UVA Football: Five Takeaways From Virginia's 24-14 Win Over Boston College

Matt Newton | Oct 5, 2024

Peter Casey-Imagn Images

After going down 14-0 in the first half and failing to score a touchdown through the first three quarters, Virginia rallied in the fourth quarter thanks to a fantastic effort from the Cavalier defense, storming back to beat Boston College 24-14 on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium. As we begin to break down what we saw from the Hoos in what is just their second-ever victory over the Eagles, here are our five quick takeaways from the game:

The Virginia defense is legit

Having given up more than a few big plays at Coastal Carolina, there were some lingering concerns over the quality of the UVA defense coming out of the bye week. Save a few busted coverages in the first half that led to Boston College's only points of the game, the Virginia defense was excellent in this game. After scoring touchdowns on two of their first three drives, the Eagles' drive chart looked like this for the rest of the game: punt, punt punt, interception, fumble, turnover on downs, interception. UVA's defensive unit was unyielding in the second half and then turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter, forcing three turnovers to spark the lifeless Cavalier offense. There are playmakers all over the place on that side of the ball and when they're clicking, this could be a really, really good defense.

Virginia's offense struggled with key receivers out

UVA was without three key wide receivers in Chris Tyree, Trell Harris, and Suderian Harrison. While the Cavaliers got good lifts from Andre Greene Jr. and JR Wilson, who made his season debut after missing the first four games with a knee injury, the actual offensive output was still severely lacking. Virginia had 218 passing yards, second-fewest on the season only to week 4 at Coastal, a game that Harris and Harrison both missed and one in which the UVA rushing attack led the way. The Cavaliers couldn't get either their passing game or their rushing game going consistently enough early on, managing just 16 yards of offense in the first quarter. It wasn't until late in the first half that Virginia finally put some decent offensive possessions together and even then, the end zone eluded Colandrea and the Cavaliers.

Red zone execution is a problem

Not being able to move the ball down the field is one thing, and an issue that the Cavaliers should be able to resolve moving forward, but the trouble converting red zone trips into touchdowns is becoming a much bigger problem. Virginia came into the game having scored touchdowns on only half of its trips into the red zone on the season (9/18). Now that number is 9/23. One of those five trips to the red zone without a TD shouldn't be held against the Cavaliers, as they took a knee at the BC 11-yard line to win the game. But even if you take that one out, it's still 0/4 on scoring touchdowns on red zone trips with three field goals and a turnover on downs. Virginia has the pieces to field an explosive offense, but not being able to finish drives with TDs in the red zone could put a low ceiling on how good this offense can be.

Colandrea and UVA offense are playing cleaner football

On the positive side with regards to the offense, we have to give the Cavaliers credit for playing turnover-free football for the second game in a row. Virginia is now +5 in the turnover margin battle in its last two games, a very good trend shift after the Maryland loss in which the Terps won the turnover battle 4-0. If Colandrea (and the rest of the offense) continues to take care of the ball and have A+ ball security, Virginia will continue to win games like this even if the Hoos aren't lighting up the scoreboard.

Virginia has belief and a winning mentality

This is the second time through five games that Virginia has erased a double-digit deficit and won via fourth-quarter comeback. Anyone who follows UVA football knows that such high-level late-game execution was not a trait possessed by the 2023 Cavaliers. All of the players in the locker room after the game answered in the affirmative when asked if they always believed they would win this game even when they trailed 14-0 and hadn't scored a touchdown well into the fourth quarter.

Especially against a Boston College team that erased a 21-7 halftime deficit in order to beat Virginia last season in Chestnut Hill, winning this game against this opponent in this fashion speaks volumes to the progress the Cavaliers have made in building a winning mentality.

Now, Virginia is 4-1 on the season a 2-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2019 and looking to build on what is by far the program's best start to a season in the Tony Elliott era.

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