“It’s a very, very difficult reality of the sport that we play,” UVA head coach Tony Elliott said, “[that] every play can end that way. And you don’t wish that for anybody.”
In late September, Elliott noted, a Boston College wide receiver had suffered a similar injury in a collision with UVA cornerback Malcolm Greene, who was concussed on the play.
“Nobody wants to see it, and it’s tough to get back motivated,” Elliott said. “But I believe [UVA’s players] responded. We just didn’t make a couple of plays there at the end that we needed to make.”
The Cardinals (9-1, 6-1) came in having allowed only three points in their previous two games—wins over Duke and Virginia Tech—and the Hoos struggled to move the ball in the first half. Their defense was playing well, but a special-teams breakdown late in the second quarter proved costly for the Cavaliers.
Backed up in the end zone, UVA’s Daniel Sparks had his punt blocked, and Louisville came down with the ball for a touchdown that put the Cards up 14-0.
Elliott challenged his players in the locker room at halftime.
“Coach Elliott got after us, rightfully so,” defensive end Chico Bennett Jr. said. “He was just saying that we know what we came here for, and at that moment not everybody was all in like we should have been. So it was a good wake-up call and a good reminder for the [team]: Hey, let’s keep going. There were some guys who were doing what we’re supposed to do, and other guys who had one foot in and one foot out.”
That changed in the third quarter. On the opening possession of the second half, Colandrea threw a red-zone interception, but the Cavaliers kept battling, and their next drive ended with walk-on tailback Jack Griese’s one-yard touchdown run.
Griese is part of the lineup UVA uses on quarterback sneaks, but offensive coordinator Des Kitchings fooled the Cardinals. After taking a snap under center, walk-on quarterback Grady Brosterhous did not plunge ahead as usual, but instead handed the ball off to Griese, who raced to the right corner of the end doze for UVA’s breakthrough TD.
“I was very surprised at the call,” Griese said, “and I was very excited.”
Moments later, after Matt Ganyard’s kickoff sailed into the end zone for a touchback, the Hoos gained more momentum. UVA linebacker Kam Robinson, a true freshman, picked off quarterback Jack Plummer’s first-down pass and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown, and Bettridge’s PAT made it 14-14.
Robinson became the first Cavalier defender to score a touchdown since D’Sean Perry, who returned an interception 84 yards against Abilene Christian in 2020.
Louisville went three-and-out on its next possession, and UVA took its first lead on Washington’s fumble recovery. Such heroics have become almost routine for No. 4, a graduate transfer from Northwestern who’s in his first season at UVA.
Washington finished with nine receptions for 155 yards Saturday, his fifth straight game with at least 100 yards receiving.
“He’s relentless with the ball in his hands,” Elliott said. “He doesn’t believe the first man can tackle him. He’s a savvy guy. He’s a veteran guy who’s played a lot of football, so he knows how to run his routes, he understands coverages, he can find the voided areas. So I’m just proud of him and the contribution that he’s made to this football team this season.”
On a night when Virginia’s running backs had little room to operate, Colandrea, Washington and wideout Malachi Fields led a productive passing game. Colandrea completed 20 of 31 attempts for 314 yards, and Fields caught four passes for 85 yards. Colandrea, a true freshman who started for the injured Tony Muskett, also hurt the Cards with his feet, rushing 14 times for 89 yards.
“That kid’s electric, man,” Washington said, “and he continues to make plays, continues to make some plays that are unscheduled, continue to make some plays that he needs to make, and so he’s just doing things right. We’re gonna continue to follow behind his footsteps, continue to watch how he goes, and just be there for support and be there to make plays for him.”
Elliott said Colandrea “showed some signs of maturity from the previous week in not putting the ball at as much risk, and I felt like he understood that when we’re playing against a good defensive front that can create pressure that we’re not gonna be able to sit back there all day. He was very decisive when he pulled the ball down, and he continues to show that he’s a competitor.”
With a win over Miami next weekend, Louisville can book a date with No. 4 Florida State in the ACC championship game. A North Carolina loss to Duke on Saturday would also send the Cards through to the championship game.
Virginia, which lost starting cornerback Coen King to an apparent dislocated elbow in the fourth quarter, was left to rue another close defeat. Of the Cavaliers’ losses this season, five were by a combined 17 points.
“I think it’s just doing the little things,” Washington said. “Nobody needs to make this extraordinary play. We’re not looking for anybody to be Superman. We’re just looking for everybody to just do their job. And so once we get all 11 guys playing on one heartbeat, on one sound, and everybody doing their job, we’ll come out victorious, because we’re good enough. We have the talent. We have the coaching staff, we have all the pieces that make a puzzle. We’ve just got to put it together.”
The Hoos nearly did so Thursday night.
“Hats off to all these kids, because nobody gave us a shot tonight,” Kitchings said. “There’s a lot of belief in that locker room, a lot of belief in this coaching staff, and we’ll just try to finish this out at home.”
