Virginia football can’t get a touchdown; loses to Miami in 4 overtimes 14-12

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Virginia football team couldn’t score a touchdown on Saturday against Miami. The ‘Hoos were inside the Miami five-yard line three times in the second half but only could get two field goals. Virginia ended up losing in the fourth overtime 14-12 to Miami to drop to 1-4 in the ACC.

UVa offensive coordinator Des Kitchings says, “It was ourselves. A combination of things and missed opportunities. It’s unfortunate. We popped a big pass to Lavel [Davis Jr.] and fell down on the three, and then we missed a deal with [Keytaon Thompson] on the pass that we dropped on fourth down. Another drive on the third down, Mike Hollins gets down there, I thought he scored, it gets out of bounds and we stall out there. Then, there was a bad third down call going into our locker room area during the fourth quarter at third down and three. We should have had a better call there. So, it was a combination of things. We talked about competitive stamina and the guys showed that. They battled for four quarters. They’ve been working hard. I would’ve loved for them to reap the benefits of hard work out there today, they deserved to win, and unfortunately we didn’t get it for them.”

The only team to reach the end zone on Saturday was Miami on the final play of the game when quarterback Jake Garcia scored a 2-point conversion to win the game in the fourth overtime period. The game went to overtime tied at six. Both teams traded field goals in the first two overtime periods.

“We just needed to make one more play than they did. And they made a play there at the end and we didn’t make a play.” says UVA head coach Tony Elliott. “But it seems like that’s been the theme with us offensively, is we’re just leaving points on the field. There were several trips to the red zone. That’s why you always tell them, guys like Lavel [Davis Jr.] he’s trying hard but man find a way to keep your feet and score a touchdown. [Grant] Misch, he had the ball, got on him quick, and find a way to make the touchdown. Mike [Hollins], get the ball in the endzone. We knew coming into this game, and I challenged the guys offensively, the defensive line that Miami has is pretty good. They’re pretty stout. They’ve played a lot of football, they’re experienced. I knew that it was gonna be a challenge to run the football and we were going to have to do a good job to be able to protect, but there were some plays there. I think maybe the first or second play we got [Dontayvion] Wicks open, we got to make those plays. The guys continue to strain and continue to fight, I thought that overall, the team made progress. You look at two weeks ago versus Louisville, we were trying to give the game away early. Then we came back and battled through adversity. And then now we’re in a four quarter overtime game all the way down to the end. So definitely not the outcome that we wanted and the guys are going to be sick when they watch those four or five, maybe six plays that would have made a big difference in the game that we didn’t make.”

Virginia falls to 1-4 in the ACC with the loss. Virginia hosts North Carolina at noon next Saturday.

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