By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia's 27-13 Loss to Maryland

Matt Newton | Sep 15, 2024

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Virginia (2-1, 1-0 ACC) suffered defeat for the first time in the 2024 season, getting shut out in the second half en route to a 27-13 loss to Maryland (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday night at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers went 3/15 on third down conversions and turned the ball over four times, while the visiting Terrapins played turnover-free football and ultimately won the possession battle by controlling the ball for 35 minutes and 36 seconds.

It's the second year in a row that UVA has gotten off to a strong start against Maryland, only to struggle mightily in the second half. Last year in College Park, the Cavaliers jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but the Terps scored 42 unanswered points to end the game. This time around, Virginia led 6-0 and 13-7 at halftime, but was outscored 20-0 in the second half. This marked the first time the Cavaliers have been held scoreless in the second half of a game since that game at Maryland last year.

Maryland now leads the all-time series with Virginia 46-32-2 and has won each of the last four meetings. UVA hasn't defeated Maryland since 2011 and hasn't beaten the Terrapins in Scott Stadium since 2008.

See the chart below for a breakdown of the stats from Virginia's loss to Maryland:

Virginia	Stat	Maryland
370	Total Offense	391
123	Rushing Offense	128
4.1	Yards Per Rush	3.5
247	Passing Offense	263
57	Completion %	65
11.8	Yards Per Completion	9.4
3/4	Red Zone Attempts	4/4
13	Red Zone Points	20
3/15	3rd Downs	8/19
0/1	4th Downs	2/2
24:24	Possession Time	35:36
2-14	Penalties-Yards	8-66
4	Turnovers	0
1	Sacks By	1
4	Tackles For Loss	3
4	Big Plays (20+ Yards)	3

Here are some key individual stats from the game along with some more notes:

Anthony Colandrea completed 21 of his 37 passing attempts (57%) for 247 yards and also rushed for 17 yards and a 10-yard touchdown that gave Virginia a 13-7 lead going into halftime. That was the second rushing touchdown of Colandrea's career and he went over 200 yards passing for the 10th time in his career. Colandrea also threw multiple interceptions for the second week in a row and fourth time in his career. Factoring in his lost fumble, Colandrea has had three turnovers in both starts against Maryland.

True freshman wide receiver Kam Courtney posted his first-career reception, a 33-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter, and finished with two catches for 36 yards.

Tyler Neville hauled in a 39-yard reception in the second quarter, the longest catch of his career. Trell Harris also posted his longest-career reception, a 45-yard catch in the first quarter. Harris led all Cavalier receivers with 72 yards. Malachi Fields had four receptions for 36 yards, ending his run of back-to-back games with 100+ yards receiving. Virginia's team streak of nine-straight games with a 100-yard receiver came to an end as well.

Antonio Clary led the Cavaliers with 14 total tackles, a career-high, and also had a tackle for loss and two pass breakups. Jonas Sanker had 11 tackles in the game and he now has 204 career tackles in 34 games. James Jackson was the third Cavalier defender with double-digit tackles, posting 12 tackles.

Jahmeer Carter recorded Virginia's lone sack of the night, giving him 2.5 sacks for his career. It was Carter's first sack since UVA's upset win at North Carolina last season. Chico Bennett tied a career-high with eight tackles, matching the amount he had against Louisville last year. Jam Jackson registered a career-high nine tackles and recorded two pass breakups while defending the nation's leader in receiving yards Tai Felton, who finished with nine catches for 117 yards.