That was the Saturday that UVA Football needed.
Liberty scored on back-to-back first-half possessions to take a brief 14-10 lead, but the ‘Hoos responded with 28 unanswered points in rolling to a 55-27 win over Liberty in front of more unsold inventory than AD Carla Williams will likely be willing to accept.
That’s another story for another day.
(The announced attendance was 37,329. If 25K were on hand for the festivities, I’ll eat my hat.)
It wasn’t pretty; those back-to-back scores that made it 14-10 had the handful of faithful who braved the average-weather November day to take in the scene a bit on edge.
Virginia (8-3, 5-2 ACC) took the lead for good on a Lamont Atkins 3-yard TD run with 4:59 to go in the second quarter, then made it 24-14 on a Mike Hollins 4-yard scamper.
The Cavaliers put the game out of reach with a pair of third-quarter scores – a 7-yard Bryce Perkins-to-Joe Reed TD pass and a Perkins 2-yard TD run.
After Stephen Calvert hit Antonio Gandy-Golden for an 8-yard TD pass to get Liberty (6-5) back to 38-21, UVA got the points right back, on a P.K. Kier 4-yard run at the 13:26 mark of the fourth quarter.
It was 45-21 at that stage, and really, the only issues left were, injuries and the line.
Virginia linebacker Jordan Mack left the game late in the third, but didn’t appear to be that much worse for the wear, and he did leave under his own power, without any limp.
The line: well, the closing line had Virginia favored by 16.5.
The replay official, who was 0-for-4 on the day, but who’s counting, missed on an apparent third-down conversion catch by Tavares Kelly at the Liberty 1, meaning Brian Delaney had to connect from 29 to extend the lead to 48-24 with 8:07 left.
Phew, right?
Well, Liberty, on its next possession, had a first down at the UVA 33, but the ‘Hoos stiffened, and De’Vante Cross intercepted a fourth-down pass from Calvert to end that threat.
Then backup quarterback Brennan Armstrong connected with Dontayvion Hicks on a 44-yard TD pass that gave the ‘Hoos a double nickel, and those who had UVA covering a chance to breathe again.
For some reason, Liberty coach Hugh Freeze called a timeout with five seconds left to kick a 31-yard field goal. It was good. Whatever.
Story by Chris Graham
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