Cavaliers sneak by Connecticut

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Say what you want about the Virginia Cavaliers, but they know how to make games interesting.

A week after almost blowing a road game at Middle Tennessee State, Virginia came close to wasting a superb effort from its defense before pulling out a 17-16 victory over previously unbeaten Connecticut. U.Va. out gained the Huskies both on the ground and through the air, but needed a late field goal to move to 6-1 on the season and become bowl eligible, a feat Al Groh's team couldn't accomplish last season.

"That was two really gutty teams," Groh said after. His Cavaliers gained 335 yards total offense compared to UConn's 254 and held the Huskies on 12 of 13 third down attempts, but needed a 19-yard field goal from Chris Gould with 4:46 left and two more defensive stands to come away with the win.

"It was a battle all night long," Groh said. "But all we needed was a split decision."

The Cavs were fortunate two early turnovers didn't put them in a bigger hole. Virginia was moving the ball on its opening possession when a pass from Jameel Sewell bounced off receiver Chris Gorham and into the hands of Connecticut safety Dahna Deleston.

The U.Va. defense limited the Huskies to a 26-yard drive that ended in a 45-yard field goal from Tony Ciaravino. But the Cavaliers' defenders didn't get much of break after Andrew Pearman fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving UConn the ball on the U.Va. 13-yard line. Once again the Virginia defense did its job and limited the Huskies to a field goal, making it a 6-0 game less than six minutes in.

Virginia was able to sustain a drive late in the opening quarter and a 16-yard pass from Sewell to redshirt freshman running back Keith Payne set up the Payne's first career touchdown on a one-yard run. That score put the Wahoos ahead 7-6 at the end of the opening period. Payne and Pearman filled in for injured tailback Cedric Peerman and did a respectable job, combining for 85 yards and a touchdown. Sewell led the Cavs with 66 yards rushing on 16 attempts.

"We all were productive today," Payne said. "We had chances to have big plays and filling Cedric's feet is pretty big, but we did a good job today."

The Cavs defense continued to shut down the Huskies offense most of the second quarter and U.Va. got a little tricky on offense to set up its second touchdown. Cornerback Vic Hall, once a state-record-setting quarterback at Gretna High School, lined up in the Virginia backfield with about six minutes left in the half.

Hall took a handoff from Sewell and ran toward the Cavs' sideline before pulling up and floating a pass to a wide open Gorham. The 35-yard pass play took the Hoos down to the UConn 9-yard line and Sewell capped the drive with an eight-yard TD pass to tight end John Phillips.

"I knew that they were coming hard," Hall said, reflecting on his first pass play of the season. "It didn't even come out [of his hand] good, but as long as I got it to him that's all that mattered to me."

The Huskies threatened late in the half using a fourth-down conversion and a pass interference penalty to get down to the Virginia 9-yard line. But a jarring hit by linebacker Clint Sintim knocked the ball out of the hands of UConn's D.J. Hernandez and Jamaal Jackson recovered for the Cavs on their own 4-yard line to allow U.Va. to go to the locker room with a 14-6 lead.

Sewell's second interception of the game came in the first five minutes of the third quarter and this time the blame fell directly on the quarterback and even the mighty Cavalier defense couldn't keep the Huskies from scoring a touchdown after UConn's Robert Vaught returned the pick 32 yards to the Virginia 6-yard line.

The Huskies put together their first long scoring drive of the game with 8:06 remaining and took the lead on 25-yard field goal from Ciaravino after going 81 yards on nine plays. The three-pointer put UConn on top 16-14.

Virginia answered with an 11-play drive that covered 79 yards in 4:46, but it left the Cavs a yard short of the end zone. U.Va. had to settle for a 19-yard field goal from Gould to go ahead 17-16 with 3:20 remaining.

A mishandled snap on UConn's next possession effectively put an end to any threat of a game-winning drive by the Huskies, but U.Va. gave them an extra try after Gould missed a 35-yard field goal attempt with 27 seconds left. The Virginia defense though kept UConn from performing any late-game miracles.

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or