Associated Press
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ó Virginia is hoping this time an upset victory leads to something bigger.
The Cavaliers (4-2, 1-1 ACC) beat No. 20 Georgia Tech 24-21 and the victory immediately evoked memories of one against Miami last year.
The Hurricanes had been ranked 22nd, but instead of using the victory as a springboard for a surge, the Cavaliers lost the next week at Duke, and the three games that followed as well.
“We’ve already talked about it,” defensive end Jake Snyder said Monday. “We talked about that yesterday in the meeting rooms. Our coaches have done a great job enforcing that, the fact that we can’t have a letdown like we did last year.”
Snyder, just a sophomore, is relatively new on the scene and played sparingly last season.
Senior cornerback Chase Minnifield, though, said the ability to move on is critical.
“Winning programs, they don’t worry about big games,” Minnifield said. “You know, you win and you go to the next week. That’s the problem around here, I think, is a lot of times we get a big win and it sticks around for weeks. You know, let it go. Let’s get to the next one.”
The next one, and fourth consecutive home game for Virginia, is North Carolina State (3-3, 0-2), which is coming off a 38-24 victory against Central Michigan. Before that, the Wolfpack lost 45-35 to the Yellow Jackets, so coach Tom O’Brien noted the Cavaliers’ victory with interest.
“This is a big, powerful football team on both sides of the ball,” he said of the Cavaliers. “They’ve got nine of their 11 guys on defense juniors or seniors. A lot of experience back there, and they did obviously a great job of running the clock out last week against Georgia Tech.”