2007.10.27
UVa-Maryland report #8
Simpson 13-yard reception from Sewell on shovel pass makes it 13-10 with 3:04 left before halftime. First shovel pass of the game. Well-timed.
Simpson 13-yard reception from Sewell on shovel pass makes it 13-10 with 3:04 left before halftime. First shovel pass of the game. Well-timed.
Wolfpack goes up 13-3 on 41-yard field goal by Steven Hauschka, a transfer from Division III Middlebury who is now 9-for-9 on field goals for the year. Hauschka is not listed on the Wolfpack roster in the media guide.
In case anybody is interested, reserve UVa quarterback Peter Lalich is not warming up.
Starter Jameel Sewell has thrown his second bad interception, this one in the red zone.
The Wolfpack, ranked 119th out of 119 Division I-A teams in passing efficiency, are now plus-2 for the day.
Sewell completed three first-down passes in taking UVa from its 31 to the State 18, then threw three bad passes in a row.
State goes up 10-3 with 13:21 left in the second quarter on a 30-yard Steven Hauscha field goal.
Drive stalls when Ras-I Dowling bats down a third-down pass to Donald Bowens, who already had three receptions on the drive and four for the game, one for a touchdown.
Dowling, a true freshman, getting a lot of playing time in place of Mike Parker, beaten by Bowens on the first TD.
No sign of injured Chris Cook, the starter at left corner in the first six games.
First quarter ends with the Wolfpack up 7-3 and driving.
Cavs' pass defense is really shaky (we knew that).
Chris Gould boots a 23-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 6:43 remaining in the first quarter, but it's a wasted opportunity.
Cavs get a first down at the State 4 but lose yardage. Uninspired playcalling, if you ask me. A 1-yard to the tight end, following by a low-percentage swing pass to Moe Covington.
State goes up 7-0 on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Evans to one-time Virginia recruiting target Donald Bowens.
Lots of blame to go around on this one: Jordy Lipsey for snapping it over Jameel Sewell on Virginia's first offensive play, giving UVa a second and 15 from its 6, Sewell for throwing into triple coverage, Maurice Covington for not making sure the pass went incomplete and Mike Parker for letting Bowens get behind him.
Mikell Simpson starts at tailback -- UVa's fourth different starting tailback in as many weeks. Tight end Tom Santi is in uniform but hasn't played in UVa's first two series. He might just be here because he's a captain.
Less than 20 minutes remaining till game time at Carter-Finley Stadium. My 12-year-old picked up a ticket from the first scalper he saw -- $30 for a $42 ticket. Don't know what that says.
Not a cloud in the sky. A little bit of wind. Temperature is 75 degrees.
Already we've seen Wake Forest thrash North Carolina 37-10. Wouldn't be surprised to see the Deacs (6-2 overall, 4-1 ACC) crash the polls this season. Will it be a battle of Top 25 teams?
POSTGAME THOUGHTS: I'm reading through these previous entries, and I'm still stunned. The Hokies won this game, right? Right?
No. After doing nothing on offense all night, Boston College scored two touchdowns in the last three minutes and beat the Hokies 14-10, and if you can think of a more shocking Tech loss in the past five years, I'm all ears.
The onside kick with 2:11 remaining was the biggie. It was kicked hard, and Josh Morgan had it bounce off his chest. Coach Frank Beamer said perhaps Morgan should have let it go through to the next line of defenders, and perhaps he should have. But that's a decision that has to be made in a split second, and Morgan made the aggressive move.
The Eagles still had to go 66 yards, though, and Tech's defense let them do it. In hindsight, the Hokies should have tried a few blitzes, try to get that one big sack that would have deflated Matt Ryan and the Eagles. Instead, they backed their linebackers up and rushed three or four, and Ryan picked apart the secondary. He looked like the quarterback he's been all season on those two drives.
The positives for Tech included Branden Ore's best rushing effort of the season (97 yards on 20 carries) and 56 minutes of outstanding defense. It's those last four minutes that will linger, of course.
