UVA outgained heavy favorite BYU by 183 total yards, had 19 more first downs and had the ball for more than 40 minutes, but the Cougars escaped with a 41-33 win on Saturday in Provo, Utah.
The Cavs (2-2, 1-0 ACC) put up a season-high 519 yards of total offense, but had two turnovers, a false start on a fourth-and-goal at the 1 that potentially took points off the board, and gave up a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
#21 Brigham Young (4-0) trailed 16-13 at the half, but took over in the third quarter aided by special teams. A pair of long punts by Scott Arellano put the Cougars in good field position on back-to-back drives, and rushing touchdowns by Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams gave BYU at 27-16 lead entering the fourth.
Backup quarterback Matt Johns entered the game for Virginia in the fourth after starter Greyson Lambert left with a lower-leg injury, and led the Cavs on three scoring drives, culminating in an Ian Frye 46-yard field goal, a Khalek Shepherd 9-yard touchdown run and an 11-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Dockins.
The 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Adam Hine would prove to be the difference in terms of scoring, extending the BYU lead to 15 after the Shepherd touchdown had cut the margin to 34-26.
The Johns-to-Dockins TD pass with 1:48 to go gave Virginia one last chance, but BYU recovered the ensuing onside-kick attempt and ran out the clock.
Brigham Young, which came in averaging 488 yards of total offense per game, was limited to 332, with Hill throwing for a modest 187 yards on 13-of-23 passing, and gaining an additional 72 yards on the ground.
Lambert was 21-of-35 passing for 188 yards, and Johns was 14-of-23 for 139 yards and a touchdown. UVA ran 102 plays from scrimmage and had 36 first downs.
Shepherd had 73 yards on 14 carries for Virginia, which ran 44 times for 192 yards.
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