Virginia Football Steals Late Win Against Indiana in Bizarre Ending

The Virginia Cavaliers won their first game on the road under head coach Mike London on Saturday night, 34-31, in front of a raucous crowd of over 41,000 fans in Indiana's Memorial Stadium.

Indiana looked down and out after trailing 20-3 at one point in the third quarter.

It looked as if Indiana would fold and give its home opener away for the first time in nine seasons.

Give head coach Kevin Wilson credit. He rallied this team to something we haven't seen in quite some time.

They could have packed it in to a superior opponent and go off to an 0-2 start and start looking forward to next week.

Not this team. Indiana rallied to score 28 straight points to take a 31-20 lead.

After an Indiana touchdown, it made the score 31-23 with 6:34 left to play in the game.

Virginia rallied to score to close the game to 31-29 on a touchdown run by Perry Jones and set up a two-point conversion.

Indiana had horrible pass coverage all through the drive, and that didn't change on the two-point conversion.

Virginia quarterback Michael Rocco hit his tight end Paul Freedman for the game tying two point score.

It looked now this game was heading into overtime.

Indiana got the ball back after the kickoff with 1:36 left.

They decided to throw on 3rd-and-3 from their own 23-yard line and Ed Wright-Baker who looked a lot more comfortable all game made a huge mistake that cost Indiana the game.

Indiana noticed it was a three-man rush from Virginia and decided to shift the block protection to Wright-Baker's right side.

Third-team all ACC Cam Johnson came to Wright-Baker's blindside and made a miraculous play to sack him and steal the ball out of his hand in one motion.

Wright-Baker should feel ashamed. He let his team down and the 41,000 fans who came out to support the Hoosiers.

Why would he hold on to the ball for so long and why did he not even glance to his left side or even feel pressure?

Last week I was very critical on Wright-Baker due to his uneasiness in the pocket and scrambling to incoming pressure. I thought he redeemed himself last night and he took 10 steps back on that inexcusable play.

Virginia ran the clock down and on fourth down Virginia kicker Robert Randolph kicked the game winning 23-yard field goal to end the game

To give Indiana credit is a must, though.

The stats at the end of the game was as close to even with a bigger team than they could have asked for.

Indiana led the first downs margin, 21-19.

The third-down plays were almost even. Virginia was 6-of-15 while Indiana was 7-of-16.

Indiana held the Cavs to 162 yards rushing which was a lot better than the 210 that a dismal Ball State team had last week.

The penalties were even with both teams committing six.

The turnover battle was pretty much even. Both teams fumbled the football twice and threw an interception.

The other key stat to look at was the time of possession. Virginia won that stat by a slim margin, 30:30-29:29.

So obviously in a game that close someone needs to make a play to win the game, and Ed Wright-Baker made that for Virginia in handing them the game at the end.

Indiana's defense played much better this week too.

I made it in my keys to win yesterday for Indiana and that was to make first year starter Michael Rocco beat you. Rocco was 15-of-29 with 191 yards and zero touchdowns with two interceptions.

They didn't let a back get over 100 yards all game. Jones led Virginia with 22 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown.

That's about all you can ask for from a defense who played so miserably last week.

Ed Wright-Baker ended up 16 for 30 on the night with 171 yards and a touchdown and interception.

Wright-Baker was also Indiana's leading rusher carrying the ball 15 times for 48 yards.

Running back Matt Perez led the touchdown attack on the ground in carrying the ball 13 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns.

Wright-Baker for the second straight game only hit receiver Demarlo Belcher four times for 53 yards and no touchdowns.

Indiana (0-2) will host the South Carolina State Bulldogs (1-1) next Saturday in Memorial Stadium at 3:30 p.m.