Scott German: Special teams lay an egg in Chick-fil-A Bowl
Turnovers and string of special-teams miscues put Virginia in the HOV lane to disaster in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl against an Auburn University team that knew exactly how to convert those mistakes into quick points. The end result was a 43-24 drubbing at the hands of the defending national champions Saturday night in the Atlanta Georgia Dome.
Virginia was able to leave Atlanta with some confidence as the Cavaliers put up impressive numbers on offense, including 435 yards against an Auburn defense that at times this season had been thin. Sophomore quarterback Michael Rocco finished off a successful year with 312 yards passing and two touchdowns . Virginia’s running game, which had been virtually shutdown in its previous two games (Florida State University, Virginia Tech), ground out 125 yards against the Tigers. Read more
Chris Graham: ‘Special’ teams, yeah, sure
No, since you ask, Virginia’s special teams weren’t exactly all that special Saturday night.
Consider: Auburn recovered an onside kick that led to a touchdown that fueled a game-changing 14-point second-quarter swing. The Tigers also blocked two Virginia punts, setting up a touchdown and a third-quarter safety that snuffed out a brief UVa. rally. The second of the blocked punts, the one that iced it, came after a UVa. punt returner lost an Auburn kick in the Georgia Dome ceiling, allowing the Tigers to pin Virginia at its own 6.
Virginia also gave up field position on a 62-yard return on the ensuing free kick that led to an Auburn field goal and at least three points on a botched fake-field-goal attempt that the Tigers followed up with a quick-strike TD drive.
That is by conservative estimates a 22-point swing all told. The final margin in the Chick-fil-A Bowl – 19 points. Read more
Auburn smacks down UVa. in Chick-fil-A
Auburn rode a 21-point second quarter to a 28-17 halftime lead, and the Tigers dominated on special teams en route to a 43-24 win over Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Virginia (8-5) scored first on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Michael Rocco to Kris Burd at the 8:05 mark of the first quarter to give the Cavs a 7-0 lead. Auburn (8-5) tied the game at 7 on a three-yard run by Kiehl Frazier following the first of two blocked punts.
A second Rocco-to-Burd touchdown, this time from six yards out, made it 14-7 UVa. at the 12:59 mark in the second. Auburn answered quickly, marching 85 yards on six plays capped by a three-yard Onterio McCalebb touchdown run to tie the game at 14.
Auburn then executed a successful onside kick and got a one-yard TD run by Frazier five plays later to go up 21-14 with 10;33 to go before the half. Read more
Chick-fil-A Bowl sells out
For the 15th consecutive year, a capacity crowd will be on hand to watch the nation’s oldest ACC vs. SEC rivalry bowl game. Chick-fil-A Bowl officials today announced the game between No. 25 Auburn and Virginia is sold out.
The Chick-fil-A Bowl’s string of sellouts is the second-longest among all bowls in the country, behind only the Rose Bowl.
“This is really a testament to the extremely high level of support that we’ve received by local fans, and ACC and SEC team fans who continue to embrace our game,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “Atlanta is passionate about college football and is a hotbed for both conferences, making our annual match-up a perfect fit.” Read more
Press Conference: Mike London
MATT GARVEY: We are joined by University of Virginia head coach Mike London, wide receiver Kris Burd, and Steve Greer.
Coach, if you could make an opening statement and talk about your bowl experience thus far.
COACH MIKE LONDON: First of all, obviously we see why the Chick-fil-A Bowl has been one of those bowls that has been very coveted and gracious in what they do for the players and the coaches, the community. We’ve experienced that the last couple days we’ve been here.
You can ask these guys. They’ve had fun. They’ve enjoyed the events. There’s still more to do. It’s been a neat experience. Read more
UVa. has sold 13K tickets to Chick-fil-A Bowl
Tickets remain from Virginia’s allotment for the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Seating for all remaining tickets will be assigned at the time of purchase in sections 301-317. Tickets are priced at $80 each.
As of Saturday morning, 13,213 tickets have been sold for the Dec. 31 contest in Atlanta against defending national champion Auburn. Virginia’s allotment for the game is 18,000 tickets.
“The response from our fans to travel to Atlanta and support the team in the Chick-fil-A Bowl has been outstanding thus far,” said Virginia head football coach Mike London. “We need everyone’s help to sell out our allotment and paint the Georgia Dome orange on New Year’s Eve.” Read more
UVa. accepts bid to Chick-fil-A, Tech gets at-large BCS bid to Sugar
The Virginia football team has accepted an invitation to play Auburn from the Southeastern Conference in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Dec. 31. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. EST and will be televised nationally by ESPN.
The game will mark Virginia’s fourth appearance in the Chick-fil-A Bowl (formerly the Peach Bowl). The Cavaliers played their first-ever bowl game in Atlanta on. Dec. 31 in 1984, defeating Purdue27-24 to claim the Peach Bowl crown. Virginia defeated Georgia 34-27 in the1995 Peach Bowl and lost to the Bulldogs 35-33 in the 1998 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“This is outstanding for our football program and our players will be elated to meet the reigning national champions from Auburn in Atlanta at the Chick-fil-A Bowl,” said Virginia coach Mike London. “No one on our roster has played in a bowl game, so what a fantastic opportunity and setting for them to do so for the first time. I want to congratulate coach Gene Chizik and the Auburnteam on another successful season in the very competitive SEC. We are looking forward to our game with the Tigers.”
The Cavaliers are 8-4 overall and 5-3 inthe ACC’s Coastal Division. This is UVa’s 18th overall bowl appearance and the first under second-year coach Mike London. Auburn is 7-5 and finished 4-4 in the SEC’s Western Division. This will be the third meeting between the two programs. The Tigers defeated the Cavaliers 28-17 in 1997 in Charlottesville. The following season Virginia handed Auburn a 19-0 defeat at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
For the first time in its 14 years in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the Atlantic Coast Conference has had two teams selected to participate in BCS Bowl games in the same year. Clemson, the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Champion and ranked 15th in this year’s final BCS Standings, will represent the league at this year’s Discover Orange Bowl, while ACC runner-up Virginia Tech, ranked 11th in the final BCS Standings, was chosen as an at-large selection by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Virginia Tech (11-2, 7-1 ACC) will be making its fourth appearance in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, having played Florida State in the 2000 game which served as the BCS national title contest; meeting Auburn in the 2004 game; and Texas in the 1995 Sugar Bowl classic.
Virginia Tech will be facing 13th-ranked Michigan (9-3) of the Big Ten Conference in a nationally televised (ESPN, 8:30 pm) game on Tuesday, Jan. 3, in New Orleans’ Louisiana Superdome. This year’s game will mark the first meeting between Virginia Tech and Michigan in football.
The Hokies, the ACC’s Coastal Division champion and ranked 11th in the final BCS Standings, are making their 19th consecutive bowl appearance, all under the direction of coach Frank Beamer who is the active career leader in the NCAA’s FBS in coaching wins with 251. Virginia Tech dropped a 46-29 decision to unbeaten Florida State in the 2000 BCS Championship Game; lost to unbeaten Auburn 16-13 in 2004 contest and downed Texas 28-10 in the 1995 game.
