An early catch of the year candidate came out of Thursday night’s ACC matchup between Virginia and Miami, with Dontayvion Wicks pulling down a 36-yard touchdown while laying on his back in the end zone.
The catch came in the third quarter off a deflection from what appeared to be a near-interception for Miami, bringing a halt to much of the momentum the Hurricanes has picked up following its second touchdown of the game. Miami’s defense had come up with turnovers and big stops throughout the game, and after a sack it looked like an interception in the red zone would add to the stellar effort. Instead, Wicks made a great grab on a good bounce to pull down the Virginia score to extend the lead to 27-14
At the end of the third quarter, Virginia held a 27-21 lead over Miami.
The game was notable from the start because of the absence of Miami star quarterback D’Eriq King. The Hurricanes let backup quarterbacks Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia play against Central Connecticut State while King recovered from a shoulder injury and the 69-0 result allowed both to get significant time.
Then King was also ruled out for Thursday night’s game against Virginia, but so was Garcia, leaving just Van Dyke and Peyton Matocha, a former three star prospect from Houston who has seen action in one game and mostly served as a member of the practice squad during his two years with the program.
