North Carolina State University Athletics
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Virginia
Virginia holds off NC State, 14-9
11/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov 16, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Charlottesville, N.C.--NC State was one play away again. For the third time in as many weeks, the Wolfpack felt the sting of losing a game that went right down to the wire. This time it was Virginia's turn to put another feather in NC State's cap of misery. The Cavaliers held on for a 14-9 victory on Saturday, but only after Philip Rivers' fourth down pass from the Uva 15 glanced off the hands of receiver Bryan Peterson in the end zone with just 17 seconds remaining.
The loss, NC State's third in a row, was every bit as disappointing and dramatic as the previous defeats to Georgia Tech and Maryland. Now the Wolfpack (9-3, 4-3) is faced with the prospects of having to defeat Florida State in next Saturday's season finale just to stave off a four-game losing skid to end a season that opened with nine consecutive victories.
"The bottom line is that we lost," said Wolfpack head coach Chuck Amato. "Winning is the only important thing in this game and we haven't done that the last three weeks. It's eating at us, but I told them in there that our goal is to win 10 games this season and we've got to come back and do it against the best team in the conference."
Since becoming the first NC State team in school history to win its first nine games, the Wolfpack has now come up short three straight times in its bid to set a new school standard for wins in a season.
But just like the previous games, the Pack had its opportunities--especially in the final moments. After Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay recovered a Virginia fumble at the NC State 14-yard line with 4:58 remaining, the Wolfpack was given new life and a chance to win it. Amato felt good about his team's chances, especially with Rivers at the helm.
"Who would you rather have?" Amato asked. "Then it was bing, bing, bing right down the field."
The Pack did move methodically down the field as Rivers mixed in completions to receiver Jerricho Cotchery and running back T.A. McLendon, two players who did go most of the way despite being listed as questionable all week. A big third down completion from Rivers to Hicks covering 12 yards gave NC State a first down at the Cavalier 30. But three plays later, the Wolfpack found itself needing seven yards on fourth down at the 15-yard line with just 25 seconds remaining.
With the entire rain-drenched crowd of 53,371 on its feet, Rivers was quickly pressured after taking the snap out of the shotgun. Unable to really set his feet, he fired the ball into the middle of the end zone, where a leaping Peterson had the ball in his hands for just a fraction of a second before it was knocked away. The incomplete pass capped a 16-play, 71-yard drive that ended with the Virginia players celebrating.
"I really thought when we made that first down around the 19-yard line that it was our turn to win it in the final part of the game," Amato said. "We really stressed finishing all week."
For Virginia (7-4, 5-2), quarterback Matt Schaub hit 14-of-26 passes for 149 yards with a pair of touchdown passes. Virginia grabbed a 7-0 lead with 2:09 left in the opening period when a busted coverage allowed Schaub and receiver Ottowa Anderson to hook up on a 21-yard scoring pass. The Cavaliers settled for a 7-3 lead at the half after Adam Kiker got the Wolfpack on the board with a second quarter field goal of 27 yards.
But Virginia tried to take command on its first drive of the second half, marching 85 yards in 10 plays. And when Schaub hit tight end Patrick Estes from six yards out, the Cavaliers had a 14-3 lead.
State bounced back when Rivers capped a 12-play, 68-yard drive by scoring his 10th touchdown of the year on a quarterback draw from the two late in the third quarter. Kiker's miss on the extra point left the Pack training by only five with an entire quarter to play.
Before its final drive of the game, NC State penetrated deep into Virginia territory one other time in the final period before Rivers' fourth down pass to Peterson from the 32 was picked off by Cavalier cornerback Almondo Curry.
The Virginia defense, in fact, was stout most of the afternoon and may have produced its best game of the season. After yielding an average of 217 rushing yards per game through their first 10 games, the Cavaliers gave up only 96 yards on the ground against the Wolfpack.
"On a day where we held this offense to nine points, I'd like to make my first comments on the job the defensive coaches and defensive players did," said Virginia coach Al Groh. "This is very high-powered offense with some great skill people. That quarterback is a tremendous player. We had to make a lot of plays against them and we sure did. When your team gives you a chance to stay in a close game like that, that's when you have a chance to do something every week."
Against Virginia's disciplined zone coverages, Rivers was forced to throw shorter passes most of the day. He finished 28-of-47 for 236 yards and no touchdowns. McLendon had to scratch and claw for every one of his 75 yards on 22 carries.
The Cavaliers managed to accumulate 346 yards of total offense, while the Pack finished with 332 yards.
