Virginia Uses Strong 2nd Half to Surge Past Duke 30-27

The Cavaliers scored 14-straight to open the second half and held on late to give Tony Elliott his first home win against an ACC opponent

For the first time under Tony Elliott, Virginia is victorious against an ACC opponent at home. 

Behind a brilliant performance from Anthony Colandrea and Malik Washington, the Cavaliers scored 14-straight points to open the second half and then UVA's defense protected the lead with some key red zone stops and Virginia came away with a hard-fought 30-27 victory over Duke on Saturday evening at Scott Stadium. 

For the second game in a row and fifth game this season, Virginia was without starting quarterback Tony Muskett, who is dealing with an ankle injury as well as a shoulder injury, which he was playing with but which will require surgery at the end of the season. In his stead, true freshman Anthony Colandrea made his fifth start of the season at quarterback. 

On UVA's second offensive series of the game, Colandrea marched the Cavaliers down the field and then completed a pass over the middle of the field to Malik Washington, who outran the rest of the Duke secondary for a 34-yard touchdown. With that reception, Washington gave Virginia an early 7-0 lead and also made some history, as he surpassed Dontayvion Wicks (2021) for most receiving yards in a single season in program history. 

Duke looked to respond, driving deep into UVA territory, but Jonas Sanker got his helmet on the ball, forcing a fumble by Duke running back Jordan Waters that was then recovered by Caleb Hardy, allowing the Cavaliers to get off the field without giving up any points. 

Virginia and Duke traded punts back and forth, and then the Blue Devils managed to put together a scoring drive, assisted by a facemask penalty on Michael Diatta that moved the ball inside the UVA 10-yard line. On the next play, Grayson Loftis found Jalon Calhoun in the back left corner of the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown to tie the game.  

UVA answered right away, with Anthony Colandrea using his legs on a designed quarterback run and breaking free for a 30-yard gain on the first play of the drive. Virginia picked up another first down, but then the drive sputtered as UVA faced a fourth and 3. Tony Elliott opted not to go for it on fourth down and instead attempt a long field goal. Will Bettridge rewarded his coach's confidence, knocking through the 46-yard field goal to put the Cavaliers back in front 10-7. 

At that point, the Cavaliers began to find themselves on the wrong side of some questionable officiating, which was no doubt doubly frustrating after they had more than a few debatable calls go against them at the end of last week's loss at Louisville. First, Virginia appeared to have forced another turnover, which would have given UVA the ball deep in Duke territory with a chance to extends its lead. Jonas Sanker made another great play on the ball, punching it out of the hands of Jeremiah Hasley. But the refs ruled that Hasley had not yet completed the process of the catch and upheld that call of incomplete pass after a replay review. 

UVA's defense managed to get off the field with a three-and-out, but Virginia's ensuing offensive possession was plagued by a seemingly endless stream of penalties, including a highly questionable personal foul on Ethan Davies for a blindside block. The UVA fans at Scott Stadium were understandably incensed and made sure the refs were aware of their displeasure. 

Virginia ultimately punted from its own end zone and the adverse flags continued to be thrown as UVA's defense returned to the field. It appeared the Cavaliers had successfully defended a third down to force a punt, but Aaron Faumui was penalized for unnecessary roughness well after the play was over. That kept the Duke drive alive and the Blue Devils eventually tied the game on a 29-yard field goal from Todd Pelino as time expired to make it 10-10 going into halftime. 

There was plenty to unpack from the first half, but the most compelling storyline was undoubtedly UVA's penalty issues and apparent rivalry with the officiating, as the refs called eight penalties on Virginia for 74 yards, while there were zero accepted penalties against Duke in the first half. 

It was a dream start to the third quarter for Virginia, as Duke's first two possessions were a three-and-out and an interception, while Virginia scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half. Colandrea completed a 27-yard crossing route to Malik Washington and then, on the next play, Colandrea threw a deep ball down the right sideline and Malachi Fields made a fantastic catch while falling to the ground with a Duke defender all over him for a 29-yard touchdown, putting UVA back in front 17-10. 

Duke was penalized for the first time on a hold on the ensuing kickoff, eliciting a loud and sarcastic cheer from the UVA crowd. Grayson Loftis attempted a pass over the middle, but Caleb Hardy, who earlier recovered a fumble, leapt and snatched the ball out of the air for his first-career interception. 

Virginia wasted no time in cashing in on the takeaway. Colandrea rolled out to his right and fired a deep strike to Malachi Fields for 25 yards into Duke territory. Colandrea went right back to Fields on the next play for 17 more yards inside the Duke 10-yard line. On 3rd and goal, Colandrea lofted a ball to the back left corner of the end zone and Malik Washington went up and hauled it in for his second touchdown of the game, doubling Virginia's lead to 24-10. 

Duke answered with a scoring drive, as Loftis completed several passes to Jordan Moore to drive down the field, but UVA's defense made a stand and got off the field allowing just three points on a 34-yard field goal from Todd Pelino. 

Virginia went three-and-out on its next drive and Duke drove down the field again, but UVA came up with another stand and then Pelino missed his 44-yard field goal attempt wide left. 

UVA slowed it down after that and delivered a 14-play, 69-yard scoring drive that took six minutes and 44 seconds off the clock. The Cavaliers didn't get into the end zone, settling for a 21-yard field goal by Will Bettridge, but they did kill a lot of time and pushed their lead back to 14 points at 27-13. 

The Blue Devils responded with exactly what they needed on their next drive, as Jaquez Moore got the handoff on a between the tackles run and managed to bounce it outside and streak down the left sideline 58 yards for a touchdown. Duke used just 75 seconds to score a touchdown and get back within one possession, trailing 27-20 with nine minutes remaining. 

Virginia's offense, managed effectively and, for the first time this season, mistake-free and without turnovers by Anthony Colandrea, again delivered a long scoring drive, going 62 yards in 14 plays and taking 5:20 off the clock and putting the Cavaliers in prime position to win the game. Assisted by a quarterback sneak from Grady Brosterhous to convert on 4th and 1 at midfield and then a couple of big catches from freshman Suderian Harrison, Virginia moved into field goal range and Will Bettridge converted a pivotal 30-yard field goal to put the Cavaliers back up by two possessions, 30-20 with 3:43 left on the clock. It won't go down as a game-winning field goal, but that's essentially what that kick was for Bettridge. 

Duke managed to drive down the field and score a touchdown, but Virginia's defense did well to make the Blue Devils take their time, as it took two minutes and 30 seconds off the clock. By the time Loftis found Mehki Wall in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown, just 73 seconds remained on the clock and the Blue Devils had no timeouts. 

Tayvonn Kyle recovered Duke's last-chance onside kick and Virginia knelt out the clock on the program's sixth-consecutive home win against Duke, but first ACC home win of the Tony Elliott era. 

Anthony Colandrea had been wildly impressive for a true freshman in his first four starts, but was held back by rookie mistakes and turnovers. With another freshman quarterback opposing him in Duke's Grayson Loftis, Colandrea finally delivered that elusive clean game and picked up his first win as Virginia's quarterback. Colandrea completed 21 of his 30 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed nine times for 66 yards. 

Malik Washington broke UVA's single-season records for both receiving yards and receptions and surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark for the ninth time, hauling in eight passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Malachi Fields added four receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. 

With the win, Virginia improves to 3-8 and 2-5 in the ACC with one game left in the season. The 2023 UVA football season will conclude next Saturday, when Virginia hosts Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash at Scott Stadium. Kickoff time and TV designation is still to be determined. 

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