Hoos Buck Broncos

It wasn?t pretty, but Cedric Peerman and the Virginia Cavaliers came away with a win last Saturday in a 31-19 victory over Western Michigan. Marques Hagans connected with Ottowa Anderson on the first play from scrimmage for a 58 yard gain, and three plays later found Tom Santi in the back of the endzone for the first Cavalier score of the season.

The Wahoos rolled for the next quarter, building up a 24-3 lead off of rushing touchdowns from Hagans and Michael Johnson. Senior tailback Wali Lundy was injured during the process and did not return to the game after his third carry. Johnson and Jason Snelling were productive as his replacement, but each fumbled twice before the fourth quarter, opening the door for red-shirt freshman Cedric Peerman.

Peerman took advantage of the opportunity and gained 69 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. With Virginia up 24-19 late in the fourth quarter, the Cavs turned to Peerman. He responded, leading the Cavaliers on a 12 play, 69 yard touchdown drive. Peerman had 10 carries on the drive, including the final seven, and accounted for 47 yards and five first downs.

Virginia?s defense was solid, but left some areas of concern for fans. The Cavs displayed an unwillingness to adjust their defensive philosophy, allowing short catch after short catch for WMU?s Greg Jennings. The Broncos dinked and dunked down the field, but UVa?s famous bend-but-don?t-break defense came through again and did not yield a touchdown to the Bronco offense. Kai Parham was the star of the day, recording 11 tackles and one sack.

The early bye week comes in desperate need for the Wahoos, who are now without their star on offense (Wali Lundy) and defense (Ahmad Brooks). The Wahoos face the Syracuse Orange on September 17th for their first road test of the season.