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If it was easy it wouldn't be UVa football.
With the Hoos trailing 24-14 entering the fourth quarter it looked like UVa was on its way to yet another ACC loss. Matt Johns, Smoke Mizzell, and Ian Frye had other ideas though.
On a 15 play drive that took 6:55, Matt Johns lead the Cavaliers to a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-24. We'd be remiss if we didn't thank some crucial Syracuse errors and penalties on the drive that allowed the Hoos to make the drive possible.
Six plays and 24 yards later, Syracuse punted the ball to the UVa 4 to set up what most thought would be just another UVa drive.
It turned out to be the game tying and OT forcing drive.
The Cavaliers cooked the final 6:52 off the clock to set up Ian Frye to tie the game at 24 and force Overtime. Thank God for some crucial Syracuse pass interference and some critical 4th down playmakers on the UVa side of the ball to keep the drive going. On to overtime.....
In the first OT, Cuse only needed 5 plays to score from the 25. After a (rough) personal foul targeting call on UVa, the Cavaliers took over at their own 40 rather than their 25. 3 plays later, Johns hit Canaan Severin from 36 yards away to force another OT!
UVa only needed 3 plays of their own in the second OT to score another TD. Unfortunately, on the TD, they were called for unsportsmanlike conduct which game Cuse the ball at their own 12.5, instead of 25. A pass play later and Syracuse forced a third overtime with a TD pass.
In the third OT Syracuse got the ball and the Hoos defense finally got to the Cuse QB. An incomplete pass, a 4 yard loss, and a sack lead to an Orange 48 yard field goal attempt that would be missed. All the Hoos needed to do was put points on the board. They could have just kicked a FG, but Mike London ran the ball down the Syracuse throat and scored a TD from 3 yards out to win the dang game.
In the end, the Hoos won 44-38. Was it pretty? Lawd no. Did it give UVa fans hope? LoL, nope. Did it give UVa their first ACC win of 2015? You're damn right it did.