Five takeaways from UVA football’s 26-point loss to SMU

The Virginia Cavaliers were hammered by the SMU Mustangs on Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, losing 33-7 and falling to 5-6 this season.

Ahead of the Wahoos’ season finale in Blacksburg next weekend, we have five takeaways for what this deflating defeat means for the ‘Hoos.

UVA does not play like a well-coached team

SMU is a better team than Virginia is. Still, there were a lot of mistakes that the Cavaliers made that made this game unwinnable.

Here’s a list of situational decisions, mental mistakes and simple mistakes that indicate bigger problems for the Wahoos:

• The decision not to go for it on 4th and one at UVA’s 41-yard line on the offense’s first drive of the game.
• Anthony Colandrea took a sack on 4th and 6 which lost the ‘Hoos nine yards of field position.
• A 12-man in the huddle penalty out of a timeout on a critical 4th-and-one in the redzone.
• Chris Tyree and Kam Courtney run into each other and muff the second half kickoff.
• Colandrea takes another sack on 4th down – this time on 4th and eight in the red zone – which cost the Cavaliers another eight yards in field position. Once again, Colandrea had no hot route available when faced with pressure.
• UVA didn’t have enough players on offense until a third-quarter play, which meant Suderian Harrison had to run in from the sideline.
• Colandrea misses a wide open Noah Vaughn in the endzone and fumbles the ball in the redzone late in the fourth quarter.

Just one or two of these mistakes would be an excusable example of the chaos of football. Stuck together like they were today and have for much of the last two-thirds of this season, and it’s going to be hard to establish an argument that Virginia is a well-coached team — especially on offense.

Injuries have piled up for the Wahoo defense

The Wahoo defense went into this game starting two backups at linebacker, two backups at defensive line, one backup at safety and one backup rotated into the nickel corner to spell the beat Corey Thomas.

Quarterback Kevin Jennings and the SMU passing attack got theirs through the air. John Rudzinski’s group did respectably well against the run, but limited the Mustangs to just 3.2 yards per carry. carry in 35 attempts.

Virginia’s defense was hardly the leading issue in this game – heck, UVA won the turnover game 2-0. Still, the Cavaliers’ chances of doing something spectacular in Blacksburg next weekend look bleaker and bleaker with the missing pieces of this Wahoo defense.

UVA’s offensive line remains a limiting factor

The Mustangs sacked Colandrea nine times Saturday afternoon. Even when the ‘Hoos went into a maximum protective look, SMU dominated the one-on-one matchups and came home. Virginia’s offensive line consistently either lost in pass protection or missed assignments entirely. The pressure that SMU generated on the interior was especially stifling. Very often all Colandrea could do was turn his back and try to escape the pressure that came right in his face.

There was a stretch this season when the offensive line put together some encouraging performances and allowed the Cavalier offense to win on the ground. However, this is no longer the case as the increasing competition has equated to a logical battle to win in the trenches.

The Virginia coaching staff’s commitment to Colandrea is strange

The Virginia coaching staff’s almost unwavering commitment to Colandrea at quarterback has become downright weird.

Colandrea simply hasn’t got it done. Across his last 24 drives as UVA’s quarterbacks, the Cavaliers have scored once — when Colandrea connected with Malachi Fields on a heroic play to punctuate the waning minutes of the SMU loss.

Other than that touchdown, Colandrea was completely unspectacular against the Mustangs. He finished with 108 yards, while his longest completion went for just 15 yards. The sophomore consistently rejected throws to open receivers downfield and was completely overwhelmed by the pressure the Mustangs threw at him.

Now UVA’s offensive line did him no favors. And the play calling didn’t give him many — if any — hot routes when SMU blew. Plus, the ‘Hoos lost both Xavier Brown and Kobe Pace to injury during the game, limiting their ground attack.

That doesn’t excuse how Colandrea has played. He has become a check down quarterback whose only true value comes from his ability to occasionally escape pressure and scramble for positive yards.

Tony Muskett replaced Colandrea in the second half against Notre Dame and leading the offense to a pair of touchdowns suggested he could be the guy to start on Saturday. However, Elliott and the staff stuck with Colandrea as the starter, then remained committed to him throughout the 173-yard offensive performance.

Colandrea is far from the only problem with this Virginia offense. But after all, the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same things while expecting different results. UVA needs to make a change to give the team a shot at bowl eligibility next Saturday.

Virginia’s 2024 season will come down to winning at Virginia Tech

Well, the scenario that seemed to be playing out has come true for the Cavaliers. Their season finale vs Virginia Tech in Blacksburg will determine whether this 2024 campaign is a success or not. Should Virginia Tech lose to Duke on Saturday night, both the Hokies and ‘Hoos will enter next week’s Commonwealth Clash one win away from bowl eligibility.

A win for Virginia would be an important moment for the future of the program. Beating VT in Blacksburg for the first time since 1998, earning a bowl appearance for the first time under Elliott in the process, and closing out the regular season with a win would mean UVA has tangible momentum heading into the offseason. With only one year left on Elliott’s contract at the moment, the win against Tech would certainly earn him an extension and would set the ‘Hoos up to maintain continuity on its staff heading into year four.

A loss would stamp the 2024 season as a missed opportunity after a promising 4-1 start. That would have Elliott firmly on the hot seat into 2025 and would likely mean significant changes to his staff.

Given that UVA has beaten Virginia Tech just once in the past two decades and has not had success in Blacksburg this century, it would be naive to trust this Cavaliers team to walk into Lane Stadium and stage a rebellion. Never say never though.