Blue and Gold Illustrated

helped Virginia grab a 14-12 lead head- ing into the half. It was an up-and-down affair for the Irish defense, which held Virginia to a 0 of 2 on third downs in the open- ing quarter and just 1 of 5 in the third quarter. In the even quarters, however, Virginia was far more effective. The Cavaliers went 3 of 3 on third down in the second quarter, outscoring Notre Dame 14-0. In the final quarter, trail- ing 26-14, Virginia again made plays on third down, converting 2 of 4. UVa also converted its lone fourth down opportunity in the fourth quarter. For Virginia, success on third down tied directly into its ability to score points. In the first and third quarter, Virginia went just 1 of 7 on third down and scored zero points. In the second and fourth quarter, Virginia went 5 of 7 on third down and scored a com- bined 27 points. DEFENSIVE ISSUES Early on, it seemed like Notre Dame was preparing for a blowout victory over the Cavaliers. The Irish were moving the ball at will, putting up 154 yards of offense in the opening frame. Defensively, the Irish were just as dominant, holding Virginia to 28 yards on seven plays and forcing two punts. The early success turned out to be a mirage. Over the next three quar- ters, Virginia would consistently out- maneuver, confuse and out-play the Notre Dame defense. At the end, the Cavaliers finished with 416 yards of offense and an impressive 6.1 yards per play. Notre Dame held Virginia to 127 rushing yards on 30 carries, 35 of which came on one third-quarter run. However, in the pass game, redshirt junior quarterback Matt Johns was able to shred the Irish secondary, fin- ishing 26-of-38 passing for 289 yards with two touchdowns and no inter- ceptions. His completions total and completion percentage (68.4) both rep- PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards UVA ND (-) Yards 5 5 0-5 Yards 41 34 6-9 Yards 5 8 10-19 Yards 11 11 20-29 Yards 2 3 30-39 Yards 3 2 40-49 Yards 1 0 50 or more Yards 0 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Virginia • 1-10 ND42 Johns pass complete to Severin for 38 yards to the ND4 • 1-10 ND42 Johns pass complete to Johnson for 42 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 UVA45 Zaccheaus rush for 35 yards to the ND20 • 1-10 UVA20 Mizzell rush for 25 yards to the UVA45 • 3-15 ND35 Johns pass complete to Santoro for 34 yards to the ND1 Notre Dame • 2-3 ND45 Prosise rush for 25 yards to the UVA30 • 1-10 ND41 Zaire pass complete to Fuller for 59 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 ND45 Zaire rush for 39 yards to the UVA16 • 2-9 UVA39 Kizer pass complete to Fuller for 39 yards and a touchdown

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