Virginia’s Cavalier Effort Holds Down Fitzgerald

Matt Schaub capped his career as Virginia’s most prolific quarterback by taking a knee on his second consecutive Continental Tire Bowl victory.

Larry Fitzgerald could only watch from the sidelines, hands on his hips in yet another disappointing loss in what might have been his final game in a Pittsburgh Panther uniform.

Virginia made it two for two in the 2-year-old Tire Bowl by using solid defense to end Fitzgerald’s record touchdown streak at 18 games in a 23-16 victory on Saturday.

“We have worked very hard to become a significant defensive team and we knew stopping Larry Fitzgerald was going to be important,” Cavalier Coach Al Groh said. “He can do in one or two plays what a 12-play drive usually does, so we put an emphasis on him.”

The Cavaliers (8-5) did it by limiting the looks in Fitzgerald’s direction with a steady pass-rush that led to five sacks and only six throws to Fitzgerald.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up, who could petition the NFL for early entry into April’s draft, was held to five catches for 77 yards and failed to score a touchdown for Pittsburgh (8-5) for the first time since Oct 12, 2002, against Notre Dame. His 18 consecutive games with a touchdown represent an NCAA record.

“I don’t play for records,” he said. “The record was fun and I thank my teammates for helping me get it. Records are meant to be broken.”

Then he said he wasn’t sure what his future holds, just that he plans to be enrolled in classes at Pittsburgh next month.

So what could have been Fitzgerald’s swan song instead became Schaub’s big day. He threw for a 244 yards and a touchdown -- the 56th of his career, a Virginia record.

The Cavaliers defeated West Virginia in the first Tire Bowl, and marked the sweep by running as a team to the far end zone and celebrating with the Virginia-dominated crowd.

Schaub, whose touchdown was a 52-yard strike to Heath Miller, wasted little time on sentimentality.

“It’s over and done with, I sort of established that earlier this month,” Schaub said. “It is a rite of passage seniors go through.”

But his coach felt otherwise, taking time to credit Schaub for leading the Cavaliers to consecutive bowl victories for only the second time in school history.

“He’s made an indelible mark and I think he joins an elite group of Virginia football players,” Groh said. “I can’t imagine anybody in the country who has carried their team more than he has.”

But the game also was won with defense.

Virginia used a goal-line stand on Pittsburgh’s first drive. The Panthers were stopped on four plays from the one and Fitzgerald was not on the field for any of them. The Cavaliers also sacked Rod Rutherford on a fourth-and-10 play near the end of the first half, and forced him into a costly fumble that basically secured the victory.

Connor Hughes kicked a 39-yard field goal -- his third -- to give Virginia a 23-16 lead with 2:28 to play.

Brandon Miree ran for 110 yards for Pittsburgh and added four catches for 43 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown.