Five Takeaways from Virginia Football's 41-14 Loss to North Carolina

Henry Pallatroni | Oct 26, 2024

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Virginia (4-4, 2-3 ACC) suffered a 41-14 defeat to North Carolina (4-4, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium. Here are some immediate takeaways from the game:

Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes

UVA did about as poorly as a team can across the controllables in Saturday's contest; they totaled five penalties for 45 yards, two interceptions, and three fumbles. 

First, UVA football shot themselves in the foot with some uncharacteristically bad penalties. Though 45 yards of penalties isn’t ridiculously high (UNC also had 5 penalties for 45 yards), the penalties were just inexcusable, particularly in the first half. A delay of game on the very first play of an offensive drive in the first half was perhaps the most egregious.

The Hoos' mistakes did not help their poor red zone performance improve; their first trip to the red zone was stifled by a snap over Colandrea’s head on first and goal, and ultimately forced them to settle for an early field goal. The other two fumbles from the Hoos were both recovered by Virginia, but contributed to the overall sloppiness and poor attention to detail that defined this offensive performance.

In the turnover department, Colandrea and Co. took a step back after three straight games without an interception. Colandrea threw two interceptions on the day, including an 86-yard pick-six at the tail end of a nine-play, red zone drive. The two turnovers translated to 13 UNC points.

Virginia vs. North Carolina Live Score Updates | NCAA Football

Lack of Pressure 

UNC quarterback Jacolby Criswell often had all the time he needed, and more, to sit in the pocket and deliver strikes downfield. The UVA defense had just four tackles for loss, compared to 12 for UNC. The UVA defense had 0 sacks, compared to 10 from the Heels. Criswell was efficient through the air, throwing for 193 yards and two scores. Combine that with star running back Omarion Hampton, and UNC’s offense was moving the ball with relative ease.

Under Pressure 

While Criswell of UNC had ample time to run the UNC offense, Colandrea was scrambling the entire game. UNC had six sacks in the first half alone, and finished the game with 10 sacks - a statistic that borderline reads like a typo. Colandrea rarely had time to get through his reads beyond the first option, and this certainly kept the offense from finding any rhythm. 

Omarion Hampton was the best player on the field 

Though UVA’s RB room is nothing to scoff at, UNC’s star RB and future NFL draft pick Omarion Hampton stood out from the crowd during today’s game. He made UVA’s tackling look atrocious as he shifted his way to 105 yards and two scores. 

The Colandrea Offense was unbelievably flat 

The statistics are awful; the Hoos offensive attack went for just 288 yards (compared to the Heels' 488), but the lack of any sort of energy, creativity, or new looks from the Colandrea offense throughout the game was borderline concerning. Other than a few balls downfield to Malachi Fields and a string of first down completions to Tyler Neville, it felt as though the offense had nothing through the air other than menial screen passes down the stretch. Combine that with an offensive line that looked closer to the level of a local high school team than an ACC football program, and there was little to get excited about watching the offense go PUNT, INT, PUNT, INT, turnover on downs in five consecutive drives. 

Two Straight Weeks of Tony Muskett 

After finding immediate success in garbage time last week against Clemson, Muskett came into the UNC game midway through the fourth quarter and connected with Jr Wilson Jr. for a 68-yard score on just his third throw of the game. Though Wilson was wide open, it can’t go unsaid that for two straight weeks Muskett has entered the game and immediately looked better than Colandrea. Though Colandrea certainly has done enough to hold onto that starting job (for now), Muskett’s fourth quarter performance was the lone bright spot in a game of offensive misery.

Up next, Virginia has a bye week before traveling to take on No. 19 Pittsburgh on Saturday, November 9th.