1. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For a few
glorious seconds, at least, Robert Griffin III
conjured heroics of his rookie season.
With eight seconds on the clock and a
chance to extend Washington’s lead before
the first half expired, Griffin took off running
for the end zone and launched himself — ball
cradled in his hands, arms outstretched — for
the score.
But on a hostile field, against their oldest
foe, the Redskins were jolted back to reality
in the most unexpected way. Upon review,
what would have been Griffin’s first rushing
touchdown since 2012 was negated, ruled a
touchback instead because he temporarily
lostpossessionoftheballashesailedintothe
corner of the end zone.
That disappointment would lead to more.
Jay Gruden’s Redskins found a new way to
surrender points en route to a familiar
outcome: another double-digit defeat.
With Giants rookie wide receiver Odell
Beckham Jr. catching all three of Eli
Manning’s touchdown throws, Washington
(3-11) lost its sixth consecutive game, 24-13, to
clinch a rock-bottom finish in the NFC East.
Griffin, just 24, has already had a career’s
worth of NFL comebacks. Sunday brought
another opportunity to re-stake a claim as
Washington’s quarterback of the future after
Colt McCoy, who supplanted him as the
starter last month, aggravated a neck injury
in his opening series.
In no way did Griffin reclaim the promise
of his NFL offensive rookie-of-the-year
season Sunday. But he showed glimpses of
the improvisational skills that once made
NFL defenses quake. He also showed costly
bouts of indecision in the pocket, which
played a role in the seven sacks he endured.
Griffin finished 18-of-27 for 236 yards and
one touchdown.
NFL GIANTS 24, REDSKINS 13
CATCH IT
LIKE BECKHAM
Odell Beckham Jr. caught all three touchdown passes on the day for the Giants as New York beat Washington, 24-13, at Metlife Stadium.
AL BELLO/GETTY PHOTO
Giants receiver accounts
for three touchdowns as
N.Y. takes down Redskins
Sunday’s results
N.Y. GIANTS 24, Washington 13
Pittsburgh 27, ATLANTA 20
NEW ENGLAND 41, Miami 13
KANSAS CITY 31, Oakland 13
INDIANAPOLIS 17, Hou. 10
BALTIMORE 20, Jacksonville 12
BUFFALO 21, Green Bay 13
CAROLINA 19, Tampa Bay 17
Cincinnati 30, CLEVELAND 0
DETROIT 16, Minnesota 14
N.Y. Jets 16, TENNESSEE 11
Denver 22, SAN DIEGO 10
SEATTLE 17, San Francisco 7
Dallas at Philadelphia, late
Home team in CAPS
By Liz Clarke
The Washington Post
See SKINS/Page 4
SPORTSMONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014
CARY, N.C. — Veteran Virginia
men’s soccer coach George Gel-
novatch and All-American senior
Eric Bird admitted the 2014 Cava-
liers were far from the most
talented of the school’s seven
NCAA champions.
But all that matters in the
moment and history is Virginia
joined the school’s previous six
champs by bringing home the
2014 College Cup, winning 4-2 in
penalty kicks against UCLA in
Sunday’s final before 8,015 fans at
the WakeMed Soccer Park in this
suburb of Raleigh.
“We may not have been the
most talented team, but we were
the best in terms of camaraderie
and teamwork,” said Bird, who
recovered from a groin injury to
play a backup role in Friday’s 1-0
semifinal win over UMBC and in
Sunday’s final.
“This was the closest team in
college soccer.”
Virginia added to its 2009
NCAA title that also was con-
tested in Cary.
The Cavaliers are 6-1-1 in na-
tional finals, sharing the title with
Santa Clara in 1989 and four
straight from 1991-94. It’s also the
first time Virginia has defeated
UCLA in NCAA play, having lost
to the Bruins in the1997 final,1999
quarterfinals and 2006 semifinals.
Gelnovatch, who played at Vir-
ginia and has been a part of all
seven titles as an assistant and
head coach, added, “We were
constantly changing and adapting,
and the whole time this was a
coachable group who listened.”
The two blue bloods of Ameri-
can college soccer played 90
minutes of regulation and two
10-minute overtime periods of
scoreless soccer before the title
came down to a pair of European-
sized goalies: Virginia’s 6-foot-5,
200-pound senior Calle Brown
and UCLA’s 6-3, 185-pound senior
Earl Edwards Jr.
Virginia won the coin flip to go
first, and the two goalies fist-
bumped as they walked toward
the goal.
COLLEGE SOCCER
7TH HEAVEN: CAVS CROWNED AGAIN
Virginia players run toward the goal to celebrate after winning the
College Cup on penalty kicks against UCLA.
ROB KINNAN/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO
See CAVS/Page 4
U.Va. beats UCLA
on penalty kicks
to claim College Cup
By Tom Shanahan
Correspondent
NEWPORT NEWS — At 5-
foot-6, Breven Lyons isn’t valued
for his rebounding. But with
family and friends watching, he
was in the right place at the right
time and helped Virginia Wesley-
an survive a spirited effort from
Christopher Newport.
The senior from Warwick High
somehow grabbed an offensive
rebound in the lane and pogoed in
a follow shot that lifted the
11th-ranked Marlins to an 84-83
overtime victory over CNU in a
Sunday matinee at the Freeman
Center.
“I saw it come off the rim, so I
just went for the rebound,” Lyons
said.“ThankGodIwasintheright
spot. I was determined not to
lose.”
Lyons and Virginia Wesleyan
(7-1) returned the favor after
CNU’s overtime win last year at
the Batten Center in a taut,
entertaining affair between the
local Division III rivals.
The Captains (5-2) did without
leading scorer and rebounder Tim
Daly. The 6-6 sophomore, who
averages nearly19 points and nine
reboundspergame,injuredaknee
in practice last week and will
undergo an MRI to determine the
COLLEGE HOOPS
LYONS
LIFTS
MARLINS
See MARLINS/Page 5
Wesleyan guard notches
game-winner against CNU
By Dave Fairbank
dfairbank@dailypress.com
Thoughtheheadfootballcoach
position at Virginia Military In-
stitute requires a candidate with a
certain kind of mindset, former
Virginia assistant coach Scott Wa-
chenheim’s background might
just help him fit the bill.
Sunday, Wachenheim was
named the new coach at VMI.
He’ll leave U.Va., where he has
been on staff for all five seasons of
coach Mike London’s tenure, in-
cludingthelastfourseasonsasthe
Cavaliers’ offensive line coach.
Wachenheim’s extensive ties to
service academy life and the
military make him uniquely
equipped for a job at a place like
VMI. He has 28 seasons as an
assistant coach at the Football
Championship Subdivision, Foot-
ball Bowl Subdivision and NFL
levels, but it all got started for him
at the Air Force Academy.
He was a four-year starter on
Air Force’s offensive line from
1980-83 and graduated from Air
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
VMI TABS
CAVS’
O-LINE
COACH
By Norm Wood
nwood@dailypress.com
See VMI/Page 4
Quarterback Marcus Mariota, left, was the runaway winner of
the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. The Hawaiian native,
whose humble nature was highlighted during his acceptance
speech, becomes the first player from the University of Oregon to
win the award, beating out Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon III and
Alabama’s Amari Cooper. For Chris Dufresne’s take on Mariota’s
honor, please turn to Page 6.
BRAD PENNER/REUTERS PHOTO
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Mariota wins in landslide
Product: DPBroadsheet PubDate: 12-15-2014 Zone: ALL Edition: 1ST Folio: B1 User: jmarra Time: 12-14-2014 21:31 Color: CMYK Notes: