Virginia Offense Goes Dormant in 24-3 Loss at Illinois

The Cavaliers went an abysmal 1/16 on third down and suffered their first loss of the season

Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Tony Elliott has suffered his first loss as a head coach and it wasn't a pretty one. 

Brennan Armstrong and the Virginia offense went completely dormant, totaling just 222 yards of total offense and failing to get into the end zone for a single touchdown. After giving up 42 points to the Cavaliers last season, Illinois smothered Virginia 24-3 on Saturday afternoon in Champaign, Illinois. 

Much of UVA's offensive struggles stemmed from the inexperienced offensive line, which gave Brennan Armstrong virtually no time to throw. Armstrong was sacked five times and essentially had to throw the ball right away or tuck it immediately and scramble. Even when he was able to get his passes off, Armstrong was not in sync with his receivers and was uncharacteristically off target. Armstrong went 13/32 for 180 passing yards and two interceptions and snapped a streak of 18-consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Virginia tried to run the ball, but totaled only 42 rushing yards on 29 attempts. The Cavaliers also converted only one time on third down in 16 attempts. 

For all the problems the UVA offense had, the Cavaliers had plenty of chances to wake up and get back in the game thanks to a solid performance from the Virginia defense. Illinois' first touchdown came as the result of a Billy Kemp fumble on a punt return that was recovered by the Illini in the end zone, a microcosm of all of Virginia's sloppy plays and errors throughout the game. The Illinois offense scored only two touchdowns and both were strikes from quarterback Tommy DeVito to tight ends Michael Marchese and Tip Reiman in the first half. After that, the Virginia defense did fairly well and held the Illini to only three points for the remainder of the game. 

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, the UVA offense never woke up. Even at the end of the game when Virginia had a few chances to score from inside the 10-yard line, the Illini stood tall and completely shut down Armstrong and the Hoos. The Illinois defense deserves a lot of credit for the game, but this was a disastrous performance for a Virginia offense that has a lot to work on this week in practice. Hopefully, this frustrating game will serve as a wake-up call for the rest of the season. 

Virginia will look to prove that this game was an anomaly rather than the standard when the Cavaliers host Old Dominion in Charlottesville next Saturday.

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