Perkins, Zaccheaus Lead Virginia Over South Carolina 28-0

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bryce Perkins threw three touchdown passes to Olamide Zaccheaus, Virginia’s defense dominated and the Cavaliers beat South Carolina 28-0 in the Belk Bowl on Saturday for their first bowl win since 2005.

Perkins completed 22 of 31 passes for 208 yards and ran for 81 yards as the Cavaliers (8-5) ended the ACC’s longest bowl drought. Zaccheaus, named the game’s Most Outstanding Player, had 12 catches for 100 yards. Jordan Ellis ran for 106 yards and a touchdown, helping Virginia hold the ball for more than 42 minutes.

The Gamecocks were shut out for the first time since 2006, when they lost 18-0 to Georgia.

The Cavaliers’ 14th-ranked pass defense put the clamps on a hot South Carolina offense that had averaged 38.2 points per game over the past five games. Jake Bentley had thrown for 16 touchdowns during that span, including a 510-yard, five-TD performance against No. 2 Clemson, but struggled without wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who elected to bypass the bowl game to begin preparing for the NFL draft.

Bentley was limited to 218 yards on 17-of-39 passing and was intercepted twice. South Carolina was 2 of 13 on third down conversions and 2 of 5 on fourth downs.

The Cavaliers controlled the ball for more than 20 minutes of the first half and built a 14-0 lead at halftime. Perkins found Zaccheaus on a fourth-and-2 in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard score, and Jordan Ellis added a 9-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.

Perkins found Zaccheaus twice in the second half for TDs of 10 and 12 yards

South Carolina had 261 yards of total offense, including 218 passing yards, but only had 12 first downs and were a combined 4-for-18 on third and fourth downs. Shi Smith had six catches for 76 yards to lead the Carolina receivers.

42:35 — Virginia held the ball for 42:35 as the Cavaliers had 413 yards of total offense and four scores. Virginia had four drives of five-minutes plus in the contest.

Carolina will now focus on spring practice that culminates with the 2019 Spring Game on Saturday, April 6. Carolina will be back in Charlotte to open the 2019 season on Saturday, August 31 against North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium.