Virginia Suffers Another Painfully Close Loss, Falls at No. 11 Louisville 31-24

The Cavaliers pushed the 11th-ranked Cardinals to the brink, but ultimately left Louisville with their fifth one-score defeat of the season

For the fifth time this season, Virginia suffered a brutally-close defeat as the Cavaliers pushed the 11th-ranked Cardinals to the brink on the road, but ultimately fell short in a 31-24 loss at Louisville on Thursday night. 

The first half was largely absent of drama with the exception of a blocked punt that resulted in Louisville's second touchdown to take a 14-0 halftime lead. Defenses ruled in the first half, with just one offensive touchdown being scored. UVA's first half drives included four punts, a fumble, and a missed field goal as the Cavaliers squandered the opportunities their defense was giving them to keep pace with the Cardinals. 

Virginia finally got on the board late in the third quarter, as freshman quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who made his fourth start of the season in place of the injured Tony Muskett, drove the Cavaliers down the field and inside the Louisville five-yard line. On 4th and goal from the 1, third-string quarterback Grady Brosterhous, who is used for QB sneaks, handed the ball off to little-used running back Jack Griese, who took his third-career carry around the right edge for a touchdown. 

Momentum swung quickly in favor of the Cavaliers, as on the next play from scrimmage, freshman linebacker Kam Robinson stepped in front of a pass by Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer and intercepted it, taking it back for a 28-yard pick six to tie the game. 

UVA's defense forced a three-and-out and the Virginia offense scored again to take the lead on a wild, but also unfortunately scary play. Perris Jones caught a short screen pass and fumbled the ball after a rough collision. Malik Washington picked up the loose ball and took it the remaining 41 yards all the way to the end zone for a touchdown. The celebration was halted immediately, though, as silence swept over the stadium with Perris Jones laying motionless on the field. He remained there for several minutes and was eventually carted off the field and taken to a local hospital via ambulance. Tony Elliott said in his press conference at the game that he was getting "encouraging" news from the hospital regarding Jones's condition. 

When play resumed, Louisville drove down the field and kicked a 35-yard field goal to eat into UVA's lead. Virginia responded with a scoring drive as Will Bettridge knocked through a 38-yard field goal to make it 24-17 with less than eight minutes to go. 

After playing a remarkable game up to that point, UVA's defense then committed two blunders that allowed the game to get away from the Cavaliers. A busted coverage allowed Ahmari Huggins-Bruce to get wide open behind the Virginia secondary and Jack Plummer found him with the deep ball for a 52-yard touchdown. 

After a Virginia punt, Louisville struck again for a big play, this time on the ground, as Isaac Guerendo found a massive hole on the right side and burst through it, running untouched to the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown to put the Cardinals back in front. 

Now facing a deficit, Colandrea and the Cavaliers drove into Louisville territory looking to tie things up. But on 4th and 7, Colandrea's pass to Malachi Fields fell incomplete. There appeared to be a  significant amount of contact from Louisville's Storm Duck during the route and while the ball was in the air, but no flag was thrown and Louisville kneeled out the clock to end the game. 

Of Virginia's eight losses this season, five of them have been one-score losses and those five defeats have come by a combined 17 points. Without diving too much into what led to those close losses, it feels safe to say this team does not deserve to be 2-8 this season. 

Anthony Colandrea completed 20 of his 31 passes for 314 yards and also rushed 14 times for 89 yards. Malik Washington continued to prove himself as the best wide receiver in the ACC and one of the best pass catchers in the country, going over 100 receiving yards for the fifth-consecutive game and eighth time this season with nine receptions for 155 yards. 

Virginia (2-8, 1-5 ACC) returns home for its final two games of the regular season, hosting Duke next Saturday at 3pm and then Virginia Tech the following weekend. 

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