The Virginia Cavaliers suffered a 35-20 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday, marking their first loss of the season. The Fighting Irish’s (3-1) defense sacked Virginia (4-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coastal Conference) quarterback Bryce Perkins eight times, forcing three fumbles, and intercepting him twice.
The Cavaliers started off strong, scoring on their first drive. Notre Dame answered right back with a Tony Jones Jr. touchdown run, making it 7-7. Jones Jr. finished with 131 rush yards and three touchdowns.
Perkins fumbled on his second drive, foreshadowing what would be a common occurrence throughout the game. Notre Dame cashed in off the turnover to take a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Virginia converted a field goal after a 17-play drive, putting them within four in the second quarter. The Fighting Irish got the ball back and missed a 47-yard field goal, giving Virginia life. After a few defensive stops, Perkins drove down the field, throwing a 16-yard touchdown to wide receiver Hasise Dubois to take the lead.
The second half was riddled with turnovers for the Cavaliers. Virginia lead 17-14 going into the second half, but Notre Dame forced two second-half fumbles against Perkins. The first fumble was returned 48 yards to Virginia’s seven yard line by defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, setting up a two-yard rushing touchdown by Jones Jr. to put Notre Dame up 21-17.
With 1:41 remaining in the third quarter, Perkins was sacked and fumbled for a second time. Defensive lineman Adetokunbo Ogundeji scooped it up and took it 23 yards to the endzone, putting Notre Dame up 28-17. In the fourth, Notre Dame sealed it by picking off Perkins twice, closing the door on Virginia.
Perkins finished 30/43, with 334 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Perkins didn’t get much help from his backs, as his leading rusher, Wayne Taulapapa, gained only 31 yards. Ian Book had a pedestrian performance for Notre Dame, going 17/25 for 165 yards, receiving a lot of help from his run game.
The Cavaliers travel to Miami to play the Hurricanes on Friday Oct 11. Notre Dame will look to continue their playoff push when they face Bowling Green at home.
Boston College falls short on last second drive versus Wake forest
Boston College’s failed last-minute drive let the Wake Forest Demon Deacons squeeze out a 27-24 win over the Eagles.
With 6:39 left in the fourth quarter, No. 22 Wake Forest (5-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coastal Conference) chewed up 6:11 of clock before punting to Boston College (3-2, 1-1 ACC), leaving them with 28 seconds from their own five-yard line just to tie.
Eagles quarterback Anthony Brown drove to the Deacons 49-yard line but fumbled the ball on a lateral play. Brown recovered his own fumble, but the clock went down to triple zeroes. Brown finished 21/29 passing for 265 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The first interception came on the Eagles opening drive. Wake Forest turned the pick into points on a Cade Carney 5-yard rushing touchdown, his first on the year, putting the Demon Deacons up 7-0. Wake Forest added a field goal before the end of the first after a defensive stop on B.C.
The Eagles responded back in the second, putting up a field goal on their first drive and connecting on a 26-yard touchdown pass to freshman Zay Flowers, tying it 10-10. Wake Forest’s Jamie Newman fired back with a TD pass of his own, but Brown drove down the field with three minutes left to tie it up 17-17 at the half.
A defensive battle in the third quarter saw the Demon Deacons add a field goal off a Brown interception to go up 20-17. The Eagles gained life as the defense intercepted Newman but failed to put up points on a fake field goal. Newman connected on his second TD pass of the game to try to shut the door on BC.
The Eagles came out with a trick play on Wake Forest when running back David Bailey threw a 16-yard touchdown to tight end Chris Garrison putting them within three, 27-24, but the Eagles could not close.
Boston College is on the road to play Louisville Oct 5 at 12:30p.m. Wake Forest is on their bye.
Syracuse beats Holy Cross big at home, 41-3
Syracuse came out with a 41-3 clobbering over Holy Cross at home behind Tommy DeVito’s four touchdown passes. The Orange’s (3-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coastal Conference) defense held the Crusaders (1-3) to 138 yards of total offense.
DeVito threw touchdowns to four different receivers, one to tight end Aaron Hackett and the other to wideout Trishton Jackson in the first quarter. Syracuse added a field goal to put them up 17-0.
Holy Cross drove down the field to convert a field goal in the beginning of the second, but this would be their only score of the game. Syracuse went on to score 17 unanswered points, with DeVito adding two more touchdowns to his stat line, one to Taj Harris and his fourth a 70-yarder to Luke Benson.
Syracuse travels to North Carolina State Thursday, October 10th. Holy Cross hopes to bounce back after the debilitating loss when they travel to Bucknell on October 5th.
Anthony Syrek can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Asyrek