So Tech will try to pick up the pieces and move on, just as I tried to pick up the pieces of a column that I was going to write and instead wrote something else. Check it out in Friday's paper if you're in the mood, along with a game story and notes from Randy King.
That's all for tonight. We'll see you next Thursday night from Atlanta...
IN-GAME POSTS
-Unreal. BC wins 14-10 in one of the most stunning comebacks you'll see. Back with more later.
-Pick up your jaws. A holding penalty negates a touchdown pass by Matt Ryan and pushes the Eagles back to the edge of field-goal range. Ryan responds by scrambling to his left and floating a 24-yard touchdown pass to Andre Callender. With :11 remaining in the game, BC leads 14-10.
-Oh, my. With :58 remaining, BC is in field-goal range. But the Eagles no doubt want more. They've got it first-and-10 at the Tech 26. Stay tuned...
-BC recovers the onside kick, and this place is as quiet as it's ever been. The Eagles take over at their own 34 with 2:07 to play, trailing 10-7.
-We've got a ballgame. Boston College scores on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Rich Gunnell, and the extra point makes it 10-7 Tech with 2:11 to play. That was the Ryan we expected to see all night, driving the Eagles 92 yards in nine plays. BC has two timeouts left.
-Matt Ryan is intercepted by D.J. Parker on the first play of the drive. Tech takes over at the BC 31 with 6:01 remaining, still leading 10-0.
-BC's running out of time, but the Eagles get the ball back at their own 20 and will try to get something going. With 6:05 left in the game, it's still 10-0 Tech.
-Third quarter ends with Tech crossing into BC territory and looking to add to a 10-0 lead. Your stars thus far have been the big guys along Tech's defensive front, particularly Chris Ellis and Orion Martin. They've made Matt Ryan look like Buddy Ryan.
-Huge penalty -- and a questionable one, to be sure -- on Dustin Pickle roughing-the-punter. Didn't appear on replays to be deserving of a personal foul, but that's what the officials called. It was an automatic first down for BC on fourth-and-31. Tech's defense comes through again, however, forcing another punt. With 1:59 left in the third, Tech has the ball up 10-0.
-A 44-yard field goal attempt by Jud Dunlevy is good. With 5:33 remaining in the third quarter, it's 10-0 Hokies.
-Both teams have traded punts. Tech takes over at its own 5-yard line leading 7-0 with 11:44 remaining in the third.
-An interception by a diving Brandon Flowers brings a swift end to BC's first drive of the third quarter. The call was reviewed and upheld. With 14:22 remaining in the third, Tech leads 7-0 and has the ball on its own 42-yard line.
-Ryan Shuman has a high right ankle sprain and is out for the game. X-rays were negative. Beau Warren is in at center.
-HALFTIME THOUGHTS: Hmm...very strange. The Hokies have the ball at midfield, and instead of taking a shot or two downfield to try to set up a field goal, they elect to let the clock run out and head to halftime with a 7-0 lead. Granted, they were facing long yardage thanks to an illegal-block-in-the-back penalty, but there was still an opportunity there.
Regardless, a very strong half for Tech -- particularly for their defensive line. They hassled quarterback Matt Ryan constantly and made him look quite uncomfortable. Ryan is 9-for-22 for 54 yards, and BC has 10 yards rushing. The Hokies have 146 total yards. Sean Glennon is 7-for-12 for 66 yards. Branden Ore broke a nice 34-yard run -- a season long for him -- just before the end of the half and has 58 yards on nine carries. That's his best half of football this season.
The rain is slowing down a bit now, and I'm sure the Hokies would prefer the downpour would return. Keeping the game ugly will no doubt be their goal in the second half. BC was held scoreless in the first half for the first time since Sept. 20, 2003, a span of 53 games.
BC will get the ball to start the second half. Blogging will be a little more sparse as deadline looms, but I'll do what I can.
