Virginia Stays Close, But Loses To Football Factory Florida

MIAMI, FL — The University of Virginia lost to the University of Florida in the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami Monday night, but it wasn't the blowout that many college football experts predicted. Florida, part of the football-crazed SEC, was unable to cover the 14-point spread, leading some to criticize the school's performance.

Florida beat the Cavaliers 36-28, ending the Gators' season with a 11-2 record. Virginia finished 9-5, missing out on what would have been the football program's only second 10-win season.

Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins completed 28 of 40 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns, but it was not enough to deliver the Cavaliers victories in consecutive bowl games for the first time since 2002 and 2003.

After the game, Cavaliers Coach Bronco Mendenhall said Perkins was a perfect fit to lead the team. "And I'm talking person first and player second," Mendenhall said. "It was and is the perfect fit. I couldn't have hoped for anything else."

Chris Long, a former player for the Cavaliers who played 11 seasons in the NFL, expressed pride in the team's showing in the Orange Bowl. "Proud to be a Hoo," Long wrote Monday night in a tweet that also praised Mendenhall and Virginia Athletic Director Carla Williams.

Sean Doolittle, who played baseball at Virgina and won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in October, gave a shout-out to the Cavaliers football team. "It's been so much fun to watch this group grow together and take the program to a new level," Doolitte tweeted Monday night after the loss. "The future is bright."

A fan of the Georgia Bulldogs, a rival of Florida in the SEC, mocked the Gators for letting the Cavaliers stay close in the game. "Embarrassment to the SEC for the Gators to give up 28 points to the lowly Virginia Cavaliers!" the University of Georgia fan tweeted.

The game was played at Hard Rock stadium in the Miami area and broadcast nationally on ESPN. A 52-yard catch-and-run led to a Cavaliers touchdown that cut their deficit to 27-21 early in the fourth quarter. The Gators answered with a touchdown set up by Perine's 23-yard run to the 1. Virginia drove 75 yards for a touchdown with 38 seconds left, but Florida recovered the ensuing onside kick.

"We were a few plays short," Mendenhall acknowledged.

It's been an incredible year for Cavalier athletics. The 2018-19 season was the most successful season in Cavalier men's basketball history, ending with a national championship. A month later, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team defeated Yale in the final of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. It was the lacrosse team's first national championship since 2011 and its sixth title all-time.

Because of the two national championships and the school's success in other sports, Virginia won the Capital One Cup in men's athletics, an honor awarded to the college that achieves the highest level of success across multiple sports.