Sophomore quarterback Brennan Armstrong spearheaded Virginia football’s 43-32 victory over Boston College on Saturday, accounting for 417 yards of offense (287 pass, 130 rush), the first time in school history a quarterback has accumulated over 400 yards of offense in back-to-back games. Following UVA’s first-ever victory over BC, Armstrong expressed what it meant to him to send the 37 fourth, fifth and sixth-year players out with a win in what, for many, could be their final game in Scott Stadium.

Although Virginia surrendered over 500 yards passing, senior cornerbacks De'Vante Cross (#15) and Nick Grant (#1) each had crucial interceptions to help the Hoos to victory. ~ Photo courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

“Yeah, it means the world, man,” Armstrong said. “I kind of came in here at mid-year, so I was with them for their first season that first spring semester. So I met a lot of those guys and was friends with those guys even before my class came in. So yeah it meant the world to me. I knew we haven't beaten BC in all of the history. I was like, ‘we can check it off the books,’ something that we've never done before. And our seniors go out and win, so that was a big. A lot of not pressure on my shoulders, but I wanted to do that for them. I wanted the team to get the win. So I'm happy we did.”

Armstrong led the way for UVA, but seniors played vital roles in making their possible final home game a successful one. Many of them did, and they contributed from start to finish.

- On the opening drive of the game, graduate transfer defensive lineman Adeeb Atariwa sacked Boston College quarterback Dennis Grosel for a loss of 11 yards. The Eagles came a yard short of securing a first down on 3rd-and-26 and had to punt. This was the first of five punts Boston College had in 14 possessions.

- Placekicker Brian Delaney converted his first field goal attempt of the day on the ensuing drive, drilling a 38-yarder to give the Hoos a 3-0 lead.

- Boston College grabs a 7-3 lead when Grosel finds Zay Flowers for a 45-yard touchdown. Graduate transfer running back Shane Simpson responds by returning the ensuing kickoff 73 yards to the Eagle 22. The Cavaliers fail to score a touchdown but do get a Delaney 26-yard field goal to pull within one, 7-6.

- The Virginia secondary struggled, surrendering 520 yards passing, but came through with timely turnovers. The first of which came in the second quarter. On 1st-and-10 from the Virginia 19, Grosel heaved up an ill-advised pass in the face of an intense Cavalier pass rush. Senior cornerback De’Vante Cross made him pay with an interception.

Eight plays later, quarterback Brennan Armstrong found graduate transfer receiver Ra’Shaun Henry for a 47-yard touchdown. UVA regains the lead, 13-7, and as it turns out the Hoos would not surrender the lead again.

- On Boston College’s next drive, UVA senior outside linebacker Matt Gahm is credited with solo tackles on the Eagles first two plays, forcing a 3rd-and-6 from the BC 30. Gahm caps off the defensive stand with a pass breakup, forcing a punt.

- A hot Virginia offense strikes again as Armstrong completes passes to graduate transfer tight end Tony Poljan (23 yards) and Henry (29 yards), setting up a Keytaon Thompson 10-yard touchdown run to give Virginia a 20-7 lead in the second quarter. UVA would take a 20-17 lead into halftime.

- Boston College, which scored 10 straight points to end the first half, begins the third quarter by forcing Virginia to punt. The Eagles face a 2nd-and-7 from the Virginia 43 when Grosel throws deep to Flowers, who had two receptions for 30 yards on the drive already. Senior cornerback Nick Grant comes up with the interception in the end zone, ending another potential BC scoring opportunity.

“The first play of the game he ran an out already,” Grant said, recalling his big defensive play. “I just noticed he was kind of tight and the quarterback was looking at him a little bit, so I figured that he was going to run an out and it might be a double move, so I just anticipated he was going up and I played the ball when he threw it.”

Once again, the Virginia offense makes the Eagles pay following a turnover, as Armstrong scores on a 60-yard touchdown run to give the homestanding Hoos a 27-17 lead. Virginia has 14 points off two Boston College turnovers.

- Virginia has taken a 30-17 lead with 4:32 remaining in the third when Grosel finds Flowers for a 50-yard gain to the Cavalier 25. Fifth-year senior linebacker Rob Snyder and fourth year junior Tommy Christ combine to stop running back Travis Levy for no gain on first down. Cross comes through with a 7-yard sack on second down. Grosel throws a pair of incompletions on third and fourth down from the UVA 32.

Armstrong and company drive 68 yards for another score – a Wayne Taulapapa 1-yard touchdown run – on the ensuing drive, giving the Hoos a 36-17 advantage with 13:16 left in the game. Counting the turnover-on-downs, that is three times when BC had the ball on Virginia’s side of the field only to surrender the football and watch the Cavalier offense drive for a touchdown.

Tommy Christ started his Virginia career on the defensive line before moving to offense during last season. He returned to the D-line this week to provide depth, and he did just that. Christ had the third-most defensive snaps (21) of any Cavalier defensive lineman according to Pro Football Focus, behind senior Mandy Alonso, who logged 59, and Atariwa, who had 44. Christ turned in the fourth-highest overall grade on defense, a decent 67.1 mark.

