium as we’re about an hour and a half away from kickoff of Penn State-UVa. As expected, there are quite a few Nittany Lions fans in the parking lots. Will be interesting to see what the final crowd split winds up being.
The line has fluctuated this week from UVa by 8.5 to UVa by 10.5. Last I saw this morning it had settled in at Cavs by 9.5.
Today’s plan is do something similar to last week: a few thoughts on each of the first three quarters, then a short wrap-up post after the game. As always, if you’ve got something you want to share, dive on in.
September 8, 2012 - 10:48 AM
My best buddy lives in C-ville and went to PSU for grad school. I hope he hemorages watching this one….
I think UVa wins by 14 points. PSU is reeling from their loss to Ohio and I think it gives UVa a good test for their offense and defense to compete against PSU.
Wow, this is disappointing for UVa. However, Penn State whiffed on two field goal attempts, so UVa still have a chance. They have to sustain drives.
Is it me or have the quality of officiating gotten lousy?
Offense looking real ugly for the Wahoos. Line, which was supposed to their strength, stinks. Receivers can’t catch easy balls. Rocco unimpressive. Rushers going nowhere.
And now Sims in. And the offense looks even worse. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This is just awful.
Aaaaaand that’s why Rocco is the starter…
Yep, put in Sims for two series, he screws it up, and now bring back a deflated Rocco. That was brilliant.
As the commentators are saying, I can’t imagine how an offense could be worse. If not for the defense and Penn State’s kicker, this would be a blowout.
UVA fans I wouldn’t be too hard on your offensive line. VT was having the same trouble with Austin Peay.
Ugly, but a win is a win.
Very disappointing performance on a national stage for the ‘hoos. It was like the Indiana and Idaho games last year. Playing down to a team with less talent. The offense is going to have to pass the ball to set up the run I guess.
This is one UVA fan that was disapppointed in the game. While it is great to play so bad and get a win I don’t know of many positives to take from this one. I think the defense did ok as much as they were left on the field. No run blocking and mediocre QB play. Hopefully the Wahoos improve as the season goes on. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good I guess.
shaun you should be disappointed,your a boohoo fan. You guys will lose that horseshoe next week and the game!
Beamer Best all-time is back. Welcome to the new season dude. Keep let’em have it!
The positive is to take a win from the game and work on the things that need improvement. QB switching is tough on QBs, the team, the coaches, and the fans. It stinks when one doesn’t clearly emerge over the other. It’s been attempted at VT before and it has cost us some games from time to time. Typically poor coaching decisions was the root cause. But, with the talent on paper (and on the field) that Sims is I would probably have given him a shot too. One question for the UVA fans. Is Sims mobile or just a big time arm?
While the Hokie Nation has to feel good about having 2 wins, one a miracle and the other a blowout, they also have to feel some unrest about their team being a bit suspect. Their challenge is to make sure they beat the teams they are expected to beat.
It was ugly,, a lot like VT game on Monday…but as a fan of the game would say…a win is a win…
BBAT, That horseshoe traveled up 81 from Blacksburg after Monday night and down 64. You guys use it often, except in Bowl games when it’s nowhere to be found, just like Aaron’s 4th quarter coverage.
Well, Rocco was not great, and he can’t be fumbling the center exchange, but I counted at least four dropped passes (where Rocco couldn’t have thrown them better), and the fumble after the catch that can’t be pinned on Rocco. And he made some clutch passes at the end to win it.
I also think the personal foul helmet rule is BS, and I would wager it won’t last long.
Don’t you think that is a little uncalled for Beamer? I don’t think that anyone wants to hear about horseshoes after VT beat GT. You have no room to talk. I hope they come back 3-0 so maybe then they will keep you quiet
JSwift
Gettin’ dang tired of these fourth quarters mattering.
Better be glad the Penn st kicker and rb left. Just those two players woud have been the difference up there. Oh wait you guys play TCU and Ga Tech soon…….the Horseshoe show ends there.
Beamer do you think the Hokies looked good against Austin Peay? If not for the special teams the offense would have only put 28 on Peay and AP also threw an interception in the end zone. I have not seen a whole lot of difference between the Hoos and Hokies yet to be honest. I will give the nod to Tech’s defense but I think Tech and UVA both have things to work on at this point in the season.
89Hoo I disagree with you on the no helmet-continue playing rule..I think its spot on from a safety standpoint, for pete’s sake you can get your punkin’ split out there with your helmet ON! I do think however that making it a 15 yard personal foul is too much…they should cut it back to a five yarder. These players have been taught since sandlot to not stop until they hear the whistle and that’s got to be hard to overcome, helmet or not.
Shaun, you are dead on about the Hokies/Hoos, they both look like they have alot of work to do before they get much deeper into their schedules. I figure the Hokies have the easier task this weekend with whats going on at Pitt, and if the Hoos don’t tighten up some of those holes in their defense that Penn State was exploiting it could get ugly in Atlanta. That’s going to be a tough road game for the Cavs.
The problem with the helmet rule is that you often cannot disengage without remaining engaged, if you know what I mean. Especially if the other guy keeps engaging you. And now that they know they may be able to finagle a personal foul and fifteen yards, they will be even less inclined to disengage a guy who had his helmet pop off.