Virginia tackle Brad Butler decided to hit Mathias Kiwanuka with a low clip in the knee area well after a play had ended. Replay showed just how dirty a hit it was, one that was clearly aimed to take Kiwanuka out for an extended period of time. Al Washington was the first player on jump on top of Butler in response. The officials sorted things out and kicked Washington out of the game, but Butler stayed in the game to the dismay and confusion of many.
Right after the confusion, it took Virginia a mere two plays to find the end zone. Quarterback Marques Hagans found Deyon Williams on a post corner for 23 yards and the touchdown. That would be the high point in the game for Virginia, however.
The Eagles came out like a team possessed from there on out. On the next possession, the Eagles marched down the field 72 yards in 9 plays capped by a 19 yard TD strike to Tony Gonzalez. Virginia went 3 and out on their next drive, but did not get off the hook that easy. Paul Anderson came around the outside and blocked the punt which setup BC 1st and Toal from the 2 yard line. The sophomore LB/RB punched it in on 2nd down and the Eagles took the lead they would not relinquish.
The energy coming from the BC sideline after the original play was unlike anything seen in quite some time from this team. Although most of it was channeled into good play on the field, there were some silly plays that resulted. Toal lost his cool and picked up a personal foul for trying to stick a shoulder into Butler after the play. Mathias also lost his cool and was given the early exit when he threw an open-handed punch at Butler, causing Butler to jump around in celebration.
The Eagles would have the last laugh on this day though as Kiwanuka’s teammates picked him up. The offensive line did most of the laughing as they made the Virginia defense look like they wanted no part of them. A perfect example of the o-line play came on the 57 yard run by Andre Callender late in the fourth quarter. Jeremy Trueblood made a nice seal block to spring Callender, but was then running down the field looking for someone else to block which he eventually found. Kiwanuka joked after the game that it was the fastest 40 he has ever seen his long-time friend run.
Ray Henderson and the defense also were able to feed off the energy as well, as they only allowed 3 points once they regrouped following the Williams touchdown. They were able to contain Marques Hagans, holding him to 182 total yards. Hagans was under pressure all day long and looked to have trouble finding his second and third reads. If his first read was not there, he would tuck and try to make something happen with his feet, but he met resistance all day long.
On the other side, Quinton Porter made his return to the lineup after a two week absence. Porter showed some rust in his return, but his teammates did a good job of bailng him out of some trouble. Larry Lester made a nice adjustment on a deep ball that went to the wrong shoulder, and ended up with a 43 yard play. Kevin Challenger made what his coach called the biggest catch of the day. He came back on an under-thrown ball and took the ball away from the defensive back and got it down to the 1 yard line, setting up another Toal touchdown. Overall Porter did a nice job and made better throws as the game progressed.
One continuing problem that again reared its head was the kicking game. Sophomore Ryan Ohliger was 0-3 in the first half and was pulled in favor of William Troost in the second half. Ohliger missed all three of his chances to the right, even though he had 2 chances from the right hash and one from the left. It’s possible Ohliger has kicked himself out of a job, but it remains to be seen if O’Brien will put his trust in Troost. It is known that the Eagles were lucky that the three missed field goals did not hurt them on this day.
The Eagles will now look ahead to Wake Forest, who has had their number the past couple of years. Last year, Ohliger’s kicking troubles cost the Eagles a win and Wake escaped the Heights with a win 2 years ago. The Eagles will look to carry the momentum from this week into the showdown with the Demon Deacons as they continue conference play.