CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Zack Mills finally showed he was just a freshman.

Penn State's teenage quarterback, who has been the most valuable player of the Nittany Lions, couldn't complete a storybook season by leading the offense down field one more time to beat Virginia on Saturday.

Mills, who has wooed and surprised Penn State fans with his poise and pinpoint accuracy this season, threw three interceptions and fumbled the ball inside the Cavaliers 10-yard line which was returned for a touchdown in the Lions' 20-14 season-ending loss.

The 19-year-old lefty might have been due for a bad game since he had been fantastic all season. He just didn't want it to come at a time when Penn State was fighting for a bowl game berth.

"I just feel so bad for the seniors," Mills said. "It's no way to end their careers."

Mills said he was confused by the defensive schemes he saw from the Cavaliers, since he usually doesn't see eight defenders in pass coverage during the season.

In the Big Ten, the conference that Mills took by storm in his first year, he was mostly dealing with single coverage on his wide receivers because the cornerbacks are so athletic.

Usually, the freshman sees eight defenders in the box, trying to contain the run. But that's not what former NFL coach Al Groh and his defensive coordinator, former Penn State linebackers coach Al Golden, threw at the Lions offense.

Virginia did something on defense that Penn State hasn't seen all season, and the Lions offense was stagnant in the second half, not scoring one point in the final 30 minutes.

"We tried to stop the running game and defend the vertical ball," Groh said. "We tried to be sound and solid and take away throws."

The Virginia coach said he didn't change anything with his Cavaliers defense at halftime, after the Lions put up 14 points and looked in control going into the third quarter, but challenged the secondary to make some plays.

"We put it on ourselves," said Art Thomas, who returned Mills' fumble 92 yards for a touchdown. "We know it's on the front line to stop the run and it's on us to stop the pass."

Penn State's offense was glaringly different after halftime. Whether it was Mills or junior Matt Senneca who replaced him for a short time before the freshman came back, the Lions quarterbacks did very little in the second half.

Senneca was 0-for-4 with an interception and a costly sack that pushed an easy field goal back to a missed one for freshman kicker Robbie Gould.

"I told him I wasn't going to let him keep his head down," Senneca said of Mills. "He proved so many times of what a great football player he is. The future that he has he doesn't have time to put his head down."

But Mills didn't want to hear any excuses after the game. He sat behind a table Saturday, minutes after his first college football season came to an unexpected close and answered questions from flocks of reporters.

During Penn State's 5-1 run, the questions were about what Mills saw when he threw the miraculous pass or slipped past the defender into the end zone. For the most part, Mills fielded questions in his first year about how good of a quarterback he can become under the tutelage of the Penn State coaches.

But not after the Virginia game, his worst performance of his young career. Mills didn't have much to say. He didn't make excuses or blame everyone else. He acted much older than he really is. Just like he usually did on the football field.

"I looked like a freshman out there," he said. "I struggled. I just didn't make plays."