Somehow, somehow, the Virginia Cavaliers won a back-and-forth game over the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday night, with fans cursing their fanbase a second before declaring their undying love for their school. Had given.
After Miami won the toss and postponed, Brennan Armstrong and the UVA offense took the field to get back on track after a sub-par performance against Wake Forest. The offense gained a bit of momentum, with another near-identical Thompson reception on the next play with a third and 10 conversions on a 15-yard catch from Keaton Thompson. But, Armstrong, after missing his footballer on the down streak on the second time and took a sack on the third, 'hoos punt'.
Despite a disappointing opener on offense, the Cavaliers' defense achieved something that has been incredibly rare this season: forcing a three-out on the first drive of the game. As Pass Rush found early pressure on first and third downs, third-string quarterback Tyler Van Dyke of Miami had little to do.
On the following drive, Virginia had the running game going for real as Wayne Taulpapa was kicked out of a 26-yard run as the 'Hoos marched down the field. Waved by a holding penalty after a Mike Hollins touchdown run, Brennan Armstrong scrambled into the one-yard line on a 14-yard pickup. From there, Taulpapa punched the ball into the end-zone for UVA's most balanced drive of the season so far.
With a seven-point lead, the Virginia defense picked up where it left off, filling the game running Miami and forcing a second consecutive three-out after dropping anything too easy through the air.
Beginning his drive at the 13-yard line after Miami's punt, 'Hoos drove near midfield and the storm forced an unfinished pass to Jacob Rodriguez on third down before being stuffed on fourth and seven.
But, luckily for UVA, Jacob Finn's 51-yard punt pinned Miami to his one-yard line. With a clear run coming, 'Hoos filled the box and several of them broke into the backfield for safety, making the score 9–0.
Despite relatively favorable field conditions starting from his thirty-yard line, Virginia's next drive stalled after a sack on second and one as Devin Darrington failed to take the six required yards on third down.
Still, as the offense struggled to get back into its groove, the Wahoo defense remained strong, not putting Miami down first for a third straight drive and giving the ball to Brennan Armstrong and company on his 34-yard line.
After an imperfection on the first down and a three-yard catch from Taulapapa on the second, Armstrong made his best Bryce Perkins impact on the third down as he dodged several Miami Rushers before avoiding a pocket and diving first over the sideline. But, at a suspicious spot, he fell short as Finn returned for punt duty.
From there, the Hurricanes put together their most successful drive as Miami converted the first three downs and got into Wahoo territory for the first time of all games. But, a pair of sacks from the Wahoo front-seven made it 4th and 16th and returned the ball.
The monotony of poor offensive play continued as the Cavaliers failed to establish any sort of rhythm with the only positive play of the drive coming from a defensive pass interference call on the third down, which gifted Virginia a disinterested first down. After another third punt, the Finn came onto the field for his fifth punt of the game and sent the ball back to the Hurricanes.
Over the 46-yard line to start a drive with the ball, the Hurricanes stitched together their first scoring drive of the game. With an impressive 36-yard finish on the side of the Charleston Rambo, Miami was quickly in scoring position and Cameron Harris went on to run the ball on five consecutive plays before getting Keynes on the board for the first time, reducing the deficit to two points. .
In response, Virginia made an impressive two-minute drill. As Armstrong hit Billy Kemp IV on four separate occasions, Hoos headed to the Miami 25-yard line before facing third and one. :50 still on the clock and a couple timeouts remaining, Armstrong handed the ball to Mike Hollins, who burst through a gap on the right side of the line before charging forward, picking up the block in the second, and ' Who's Up Nine, 16-7.
The Wahoo defensive front filled the storm on the ensuing drive, so Virginia entered the half with an oddly comfortable lead after the first half of an inconsistent offense, but defended.
With Miami receiving the ball to begin the second half, there was an opportunity for Keynes to pull himself back into contention. But, when Mandy Alonso brought Van Dyke down for the first time in a seven-yard loss, any hope of an opening statement came to naught.
HOW DID DONTAYVION WICKS CATCH THAT!?! 🤯
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 1, 2021
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On the ensuing drive, Keaton Thompson split the Miami defense on his second carry of the game and galloped to the Cannes' 29-yard line for a 34-yard advantage. After Brennan Armstrong missed Dontavian Wicks in the endzone on third and six, backup placekicker Brendan Farrell split upright for a 43-yard field goal.
With three more outs forced by a strong Virginia defense, the Wahoos packed the ball to 12 points with a chance to put the game out of reach.
Instead, Brennan Armstrong closed his goal too quickly on the first down and missed Corey Flagg Jr. completely from under coverage as the Miami linebacker struck a Virginia receiver to force the first trade of the storm of the night. Jumped in front.
The Miami offense capitalized on Armstrong's mistake in short order as Van Dyke found Mike Harley in the endzone for a 16-yard score.
With the game back to a one-point affair, Brennan Armstrong grounded the Virginia offense with a 14-yard run on third and seven before finding Jacob Rodriguez in the air for a 16-yard lead on the ensuing game. Wayne Taulapapa ran 12 yards before what was probably the craziest game of the college football season ever.
On a poor throw from Brennan Armstrong, Miami nearly closed the Wahoo quarterback on the second straight drive. But, instead, Hurricane Corner dropped the ball while falling into the endzone. The ball proceeded to bounce off the back of Deontavian Wicks in the air, and was then corrupted by Wicks with one hand, resulting in a mind-boggling touchdown catch for Virginia's best receiver.
To add insult to injury, Virginia punched the ball for a two-point conversion from the one-yard line to make the score 27–14 after a Miami personal foul.
'Hoos then filled the storm on the ensuing drive as the Cavaliers defense held Miami a yard before passing the ball back into the offense.
Despite an 18-yard run to second from Keaton Thompson, the Virginia offensive could not muster another scoring drive as Jacob Finn was back on duty for the sixth punt of the night.
Starting their drive at the 10-yard line, Miami got a big spark from Cameron Harris as the running back burst from the backfield for a 57-yard touchdown run, pulling Hurricanes back into the game as the extra point was cut to six points. move towards
In response, the 'Hoos made a nine-play, 62-yard drive all the way down to the Miami 13-yard line. Buoyed by a 39-yard catch from Dontaywian Wicks in the middle, the drive had the potential to bring Virginia back by two touchdowns. Alas, Ra'Shan Henry couldn't reel in a pass from Armstrong past the endzone and Farrell came clean to make the score 30-21.
The ensuing Miami drive emphasized how poor Bronco Mendenhall's defense had become throughout the game as the Hurricanes racked up chunk play after chunk play before Van Dyke avoided pocket on third and ten and any Endzone was found to eliminate hope that UVA would pull away easily.
The next Virginia capture was another disappointment, as the Cavaliers could not chain together enough positive yardage plays to advance blackjack, despite some good short yardage plays. So, 'Hoos gave the ball back to the storm, two up, with 5:29 remaining in the game.
Starting the drive on their nine-yard line, Miami put together a killer, 13-play, 77-yard drive before lowering the clock to three seconds and winning the game on a 32-yard field goal. Founded kicker Andres Borregels.
Still, in dramatic fashion, the football gods had Virginia's back as Borregel's kick went to the left and pinged off the goalpost and UVA secured their first ACC win of the season and kept Wahoo's hopes of an October resurgence alive. kept.