Virginia Holds Off Georgia Tech With Offensive Barrage

The Cavs Refused To Cave To The Jackets’ Last Minute Surge In A 48-40 Home Win

Not so long ago, college football was an endeavor in which defense was common, was necessary, was perhaps even paramount. Saturday night in Charlottesville was by contrast all about offense. Between them, Georgia Tech and UVa generated over 1200 yards of offense, good for 88 total points. Unfortunately for Tech, the Cavaliers earned 48 of those points, bringing defeat to the visitors from Atlanta who are now 3-4 on the season and 2-3 in the ACC. Behind QB Brennan Armstrong, Virginia’s offense strafed the Tech defense for 636 total yards, including Armstrong’s 99 yards on the ground to go with 29 of 43 passing for 396 more yards.His gaudy numbers were good for six touchdowns, four through the air and two by land. The popular notion is that Armstrong has had little mention in the Heisman discussion. Those who saw him shred Tech on Saturday would wonder why he’s not (yet) a Heisman favorite. Georgia Tech Coach Geoff Collins is all in, saying postgame, “….the kid is really, really good.”

Coming in, Tech coaches and players knew Virginia had a strong attack. The Cavs have been moving the ball and scoring against almost everybody. Winners of three straight prior to this contest, Virginia (6-2, 4-2) was averaging over 35 points per game, failing to reach 28 only once, in a loss to Wake Forest. So the possibility of a scoring explosion was known. Still the Armstrong machine was unstoppable for the Yellow Jackets.

And, for their part, the Jackets also showed some intermittent punch, though not nearly so successfully as the Cavs. Tech came in looking for consistent production to keep up with Armstrong and Company. They were only partially successful. They got plenty of production, but it was not very consistent. In a game oddly similar to the Duke game 2 weeks earlier, Tech’s offense started fast and ended even faster, but did little in between– and this time they could not escape the day with a W.

The Jackets jumped out of the gate, notching touchdowns on their first two possessions. The first came on a 36 yard pass from Jeff Sims to Kyrec McGowan. The second was a 3-yard run by Dontae Smith, capping a 76 yard drive. The only negative was a blocked PAT try for Tech after Smith’s TD run. Up 13-0 barely halfway through the first period, that stray PAT seemed of little cosequence.

Then Armstrong woke up his charges and Virginia flipped on an offensive switch, outscoring Tech 24-3 over the remainder of the first half. Armstrong hit 3 TD passes and the Cavs added a 24 yard field goal from Farrell to take a 24-16 lead into halftime.

The offensive onslaught continued for Virginia in the 3rd quarter, interrupted only by a spectacular 71 yard scoring run by the Jackets’ RB Jahmyr Gibbs. And then Tech’s offense came back alive at tbe tag end of the game, nearly catching their hosts at the wire by scoring two touchdowns in the final two plus minutes before falling short on a last-play heave by Sims to the endzone after recovering their second consecutive onside kick. “Give them credit”, said Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall regarding Tech PK Jude Kelley’s two perfect onside kicks. Prior to that, the Cavs held a 48-27 lead which according to Mendenhall was ” ..about how we thought it would go.”

For Georgia Tech, it was another tough loss, filled with what-ifs. Clearly the Jackets had the skill to compete straight up with Virginia. And clearly there is very good talent on the Georgia Tech roster. But again on this day, the Jackets had wild swings in performance, on both sides of the ball, producing a hole too deep to escape.

There were many positives, with a very productive offense and a good kick game. Several Jackets had strong statistical tally sheets. Jeff Sims went 28 of 43 for 300 yards and 3 scores with one interception. RB Jahmyr Gibbs had 13 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown. WR Kyrec McGowan snagged 7 catches for 88 yards and a score. Sims played well overall, with a couple of momentary exceptions where he launched throws that badly missed the intended target. Even so, the Tech QB played well enough to win most games.

The defense, though, did not present much of a challenge for UVa. Producing no turnovers, allowing 7 of 11 conversions on third down, applying little QB pressure and forcing only two punts is a sure way to place big stress on your offense. Collins acknowledged the “different issues” at the root of the defensive struggles, but he repeated that Virginia deserves credit. Certainly the Cavaliers do deserve credit. They are having a stellar offensive season. But Tech has now given up an average of over 500 yards in each of the last three games. That’s a lot of credit to give out. And that’s a tall order for the Tech offense to contend with, one that has produced only one (narrow) win to go with two losses in October. And the odd stat that nags at Georgia Tech continues now for at least another two weeks–in his 3rd season, 29 games into his Tech tenure, Geiff Collins has yet to post back-to- back wins.

Collins’ crew next takes on Virginia Tech in Atlanta on Homecoming Day. The Hokies have lost three straight to go to 3-4 (1-2) on the year. Virginia Tech will be desperate for a win. The Yellow Jackets need one just as badly. Their November schedule is the most challenging part of a very difficult schedule. If they are to best their prior season win total (3) in the nascent Collins era, winning the game in Atlanta next Saturday is key. On the other hand, a loss to the Hokies would set the stage for a very tough final stretch, including games against Notre Dame on the road and home vs. Georgia.

Patrick Conarro

RamblinSports