Virginia Football | Cavaliers Stumble in Home Final

Written by: Jeff White ([email protected])
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — UVA’s football team is almost out of opportunities to make a bowl appearance for the first time since 2021.

The Wahoos went into Saturday’s home final looking to achieve that goal, but there were no celebrations in the locker rooms afterward. In the first football game between these schools, No. 13 SMU shut out Virginia for more than three and a half quarters and earned a 33-7 victory at Scott Stadium.

The Cavaliers’ offense finished with a season-low 173 yards. SMU sacked Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea nine times and pressured him on countless other plays.

Seven points was also a season low for Virginia.

“I feel like the defense played a great game,” UVA shortstop Noah Vaughn said. “I think they did their job. It’s our job to put points on the board and we didn’t do that.”

Head coach Tony Elliott said the Cavaliers didn’t turn the ball over but “were never able to establish a rhythm” on offense. “Quarterbacks need to make plays. We need to be able to manage the ball. We haven’t done a good job, and it starts with me. So I have to figure out quickly how to get the offense back into rhythm.”

The win will send the Mustangs, who are in the conference this year, to next month’s ACC championship game. SMU (10-1 overall, 7-0 ACC) will face either Miami or Clemson.

The Hoos, in their third season under Elliott, fell to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in ACC play. Since recording their fifth victory – the upset of then-No. 23 Pitt, Nov. 9 — The Cavaliers have lost two straight games, both against ranked opponents.

Virginia lost 35-14 at then-No. 8 Notre Dame last weekend. UVA will close out the regular season against Virginia Tech next Saturday night in Blacksburg.

Elliott talked to his players in the locker room at Scott Stadium about the importance of rivalry games. He played and coached at Clemson, whose annual matchup with South Carolina divides fans in that state.

Elliott said he learned in a competition that it wasn’t about me. He’s bigger than me. It’s about everyone he touches. During competition week, it’s not about how you feel. “It’s not about anything other than me having the responsibility to do my best because there are so many people who trust me that this game means a lot to me.”

Fifth-year senior Tony Muskett took over at quarterback in the second half against Notre Dame and led two scoring drives. During practices leading up to the SMU game, Colandrea and Muskett shared reps with the first-team offense. Elliott said he was slated to have Colandrea start against the Mustangs on Friday.

On a sunny, cool fall Saturday at Scott Stadium, the Cavaliers honored 41 players during a Senior Day ceremony. The fans did not cheer much during the following match.

“Heartbroken for the seniors,” Elliott said afterward, “and again it starts with me and it starts with the staff. We’re not doing a good enough job getting them ready to play and getting everybody else ready to play so we can celebrate them at Scott Stadium at home.” “We have to figure out how to play better. We haven’t played our best football at home and you have to play your best football at home. That’s why it’s called home advantage, you have to play your best football at home and then be a road warrior.”

The Hoos came into the game plagued by injuries and suffered further attrition against a SMU team that had won eight straight after falling to BYU. UVA lost its two best defenders, Kobe Pace and Xavier Brown, to injuries in the first half, and Noah Vaughn carried the load for the final two quarters. Vaughn finished with 44 yards on 10 carries.

Defensively, end Ben Smiley III missed the game with a head injury and starting cornerback Kempton Shine left with a foot injury.

Brown suffered a season-ending collarbone injury, Elliott said. Elliott said Pace, Shine and offensive guard Noah Josey, who injured his shoulder during the game, will be “day to day” this week and Smiley could play against the Hokies.

“We have to find a way to get through next week healthy so we have as many guys as ready as possible when we go to Blacksburg,” Elliott said.

Virginia’s only extended drive on Saturday occurred in the second quarter. On fourth-and-3 from the SMU 40, Colandrea completed a 12-yard pass to Tyler Neville. Four plays later, the Cavaliers faced fourth-and-1 at the 19. Pace took a pass from Colandrea and raced up the middle for an apparent first down, but the Hoos were penalized for 12 men huddled before the play. Will Bettridge then missed a 41-yard field goal attempt and SMU closed the half with 10 straight points.

“The substitution situation is a matter of coaching,” Elliott said.

Colandrea took every snap for UVA on Saturday. When asked if the coaching staff would consider adding Muskett to the squad while the offense was having trouble, Elliott stated that he did not see Colandrea as a problem on Saturday.

“When you have nine sacks, you’re not protecting the quarterback,” Elliott said, “and it wasn’t just the offensive line. We had some young running backs out there who let some guys loose, and it was tough. And we got to figure out who’s going to give us the best shot, but at the end of the day, whoever your quarterback is “He needs to get help from his support staff everywhere, from the perimeter guys to the guard guys, and then we have to build a running game that keeps us from being one-dimensional.”

UVA’s first out came midway through the third quarter. Safety Corey Thomas Jr. catches a pass from SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, who had a great performance on Saturday. Thomas’ interception gave Virginia the ball at the Mustangs’ 34, but the drive ended with a fourth-down sack by Colandrea.

In the fourth quarter, UVA true freshman Billy Koudelka sacked Jennings, causing a fumble that linebacker Chico Bennett Jr. recovered at the SMU 27. That drive ended with Colandrea scoring fourth-and-goal on a broken score to senior wideout Malachi Fields. Play starting at the 4 yard line.

Fields, a graduate of nearby Monticello High School, finished with four receptions for 42 yards on an afternoon that UVA’s offense wanted to forget.

“We weren’t ourselves today,” Fields said.

NEXT: The Cavaliers will wrap up the regular season next Saturday night at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg. In a game that will air on the ACC Network at 8 p.m., UVA meets Virginia Tech in the rivals’ annual battle for the Commonwealth Cup.

Tech entered Saturday night’s game at Duke at 5-5 overall and 3-3 in ACC play.

The Wahoos will look for their first win at Lane Stadium since 1998, when George Welsh became head coach.