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Peerman, Virginia do it again; knock off Georgia Tech

Oct 26, 2008 - 2:26 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Cedric Peerman scored a late touchdown Saturday and Virginia rallied for a 24-17 victory over No. 21 Georgia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference upset.

Peerman ran 25 times for 118 yards for the Cavaliers (5-3, 3-1 ACC Coastal). He scored on a 3-yard run with 3:29 to put Virginia on top 24-17. Last week, Peerman scored in the final minute of regulation and again in overtime as the Cavaliers rallied to defeat North Carolina.

The Cavaliers were down, 14-3, in the first quarter but were able to slow down the Yellow Jackets and their spread option offense over the final three quarters.

"I'm really disappointed. We made enough mistakes in about every area to lose the game twice over," Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. "We turned the ball over three times on offense. I think on defense, we forced one punt. I know in the first half, they ran 45 plays and we had the ball four times.

"In the second half, I don't know if we were a whole lot better. You have to give them credit. They came in here and did what they had to do to win the game. We didn't get it done."

Georgia Tech (6-2, 3-2 Coastal) had a drive going in the final minutes and converted a 4th-and-5 for a first down at the Virginia 49. But Vic Hall stepped in front of a pass by Josh Nesbitt for a game-clinching interception with 1:18 to play.

"Everybody on the team stepped up strong - staff, offense, defense, special teams. Anything less from any of those areas would have made it very hard," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "I'm very proud of the way our players responded. It was about as challenging as it can get after we found ourselves behind so quickly like that. The defensive kids were just so tough-minded. They were able to handle so many adjustments once we got a fix on things. Offensively they did a great job. They kept the other team off the field for long stretches of time."

Virginia started the season 1-3; the win was over an FCS opponent and the losses were not pretty. Southern California rolled to a 52-7 victory at Virginia, and then the Cavaliers beat Richmond, 16-0.

That win was followed by losses at Connecticut and Duke by a combined score of 76-13, and it looked like a lost season in Charlottesville.

But the Cavaliers have rallied with four straight wins and are gearing up for a run at the ACC championship game.

Georgia Tech pulled even at 17-17 when Scott Blair made a 39-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Virginia answered with an eight-play, 70-yard drive that Peerman capped by diving for the pylon for a TD.

"I'm almost uncomfortable talking about him, because there is nothing I can say about Cedric that would do him justice to anybody who saw it with their own eyes," Groh said. "His play just speaks for itself."

Virginia quarterback Marc Verica completed 29-of-39 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns. He threw a pair on interceptions in the first half.

Verica connected with Kevin Ogletree for a 14-yard TD early in the second quarter to make it 14-10. He hit Maurice Covington for a 34-yard TD to put Virginia ahead, 17-14, just under five minutes into the second half.

Nesbitt ran for a TD but had an interception and lost two fumbles in Virginia territory in the second half, including one on second-and-goal at the Cavaliers 5.