-Heisman Trophy? Matt Ryan isn't making a very strong case today. Ryan throws three straight incompletions, then throws it away on fourth down after getting heavy pressure from Barry Booker. The Hokies hold, and with 2:05 remaining in the half, they'll start at their own 24 leading 7-0.
-Fumbled snap on first down gives the ball back to BC at the Tech 19. We'll see if the Hokies can hold here.
-Defensive end Orion Martin comes up big again with a sack of BC quarterback Matt Ryan. A sack on third down pushes BC out of field-goal range, and the Eagles punt it into the end zone for a touchback. With 2:42 remaining in the half, still 7-0 Tech.
-The rain is really coming down now after a brief respite, and it seems to be affecting the receivers. BC tight end Jon Loyte fumbled twice after catches, but the Eagles recovered both. With 3:55 remaining in the half, Tech leads 7-0 but BC is driving with a first down at the Tech 30.
-An 8-yard pass from Sean Glennon to Eddie Royal has the Hokies on top 7-0 with 10:41 remaining in the second quarter. The call was reviewed and upheld, as officials ruled that Royal had his left foot inbounds. Nice drive there for Tech -- 16 plays, 91 yards, chewing up 7:13. Tech picked up three big third-down conversions, including a 12-yard scramble by Glennon.
-Tech center Ryan Shuman has a right leg injury and is being taken for X-rays.
-Tech center Ryan Shuman helped off the field. We'll get you an update ASAP.
-Neither side has been able to sustain anything thus far, though BC has won the field-position battle, backing the Hokies inside their 10-yard line twice. Tech faces a big third-and-9 near midfield.
-The Tech defense has shown up thus far, getting good pressure on quarterback Matt Ryan. Tech defenders have had their hands on three possible interceptions but haven't been able to haul them in.
Pregame:
Cold, wet and ready to explode. That's Lane Stadium at this moment, about an hour before kickoff of No. 2 Boston College against No. 8 Virginia Tech.
First, I'm contractually obligated to mention a new feature of roanoke.com, one that will absolutely knock your socks off -- provided your socks are vulnerable to interesting facts. It's called the Datasphere, and it's NEW, NEW, NEW! One of the neat features we've got right now is a full record of Tech coach Frank Beamer. Ever wonder how Beamer-coached Tech teams have done against teams from Conference USA in November? I was just wondering that, in fact, and I got the answer in five seconds by making a few clicks (they are 3-0, with wins over ECU, UAB and UCF). Why, in the past, it would have taken me HOURS to dig this information out of a media guide. So act fast! Supplies are limited! Pick up the phone and call 800-...
Just kidding. Follow the link to check it out:
http://www.roanoke.com/datasphere/wb/xp-index
On to tonight's game. By now I'm sure you've heard that Sean Glennon will start at quarterback, which should come as little surprise. Tyrod Taylor is dressed and cleared to play. The Hokies are favored by 3 with the over-under set at 42.5.
Apparently EEI, the big talk radio station in Boston, called out the hicks from The Roanoke Times for overwhelmingly picking Tech in the Fearless Forecasters (only one staffer picked BC). Personally, I was surprised by the consensus, too, but keep in mind that Tech is favored.
Hey, at least they're talking about the game up there this time. I was driving to the BC stadium last year for the Thursday game between two ranked teams, and EEI was all abuzz about the big story of the day: The Patriots had picked up some no-name lineman off waivers. With the Red Sox playing tonight, it's hard to imagine many Boston-area televisions will be tuned to this one.
Anyone worried about a sloppy field should not fear. The vacuum system under the Bermuda grass has been cranking for the past 36 hours, and it can handle up to 16 inches of rain per hour, according to Tech officials.
Tech is 5-2 in all-maroon uniforms, which the Hokies will wear tonight. They last wore them in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, a 31-24 Georgia win.
Tech center Ryan Shuman helped off the field. We'll get you an update ASAP.