www.roanoke.com

Ex-Virginia quarterback Kevin McCabe completed 22 of 29 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead California University of Pennsylvania to a 27-24 victory over Bloomsburg and a spot in the Division II national semifinals.

For the year, McCabe has passed for 3,043 yards and 31 touchdowns, compared to seven interceptions.

One week after throwing an overtime touchdown pass in UVa's 13-12 victory over Wyoming in 2006, McCabe was told "you're done" by Cavaliers' offensive coordinator Mike Groh after yielding a first-half interception one week later against Western Michigan.

McCabe never played for the Cavaliers again. He elected to remain in school and gain his degree in December 2007, after which he transferred to Cal. U.

Well, it's only fitting that Saturday's 2008 ACC Championship Game in Tampa, Fla., pitting Virginia Tech and Boston College is a toss-up affair.

Heck, the ACC has been a toss-up all season.

The opening betting line out of Las Vegas a few minutes ago had the Hokies and Eagles rated as a pick 'em game.

Read more »

A 28-yard field goal by Dustin Keys with 6:37 remaining Saturday lifted Virginia Tech to a 17-14 victory over Virginia and  sent the Hokies into next Saturday's ACC championship game.

The Hokies (8-4 overall, 5-3 ACC) will meet the winner of tonight's game between Maryland and Boston College.

Sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor carried 16 times for 137 yards and one touchdown, and he set up a game-tying third-quarter touchdown with a 73-yard run.

Virginia, which lost its fourth game in a row, ended the season at 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the ACC. UVa has lost five straight games to the Hokies.

Vic Hall, who had started 24 consecutive games at cornerback, started at quarterback for Virginia and scored on touchdown runs of 40 and 16 yards.

A 73-yard run by Tyrod Taylor set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Greg Boone early in the third quarter and allowed Virginia Tech to pull into a 14-14 tie.

The Hokies dominated the third quarter but passed up a go-ahead field goal from the 1-yard line, after which Boone was stopped for a 4-yard loss by John-Kevin Dolce and Nate Collins on fourth-and-goal.

Total offense after three quarters is 344-211 in favor of the Hokies. Tech outgained Virginia 167-70 in the third quarter.

Vic Hall's second rushing touchdown of the game has given Virginia a 14-7 lead over favored Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium.

Hall, who started at quarterback after 24 consecutive starts at cornerback, had touchdown runs of 40 and 16 yards.

The Hokies outgained the Cavaliers 177-141 in the first half but were victimized by a missed 22-yard field goal and an end-zone interception by UVa's Byron Glaspy.

Tech's touchdown came on a 3-yard pass from sophomore Tyrod Taylor to Jarrett Boykin. Taylor started at quarterback for the Hokies, who also used Greg Boone and Sean Glennon at that position.

Marc Verica entered the game in obvious passing situations for Virginia and completed three of four passes. Tech was called for pass interference on Hall's only pass attempt.

Dustin Keys has missed a 22-yard field goal, wide from the right, and Virginia takes over at its 20-yard line with 10:27 remaining before halftime.

The score is 7-7.

Keys had been 19-for-19 for the season from inside 43 yards.

Tyrod Taylor, who was out for four plays after tweaking an ankle, had a 6-yard carry to the  UVa 4 but  Josh Oglesby was stopped for a 1-yard loss by Antonio Appleby on third-and-2.

Fifth-year senior Sean Glennon is in the game for Virginia Tech. Starter Tyrod Taylor left the game with 14:44 remaining in the second quarter, coming up lame after a 13-yard run.

The teams have used a combined five quarterbacks.

Virginia Tech has just driven 65 yards in 13 plays, scoring Von a 3-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor to Jarrett Boykin to force a 7-7 tie with Virginia with 5:27 remaining.

The Cavaliers had scored off the opening kickoff, with quarterback Vic Hall doing the honors on a 40-yard touchdown run. Hall, who had made 24 consecutive starts at cornerback, started at QB and took five of six snaps on the drive. Marc Verica, who had been starting, contributed a 4-yard pass to Kevin Ogletree on third-and-4.

Hall set state records for total offense and passing yardage at Gretna High School

If Virginia cornerback Vic Hall has gotten some work at quarterback in practice this week, it wouldn't be the first time.

"Actually, we first began to acquaint Vic with some rudimentary phases of the offense back before the Connecticut game, when we were only going to have two quarterbacks," said Groh in a Thursday teleconference.

