Cavaliers Stumble in Home Finale

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — UVA’s football team is almost out of opportunities to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2021.

The Wahoos came into their home finale Saturday looking to reach that objective, but there was no celebration in their locker room afterward. In the first-ever football game between these schools, No. 13 SMU shut out Virginia for more than three-and-a-half quarters and rolled to a 33-7 win 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.

The seven points were a season low for Virginia as well.

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

The Cavaliers did not turn the ball over, but on offense they “never could establish a rhythm,” head coach Tony Elliott said. “Playmakers gotta make plays. We gotta to be able to run the ball. We just didn’t do a good job, and it starts with me. So I have to figure out quickly how to get this offense back in rhythm.”

Their win sends the Mustangs, who joined the conference this year, to next month’s ACC championship game. SMU (10-1 overall, 7-0 ACC) will face Miami or Clemson.

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

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

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

Elliott said he’s learned that in a rivalry “it’s not about me. It’s bigger than me. It’s about everybody else that it touches. And so, rivalry week, it’s not about how you feel. It ain’t about anything other than I got a responsibility to do my best, because there are a lot of people that are counting on me that this game means a whole heck of a lot to.”

Fifth-year senior Tony Muskett took over at quarterback in the second half against Notre Dame and led two touchdown drives. During the practices leading up to the SMU game, Colandrea and Muskett split reps with the first-team offense. Elliott said he decided Friday that Colandrea would start against the Mustangs.

On a sunny, crisp fall Saturday at Scott Stadium, the Cavaliers honored 41 players in a Senior Day ceremony. Fans had little to cheer during the game that followed.

“Heartbroken for the seniors,” Elliott said afterward, “and, again, it starts with me and it starts with the staff. We do not do a good enough job to have them ready to play and have everybody else ready to play to be able to celebrate them in Scott Stadium. We gotta figure out how to, one, just play better at home. We’ve not played our best football at home and you should play your best football at home. That’s why it’s called home-field advantage. You should play your best football at home and then go be road warriors.”

The Hoos came into the game depleted by injuries, and they suffered more attrition against an SMU team that’s won eight straight since falling to BYU. UVA lost its top two tailbacks, Kobe Pace and Xavier Brown, to injuries in the first half, leaving Noah Vaughn to carry the load in the final two quarters. Vaughn finished with 44 yards on 10 carries.

On defense, 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. Pace, Shine and offensive guard Noah Josey, who hurt his shoulder during the game, will be “day to day” this week, and Smiley might be able to play against the Hokies, Elliott said.

“We’ve got find a way to get healthy over this next week so that we got as many of our guys ready to go when we go to Blacksburg,” Elliott said.

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

“The situation with the substitution, that’s on the coaching,” Elliott said.

Colandrea took every snap for UVA on Saturday.  Asked if, with the offense struggling, the coaching staff considered putting in Muskett, Elliott indicated he didn’t see Colandrea as the problem Saturday.

“When you got nine sacks, you’re not protecting the quarterback,” Elliott said, “and it wasn’t just the offensive line. We had got some young running backs in there that turned some guys loose and it was tough. And we gotta figure out who gives us the best shot, but at the end of the day, whoever’s your quarterback, he’s got to have help from his supporting cast all the way around, from guys on the perimeter making plays to guys protecting, and then we got to establish a running game to make us not one-dimensional.”

UVA’s first takeaway came midway through the third quarter. Safety Corey Thomas Jr. picked off a pass by SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, who otherwise played brilliantly Saturday. Thomas’ interception gave Virginia the ball at the Mustangs’ 34, but the drive ended with a fourth-down sack of Colandrea.

In the fourth quarter, UVA true freshman Billy Koudelka sacked Jennings, forcing a fumble that fellow defensive end Chico Bennett Jr. recovered at the SMU 27. This drive ended with Colandrea’s fourth-and-goal touchdown pass to senior wideout Malachi Fields on a broken play that started at the 4-yard line.

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

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

UP NEXT:  The Cavaliers conclude the regular season next Saturday night at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg. At 8 o’clock, in a game to air on ACC Network, UVA meets Virginia Tech in the rivals’ annual battle for the Commonwealth Cup.

Tech was 5-5 overall and 3-3 in ACC play heading into its game at Duke on Saturday night.

The Wahoos will be seeking their first win at Lane Stadium since 1998, when George Welsh was their head coach.

Virginia Team Notes 

• At 5-6 overall, UVA enters its final game of the season one win away from becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2021.
• UVA is now 2-6 against ranked opponents under head coach Tony Elliott.
• For the first time since 2021 and sixth time in program history (1949, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2019, 2021, 2024), the Cavaliers played their third consecutive game against a ranked opponent.
• In its last six home games against top-25 opponents (dating back to 2018), Virginia is 3-3.
• The Cavaliers held SMU to 111 rushing yards, its lowest output in an ACC game this season and second-lowest overall.
• UVA scored its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers are outscoring their opponents 91-59 in the fourth quarter this season.
• Virginia is the Mustangs’ second opponent in their last 10 games to not give the ball away. SMU entered Saturday’s game 10th in FBS and third in the ACC in turnovers gained per game (2.0).
• UVA is 2-2 when winning the turnover battle this season, dropping contests against Louisville and SMU.
• With the victory, SMU clinched a spot in the ACC Championship game on Dec. 7 in Charlotte. SMU is 7-0 in ACC play in its first season in the conference. The Mustangs have won 16 straight conference games dating back to their time in the American Athletic Conference. 
• SMU has won 10 straight road games, the second-longest streak in program history.

Virginia Individual Player Notes 

• Malachi Fields (4 receptions, 42 yards, 1 TD) has caught at least one pass in 26 consecutive games.
• UVA’s only TD of the game was a Fields’ reception in the end zone in the fourth quarter. It marked his fifth touchdown of the season and 11th of his career.
• With 127 career receptions, Fields needs only two more to crack UVA’s top-10 career leaders list.
• Fields now has 1,830 career receiving yards, still good for ninth all-time in program history.
• Noah Vaughn rushed for career highs in both rushing attempts (10) and rushing yards (44).
• Jam Jackson tied his career high with nine tackles, including six solo. Jackson also had nine takedowns against Maryland (9/14) earlier this season.
• Kempton Shine has now made 36 consecutive starts dating back to his tenure at Eastern Michigan, the sixth most amongst active FBS secondary players.
• With one successful PAT, Will Bettridge tied fellow placekicker Wayne Morrison (1979-92) for 13th on UVA’s career points list. In 30 career games, Bettridge has 193 career points with 67 PATs and 42 field goals made.
• Daniel Sparks recorded a season-high 333 total yards punting and tied his season high of seven punts.

Offensive Starters: QB #10 Anthony Colandrea, #5 RB Kobe Pace, WR #8 Malachi Fields, WR #2 Andre Greene Jr., TE #44 Sackett Wood, TE #16 Tyler Neville, LT #52 McKale Boley, LG #77 Noah Josey, C #55 Brian Stevens, RG #51 Ty Furnish, RT #54 Blake Steen. 

Defensive Starters: DE #82 Kam Butler, NT #55 Anthony Britton, DT #90 Jahmeer Carter, DE #15 Chico Bennett Jr., LB #8 Trey McDonald, LB #11 Dorian Jones, CB #29 Kempton Shine, CB #9 Jam Jackson, NB #4 Kendren Smith, S #20 Jonas Sanker, S #3 Corey Thomas Jr.  

Game Captains: #55 Brian Stevens, #44 Sackett Wood, #15 Chico Bennett Jr., #90 Jahmeer Carter