2017 ACC Football: Coastal Division power rankings Week 13
Wrong Again
The people who were wrong again were those who thought this would be the season that Virginia would beat Virginia Tech and end the losing streak which now stands at 14 straight.
One can’t really blame them though. Virginia Tech looked vulnerable. The Hokies had lost two of their past three and the one win was a goal line escape against Pittsburgh.
Virginia had a quarterback who led the ACC in touchdowns and was third in passing yards. The last Virginia quarterback to be that good was Matt Schaub, who just happened to be the last quarterback to beat Virginia Tech.
The game was also in Charlottesville, which also happened to be the last place that Virginia beat the Hokies. However, despite all these positives, it just wasn’t meant to be as the Cavaliers were shut out by the Hokies.
Kurt Benkert had to do too much as the running game produced all of five yards on 20 attempts. The senior did the best he could do, completing 50 percent of his passes for 186 yards and no interceptions.
However, the lack of the run game made him easier to defend and for just the second time this season Benkert failed to find the end zone.
The one positive was the defense that held Virginia Tech to just 10 points and 345 total yards for the game.
However, despite the 14th straight Commonwealth Cup loss, this season was not a loss for Virginia. The Cavaliers won six games and will be bowl eligible for the first time since 2011.
Where that will be is the question, but for the first time in six seasons, the Cavaliers will be playing this postseason and not getting an early start on next year and there is nothing wrong about that.