Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Virginia tailback Cedric Peerman is tackled on a failed fourth-down attempt with 11:59 left in the game by Clemson's DeAndre McDaniel.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia's offense flopped on fourth down Saturday.

"Two failed fourth downs," as coach Al Groh labeled them, played a part in a 13-3 loss to Clemson at Scott Stadium.

Twice in the second half, Virginia went for it on fourth-and-1 in Clemson territory.

Both times, the Cavaliers were denied.

"Until we're able to finish those drives and take advantage of those short-yardage situations, then we're not going to be very successful," quarterback Marc Verica said.

The defeat knocked UVa (5-6, 3-4) out of the race for the Coastal Division's berth in the ACC title game.

"Fourth-and-1, you have to be able to get a yard," tailback Cedric Peerman said. "We weren't able to execute."

With UVa down 10-3, the Cavaliers went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Clemson 46. Verica threw a pass intended for Cary Koch on a slant route, but linebacker DeAndre McDaniel batted it down at the line of scrimmage with 6:38 left in the third quarter.

"Cary just had to beat his man inside and the throw was there," Verica said. "He did, but the outside linebacker that blitzed just got his hands up in the passing lane."

Why pass the ball instead of run it?

"We felt like they were going to really load the box up and blitz to stop one of our runs," Verica said.

Groh said it was the type of pass that has worked for UVa at other times during the season.

On its next possession, UVa faced a fourth-and-2 at the Clemson 45.

The players wanted to go for it, said Verica. But Groh said "different field position" was the reason UVa opted to punt that time.

The following series, Virginia did go for it.

On fourth-and-1 from the Clemson 27, Peerman was brought down from behind by cornerback Byron Maxwell in the backfield for a 5-yard loss with 11:59 to go.

"I was ... not really feeling anything behind me or anything from the side," Peerman said. "I was just headed for the edge. ... The defensive guy made a great play."

"That's a play that's also been good for us," Groh said. "Clearly we didn't block that well enough."

UVa mustered just 190 yards of total offense; only Southern Cal has held UVa to a lower total (187) this year. The Cavaliers also were held to three points for the second time this year; Duke held them to a field goal in September.

Virginia had entered the game ranked 98th in Division I-A in total offense and 111th in scoring offense.

"We knew they were going to challenge us to man up," Clemson safety Michael Hamlin said of the fourth-down stops.

"You just do what you've got to do and accept the challenge."