Virginia Takes Care of Business 52-17 Against William & Mary

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Taking care of business easily against an undermanned, lower division opponent is one of the hallmarks of “good” teams. We’ve seen Virginia struggle to beat these teams at times. Not today. Today, Virginia rode a dominant first half to a 52-17 win over Mike London and the William and Mary Tribe.

Virginia went ahead early and put the game out of reach with ease. The Tribe took the opening kickoff and went 3-and-out. On the ensuing drive, Virginia picked up a couple of first downs before Bryce Perkins hit Joe Reed with deep ball and Reed tiptoed down the sidelines into the endzone. Joe was the star of the game, with a team leading 4 receptions for 58 yards and the TD. Oh, and he had his fourth career Kick Return TD.

The second William and Mary drive included a deep pass on a WR pass, with Nick Grant in primary coverage. A few plays later, Grant recorded his first career INT and took back 85 yards to the house.

The Tribe gained just one more first down the entire half, on a pass interference penalty on Charles Snowden. They did get a FG after Chuck Davis muffed a punt, with the Tribe recovering at their own 13 yard line.

Virginia scored on a run by Perkins, and a dart of a pass to Terrell Chatman.

The half ended with Perkins throwing an INT and Brian Delaney missing a FG to the right.

Perkins remained in the game to open the second half, and promptly led a 70 yard TD drive. For some reason, Perkins remained in the game for another series and threw his second INT. That would be the end of Perkins’ night.

Both INTs were poor decision. Rolling to the right and throwing across his body late, over the middle. These are INTs waiting to happen. Joey Blount’s INT last week was an example of this same thing. Bryce needs to clean up his decision making because the opposition is about to get a lot better.

The rest of the game was managed by substitutes. Virginia fans their first glimpse of Mike Hollins the freshman did not disappoint. He gained 78 yards on 11 carries with 2 TDs. The first TD came on the opening drive of the second half, with the first string still on the field. That TD was his first career carry.

Brennan Armstrong threw a pick-six in his first drive. He was hit on the blind-side as he released the ball. He settled down after that and led two scoring drives. That INT was Armstrong’s only incompletion of the game.

Virginia gets an extra day of rest before facing Florida State next Saturday at 7:30 at Scott stadium. Don’t forget to stop by the Streaking the Lawn tailgate if you’re in town for the game.