"If there was ever a circumstance in the previous games where we'd been down to the third quarterback, then he probably could have gone in and run two or three plays."

Before tailback Mikell Simpson was injured in Virginia's ninth game, he occasionally took direct snaps out of a formation that has grown in popularity in college and even the pros. There has been speculation this week that Hall, a former star quarterback at Gretna High School, could make an appearance Saturday at Virginia Tech.

"Mikell was very well-suited for it, so we just kind of went with him," Groh said. "He was the guy in our thoughts for that and it didn't go beyond that once he was hurt."

Simpson did not attempt any passes.

-- DOUG DOUGHTY

Continued speculation about the possibility that Vic Hall will play quarterback has added to the suspense surrounding Saturday’s football game between Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Much as I hate to admit, the first time I heard of a Hall-at-quarterback scenario was when Roanoke radio host Greg Roberts floated the idea Monday.

Roberts’ area of expertise is Virginia Tech, but while he is not well-connected at UVa, he is a Western Albemarle High School graduate who still has friends and family in the community.

Any time that a Virginia player gets arrested, Roberts seems to know about it. You could almost say that he lives for it.

In any case, I’ve been skeptical about the Hall rumors because UVa coach Al Groh has for so long resisted the opportunity to use Hall at the position where he set most of the state records for total offense and passing yardage.

Hall was rated the No. 9 quarterback prospect in the country coming out of Gretna High School in 2005, according to SuperPrep magazine. No other Virginia quarterback signee has been ranked higher than Hall in the 25 years or so that SuperPrep has picked All-America teams.

(NOTE: I cover the state of Virginia for SuperPrep but do not participate in the All-America rankings).

Hall, of course, was moved to cornerback on the eve of Virginia’s trip to Boston College in his freshman year and has played only briefly on offense. He held for placements in 2007, when he had a 4-yard touchdown run on a fake field against Pittsburgh, and he lined up in the backfield against Connecticut and completed a 35-yard pass to Chris Gorham.

It’s hard to say that coach Al Groh has mistreated Hall, a redshirt junior who has started games at cornerback over the past two seasons. In addition, Hall has been UVa’s primary punt returner since early in the 2007 season.

Groh has been unfailing in his praise of Hall, almost to the point of going overboard. When Groh continues to point out what a dependable player Hall is, it’s almost as if he’s validating the decision not to play Hall at quarterback.

That’s why I find it difficult to believe Groh will use Hall at quarterback. What if Hall were to account for a couple of touchdowns, running and passing, and generally put on a show similar to his weekly Gretna High School performances. How would Groh look then?

While Groh is well-respected as a defensive gameplanner, he has performed other aspects of his job with such aplomb that he twice has been selected ACC coach of the year. However, in eight years he’s never shown an eagerness to admit, “I was wrong.”.

So, how could Groh use Hall without inviting second-guessing? The most likely scenario would be to give Hall a role similar to the one that 6-foot-3, 280-pound ex-Oscar Smith quarterback Greg Boone fills at Tech. Boone usually lines up at tight end and would never be mistaken for Hall, a 5-9, 190-pounder, but occasionally Boone lines up at quarterback and takes deep snaps.

Boone hasn’t attempted a pass, although the Hokies profess to have some passing plays in his “package.” Tech refers to it as the “Wild Turkey” formation and it’s not uncommon in college football, going by a variety of names. In fact, Virginia running back Mikell Simpson took some direct snaps early in the season and ran the ball from shotgun formation.

Simpson is out for the season with a broken collarbone but Virginia probably has retained the direct snaps in its playbook. It’s not inconceivable that Hall could take some direct snaps but I can’t imagine him throwing the ball. His pass to Chris Gorham in last year’s UVa-UConn game was not a thing of beauty.

Besides, as the Cavaliers’ de-facto defensive coordinator, Groh may not feel he can sacrifice Hall at cornerback. UVa has two promising young corners in sophomore Ras-I Dowling and redshirt freshman Chase Minnifield but the Cavaliers frequently line up in “nickel” and  “dime” packages that  feature Hall, Dowling, Minnifield and true freshman Rodny McLeod.

Count me among those who wouldn’t be surprised to see Hall line up on offense, but I don’t see him impacting the game with his arm.

-- DOUG DOUGHTY