Virginia Tech runs away with U.Va. showdown again

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Someone forgot to tell Virginia that it was supposed to lay down in the final game of a second straight losing season, so Virginia Tech safety Kam Chancellor unkindly reminded the Cavaliers.

Halfway through the third quarter Saturday at a rowdy Scott Stadium, Virginia had played the part of a legitimate rival. Trash was talked, points scored, confidence built.

The Cavaliers had a fighting chance right up until their talented tailback, Mikell Simpson, rushed up the middle for a nice gain - and was promptly pelted by Chancellor, who played at Maury High in Norfolk.

No one knew it at the time, but that was precisely the moment the game ended. The No. 14 Hokies remembered and reminded how this thing was supposed to go, finally finishing off a 42-13 victory.

It sends Tech (9-3, 6-2 ACC) to a bowl game on a four-game winning streak. Virginia (3-9, 2-6) closed the season with six consecutive losses. The Cavaliers have also lost six in a row - and 10 of the last 11 - to the Hokies.

As the latest defeat ended, a large Tech contingent in the crowd started a "Keep Al Groh!" chant, pouring salt into the wounds of a coach who likely spent his final game on the sidelines of his alma mater.

But before Groh was reduced to post-game poetry reading, when there was still 7:09 to go in the third quarter, Virginia looked like it might just send him out a winner. The Hokies were clinging to a 14-13 lead and the Cavaliers had just intercepted Tyrod Taylor in the end zone.

Momentum was Virginia's and there was reason to believe the lead would follow. Quarterback Jameel Sewell had run wild on Tech in the first half. He marched the Cavaliers down the field for an opening touchdown, sprinting past Chancellor for a 15-yard score.

Sewell had rushed 10 times for 99 yards before halftime. Virginia's offense, which ranked 118th in the country coming in, had amassed 200 yards in the first two quarters.

Then, following the interception, Simpson rushed up the middle for 6 yards... and Chancellor leveled him. The crowed gasped. Chancellor said something "not fit for print" to Simpson.

The next play was an option to the left and Sewell sprinted wide, pitching to Simpson. Chancellor raced toward the play as the toss was in flight and said he saw Simpson glance at him, no doubt remembering the previous shot he'd delivered.

"I saw him take his eyes off the ball," Chancellor said. "He was expecting the hit and it kind of messed him up."

The pitch bounced off Simpson's hands and fell to the turf. Chancellor scooped the fumble and returned it to Virginia's 10-yard line.

Two plays later, tailback Ryan Williams rushed in for the third of his four touchdowns. The tide had turned.

"It was real loud early in the game," Chancellor said. "They were talking a lot of trash. The defense needed to make a big play to turn the energy around, and that's what I did. After the fumble, our offense started getting key plays and it started being a lot quieter."

After Chancellor's big hit on Simpson, Virginia ran 19 plays that gained just 56 yards. The Cavaliers didn't score again. From that same point, the Hokies ran 24 plays for 204 yards and 28 points.

The fight had been taken out of the Cavaliers. Soon after his fumble recovery, Chancellor hammered receiver Kris Burd, who earlier had told him it would be a long game.

Chancellor's retort: "Yeah, I know it's going to be a long game - for you."

And for Virginia's defense. Williams, the Hokies' dazzling redshirt freshman who continues to rewrite the record books, simply wore down the Cavaliers late.

He finished with a season-high 183 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries. He became just the second player in Tech history to score at least four times in back-to-back games.

His 1,538 yards have already smashed school and ACC rookie records but Williams needs just 110 yards in the bowl game to break the single-season mark set by Kevin Jones in 2003.

Even Williams' lone mistake - a fumble at the end of an electric, 51-yard run - turned into a Tech touchdown when receiver Jarrett Boykin pounced on it in the end zone.

The Hokies' suddenly potent offense lit up a solid Cavaliers defense for 483 yards. Tech beat an opponent by at least 27 points for the third straight game.

After consecutive losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina ended Tech's conference and national title hopes, the Hokies have answered impressively.

"I think the way we've been winning lately is still proving to people that we can play with the top teams in the country," Taylor said. "I'll take my team against any team in the nation."

Kyle Tucker, 757-446-2374, kyle.tucker@pilotonline.com