CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Defensive lineman Nate Collins couldn't rescue Virginia for a second week in a row Saturday, but it wasn't for a lack of effort.

Collins, returning to nose tackle where he had played for the previous three years, was credited with a career-high 16 tackles in a 34-9 loss to 11th-ranked Georgia Tech.

One week earlier, as a defensive end, he had returned an interception 32 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in UVa's 20-9 win at Maryland.

Why the switch?

"It could best be answered by the fact that Nate Collins looked like he made about 100 tackles today," UVa coach Al Groh said. "He was the ACC player of the week last year [against Georgia Tech] and it made sense to put him right back where he was. He confirmed that with his performance."

In moving Collins to nose tackle, Groh elected to sideline sophomore Nick Jenkins, who had taken virtually every snap at that position in UVa's first six games.

Getting the first starts of their careers were junior John-Kevin Dolce and sophomore Zane Parr at defensive end. Parr had played the second half of the Maryland game in place of Matt Conrath, who injured an ankle against the Terps and was not in uniform Saturday.

Groh said that putting Collins at nose tackle gave him the flexibility to make plays on either side of the center against the Yellow Jackets' triple option.

"Frankly, I would have been questioning myself if the game was over and we hadn't played him at nose tackle," Groh added.

"He probably made more plays today than he did last year."

Dolce has been listed as the Cavaliers' No. 2 nose tackle behind Jenkins but is considered undersized for the position at 6 foot 2 and 245 pounds. Jenkins is listed at 6-3, 285.

"If Nate wasn't playing end, then somebody else had to play end," Groh said. "John-Kevin's got the quickness and whatnot to play against this type of offense. It's not a power offense."

Collins' high for tackles in a game coming into this season was six. He had nine tackles at Maryland on a day when no other Virginia player had more than six, and his total Saturday included 10 solo tackles and two tackles for loss.

Clark hurt

Fifth-year senior Aaron Clark, whose 2008 season was cut short when he sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the opening game, was helped from the field with 10:59 to play in the game after suffering an injury to his left knee. He had a brace on that knee as he gingerly walked to the locker room after the game.

"When I saw [trainers] crouching over his knee, I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, not again,' " said Clark's fellow linebacker and co-captain, Denzel Burrell, "but then he told me that it wasn't the same knee. He was walking around in the locker room."

In recognition

Clark took the field before the game in the company of Burt Torrence, the coach at Northside High School. Clark presented Torrence, one of his former teachers at Rockbridge County High School, with the Wachovia Hero in Education Award that UVa gives out at each of its home games.

n At halftime, Virginia honored former offensive lineman Ray Roberts by retiring his jersey, No. 72. Roberts, a first-team All-American in 1991 and winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the ACC's top offensive lineman, spent nine seasons in the NFL and currently serves as head coach at Lake Washington High School outside Seattle.

Odds 'n' ends

Virginia's smallest three crowds in 10 years have come in the Cavaliers' three home games this season. The lowest was Saturday's crowd of 43,016, but a gloomy weather forecast that proved mostly correct may have contributed to that. ... Robert Randolph's streak of consecutive made field goals ended at 13, one short of Jake McInerney's school record, when he missed a 35-yarder before the half. Randolph did hit a career-long 49-yarder in the first quarter and now stands 12-of-13 for the season and 15-of-17 for his two-year career.

Virginia next week

The Cavaliers (3-4, 2-1 ACC) entertain fellow Coastal Division-member Duke (4-3, 2-1) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Blue Devils, who pounded Virginia 31-3 last year in Durham, N.C., defeated visiting Maryland 17-13 on Saturday but have lost 12 of their last 13 games at Scott Stadium.