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By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia's 33-7 Loss to SMU

Matt Newton

Aaron Snyde
In this story:

Virginia fell to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in ACC play with a 33-7 defeat to No. 13 SMU (10-1, 7-0 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium. UVA enters the final week of the college football regular season still needing one win to reach bowl eligibility for the first time since 2021.

Saturday's game marked the sixth time in program history that Virginia faced a ranked opponent in three consecutive games and the loss dropped the Cavaliers to 2-6 against ranked opponents in their nearly three seasons under head coach Tony Elliott.

SMU entered the week with the second-best rushing offense in the ACC, averaging 190.9 yards per game, but the Cavaliers held the Mustangs to 111 rushing yards, their fewest in an ACC game and second-fewest of the entire season. Virginia did not turn the ball over a single time against SMU, who came into the week averaging 2.0 turnovers gained per game, good for 10th in all of college football. UVA fell to 2-2 this season when winning the turnover battle.

With a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Virginia avoided being shut out for the first time since the 2017 season. SMU outscored UVA 13-7 in the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers are outscoring their opponents 91-59 in the fourth quarter this season.

SMU has won is last 10 true road games, its last 16 conference games, and at 7-0 in the ACC, the Mustangs have clinched a berth in the ACC Championship Game in their first season in the league. They will face either Miami or Clemson in the ACC title game on December 7th in Charlotte.

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

Virginia

By the Numbers

SMU

173

Total Offense

434

65

Rushing Offense

111

1.7

Yards Per Rush

3.2

108

Passing Offense

323

67%

Completion %

76%

6.0

Yards Per Completion

12.9

1/3

Red Zone Attempts

6/6

7

Red Zone Points

33

3/15

3rd Downs

8/14

2/4

4th Downs

0/0

31:35

Possession Time

28:25

3-20

Penalties-Yards

6-48

0

Turnovers

2

1

Sacks

9

4

Tackles for Loss

12

0

Big Plays (20+ Yards)

4

Here are some key individual stats from Virginia vs. SMU along with some more notes:

Malachi Fields finished the game with four receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown. He continued his streak of catching at least one pass in his last 26 games. Fields now has five touchdown receptions this season and 11 for his career. He ranks ninth on UVA's all-time receiving list with 1,830 career receiving yards and needs just two more catches to move into the top 10 for career receptions (127).

With Virginia's lead running backs Kobe Pace and Xavier Brown suffering injuries, sophomore Noah Vaughn rushed for a career-high 44 yards on 10 carries.

Jam Jackson matched a career-high with nine total tackles, six of which were solo stops. He also posted nine tackles against Maryland in week 3 this season.

Will Bettridge converted a PAT to give him 193 career points in 30 games and he is now tied with Wayne Morris for 13th on Virginia's career points list.

Daniel Sparks posted 333 total punting yards, a season-high, and matched his season-high with seven punts.

Up next, Virginia heads to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash on Saturday at 8pm (ACCN).

More Virginia Football News

VIDEO: Tony Elliott, UVA Football Players React to SMU Loss

Five Takeaways from Virginia Football's 33-7 Loss to No. 13 SMU

Virginia Football Rolled By No. 13 SMU 33-7 in Home Finale

Virginia vs. SMU Live Updates | NCAA Football

Virginia Football: ACC Football Week 13 Power Rankings

Published
Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.