“I thought he played very well,” Alonso said of Christ. “It’s like riding a bike for him. As soon as he came back to the D-line, he was making plays in practice and doing well getting by guys. I thought he did very well for his first game back.”

In what could be his final game in Scott Stadium, Virginia football starting defensive lineman Mandy Alonso registered a sack and helped the Hoos take down Boston College. Photo courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

- Desperately needing a score, Boston College could not get one on its next drive as Gahm and Mandy Alonso sacked Grosel on second and third down to force a punt. Gahm forced a fumble that was nearly recovered by the Hoos.

- Trailing Virginia 43-25, Boston College finds itself at the Cavalier 25 with under five minutes remaining. Grosel throws to what appears to be an open Hunter Long in the end zone, but graduate transfer D’Angelo Amos steps in front and comes away with the interception. The Cavalier offense is not able to convert this turnover into points, but it does milk another 1:10 off the clock and forces BC to use its final timeout.

Senior Stats

Here are some of the notable top stat lines from the seniors:

- RB Shane Simpson – 5 carries, 19 yards; 3 kick returns, 119 yards. In addition to his on-field contributions, Simpson demonstrated his character, honoring the injured Charles Snowden by donning #11 (Snowden’s number) against Boston College.

“I thought about it over the weekend, like once he got hurt,” Simpson said. “I was just like, 11 has to definitely be on the field on Senior Day just because I know how much he’s done for the program. I know 11 had to be out there, so I asked Charles if I could play for him and then he said he loved the idea, and then I asked Coach Mendenhall and he said he approved of it, so I’m thankful for both of them.”

- WR Ra’Shaun Henry – 3 catches, 95 yards, 1 TD. Henry tripled the amount of receptions on the year in this game. Four of his six catches have been for touchdowns.

- TE Tony Poljan – 3 catches, 45 yards. Poljan hurdled a defender for extra yards on his 23-yard catch. It wasn’t quite Bryce Perkins-esque, but it was very good for a 6’7”, 260-pound tight end.

- OL Chris Glaser – Other starting offensive linemen were honored pregame as well, but Glaser is the only senior eligibility-wise who played. Glaser and he rest of the line paved the way for Armstrong, Thompson and company to rush for 262 yards (6.2 yards per carry) and four touchdowns while keeping Armstrong upright in the pocket for the most part, allowing two sacks.

- DL Mandy Alonso – 4 tackles (1 solo), 1 sacks, 1 pass breakup

- DL Adeeb Atariwa – 3 tackles (2 solo), 1 sack

- ILB Zane Zandier – 7 tackles (3 solo)

- ILB Rob Snyder – 4 tackles (1 solo)

- OLB Matt Gahm – 5 tackles (4 solo), 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass breakup, 1 forced fumble. With starting outside linebackers Charles Snowden and Noah Taylor sidelined, Gahm showed just how valuable he is and finished with the highest overall defensive grade of any Cavalier in the game (72.8). Gahm has four sacks on the season. He started opposite of fellow senior Elliott Brown, who was called upon to play a larger role with Taylor’s absence. Though he didn’t register a tackle, the athletic Brown did help pressure on the BC quarterback.

- S Joey Blount – 4 tackles (3 solo), 1 pass breakup. Blount made his return after missing the previous four games due to injury. He tied for a team-high in defensive snaps with 68, which is hopefully a good sign heading into the season finale at Virginia Tech.

- S D’Angelo Amos – 1 tackle (1 solo), 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception. Amos, a grad-transfer from JMU, had an interception in Virginia’s season-opening win against Duke as well. He had a Pick-6 called back by a phantom call against Abilene Christian.

- CB De’Vante Cross – 3 tackles (2 solo), 1 sack, 1 interception

- CB Nick Grant – 2 tackles (2 solo), 1 interception

- P Nash Griffin – 4 punts, 153 yards (38.2 average), 1 inside 20

- PK Brian Delaney – 3-3 on field goals (38, 26, 28), 4-4 extra points

Fitting Tribute

Senior outside linebacker and team captain Charles Snowden was a leading voice as the team navigated COVID-19 protocols in the summer and the fall. After a slow start on the field, he came through with four sacks and a forced fumble in Virginia’s 44-41 victory over a ranked North Carolina team. The win, which snapped a 4-game losing streak for the Hoos, sparked the 4-game winning streak the Hoos now find themselves in.

Snowden, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury against Abilene Christian, was honored by Mendenhall following the win over Boston College by being picked to break the rock.

“I didn’t know how to pay tribute to him and thank him any more than allowing him to do that in front of his peers,” Mendenhall said. “I acknowledged Brennan for his yardage and how he’s done that back-to-back, but I can’t thank Charles enough for his leadership, for his example, for his trust in us. It just seemed appropriate to give him - as the defensive captain - the last chance to do that in front of his peers.”