October 21, 2013

Page 1

Monday, October 21, 2013

Vol. 124, Issue 17 Jennifer Cashwell | The Cavalier Daily

DUKE RALLIES PAST VIRGINIA, 35-22 Blue Devils overcome 22-0 deificit by scoring 35 unanswered points to earn their first ACC win of the season; Cavaliers drop fourth straight game as inconsistent offense musters only 83 second-half yards

Michael Eilbacher Senior Associate Editor

After three straight losses in what appeared to be a series of very winnable games, the Virginia football team was left to desperately seek for answers as it headed into its third ACC matchup of the year. Early on in Saturday’s home contest against Duke, it appeared that the Cavaliers had indeed taken those losses to heart and fixed many of the lingering issues they had on the field. Leading 22-0 against a talented Blue Devil team, the players looked like maybe, at last, they had reached their stride.

But as with each of the previous three weeks, any hope Virginia (2-5, 0-3 ACC) could muster proved to be short-lived. Duke (5-2, 1-2 ACC) scored just before halftime to get on the board, and after the break the wheels fell off for the Cavaliers. They fought back in vain as Duke piled on point after point, and before Virginia could respond, the Blue Devils had scored 35 unanswered. Instead of celebrating, coach Mike London’s team was left wondering, again, what went wrong. “In the second half, we couldn’t stop them, we couldn’t hang onto the ball and continue drives,” London said. “It’s disappointing — very disappointing — and frustrating.”

Virginia’s collapse was made more shocking given the team’s hot start. Sophomore quarterback David Watford led the Cavaliers quickly down the field on the first drive of the game, finding three different receivers to march into Duke territory. After an 11-yard pass to junior tight end Zachary Swanson brought the ball to the one-yard line, junior tailback Kevin Parks scored his first of three first-half touchdowns to give the Cavaliers an early 7-0 lead. Virginia would push further ahead late in the quarter. On that drive, Watford found senior wide receiver Tim Smith on a 51-yard pass, and Parks once again found the end zone from one yard out. Watford

finished the first quarter with 139 yards on 8-of-12 passing, and the team as a whole had 175 yards of offense. “In the first half, guys were confident, guys were having fun and guys were flying around making plays,” senior guard Luke Bowanko said. Virginia again pushed its lead midway through the second quarter when Watford found Parks for 13yard touchdown connection. After a successful two-point conversion, Virginia led 22-0, capping one of the

see FOOTBALL, page 10


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