This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • BYU quarterback Taysom Hill made quite an impression on Virginia.
After Hill passed for two touchdowns and ran for another during the Cougars' 41-33 win on Saturday, Cavalier linebacker Max Valles predicted Hill will win the Heisman Trophy.
"I told him after the game," Valles said. "... He is the best athlete I have every played against — college or high school."
Virginia actually did a reasonable job of containing Hill, who needed 17 carries to gain 72 yards. But the Cavaliers struggled in the third quarter, when BYU wiped out a 16-13 deficit with two quick touchdowns.
Still, the Cougars could not pull away and needed to recover a late onside kick to seal this deal.
"Our [assistants] did a great job of putting a game plan together that helped us be competitive," said Virginia coach Mike London. "[But] they played better than us in the end and deserved to win."
Virginia dropped to 2-1 this season despite gaining 512 yards on offense and controlling the ball for almost 41 minutes.
"We're encouraged by a lot of things that happened statistically," London said. "But the end result is we didn't win the football game. You play to win and our execution wasn't good enough to win."
Asked about the Cavs' inability to get a crucial stop against BYU in the fourth quarter, London shrugged.
"A lot of it had to do with their quarterback," London said. "He broke some arm tackles. [But] he's a physical guy. He's a really good player and quarterback. He performed well for them in the clutch — when it counted."
Virginia's starting quarterback, Greyson Lambert, was injured on the next-to-last play of the third quarter.
Backup Matt Johns helped keep the Cavs in the game by completing 14 of 23 passes for 139 yards and one touchdown. He directed Virginia's final scoring drive — a 98-yarder — which made it a one-possession game with 1:47 left.
Said Virginia receiver Canaan Severin, "We are not going to stop until the clock hits zero. Matt Johns pulled the offense together and said, 'Let's keep going and keep battling.' That's what we did. We just don't give up."