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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (Ticker) -- Virginia ended Penn State's bowl hopes, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to rally for a 20-14 victory in the season finale for both teams. The momentum turned when Art Thomas returned a fumble 92 yards for a touchdown with 6:24 left in the third quarter to bring Virginia within 14-13. Just under three minutes later, the Cavaliers took their first lead on Alvin Pearman's 16-yard TD run. Antwoine Womack rushed for 153 yards on 31 carries for Virginia, which concluded Al Groh's first season at 5-7. Trying to rebound from a 0-4 start, the Nittany Lions needed a win to become bowl eligible. Instead they finished 5-6 for the second straight year, saddling Joe Paterno with consecutive losing seasons for the first time in his 36 seasons at Penn State. Earlier this year, Paterno passed Paul "Bear" Bryant to become the winningest coach in Division I-A history. He ends the year with 327 wins, four more than Bryant. The Nittany Lions won four of their previous five games to move into bowl contention. With a win Saturday, Penn State likely would have landed a spot in the Alamo Bowl. The Nittany Lions appeared to be in good shape after opening a 14-3 lead on Eric McCoo's three yard touchdown run and freshman Zack Mills' four-yard TD pass to Mick Blosser. But Virginia began its comeback on David Greene's 37-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. Greene gave Penn State a chance by missing field goals of 23 and 35 yards in the second half, but the Nittany Lions were blanked over the final 37 minutes. Mills completed 12-of-24 passes for 136 yards for Penn State, but threw three interceptions. Matt Schaub connected on 8-of-14 passes for just 75 yards for the Cavaliers. Backup Bryson Spinner was 5-of-8 for 56 yards.
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