Virginia Uses Dominant Ground Game to Overpower Coastal Carolina 43-24

Matt Newton | Sep 22, 2024

Virginia Athletics

Virginia (3-1) rolled into a packed house at Coastal Carolina (3-1) and, behind a surprisingly strong showing from the Cavalier rushing attack, overpowered the Chanticleers and came away with a 43-24 victory on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina.

Coastal handed UVA a welcome gift to start the game, fumbling the opening kickoff and giving the Cavaliers possession at the 13-yard line. Three plays later, Anthony Colandrea connected with Malachi Fields for a seven-yard touchdown.

While the normally pass-heavy UVA offense got off to a good start, it was actually the ground game that carried Virginia to the win. After punting on their next two possessions, the Cavaliers proceeded to score points on each of their next six drives, leaning heavily on Xavier Brown, who racked up 171 yards on just nine carries, averaging 19 yards per carry. Brown is the first Cavalier to rush for more than 150 yards since Bryce Perkins did so against Virginia Tech in 2019.

As a team, Virginia racked up an astonishing 384 yards of rushing offense, averaging 6.6 yards per rushing attempt. UVA amassed 525 yards of total offense, eclipsing 500 yards of offense for the first time since 2022.

Grady Brosterhous punctuated two of Virginia's drives with rushing touchdowns. Kobe Pace added a rushing touchdown of his own and Malachi Fields bookended UVA's day offensively with the first touchdown of the game and the last score of the game, a 37-yard touchdown reception from Colandrea early in the fourth quarter.

Field finished with four catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Colandrea didn't have to do much, but was an efficient 13/20 for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

After converting just 3/15 third downs against Maryland last week, UVA converted 9/18 third downs and 2/3 fourth downs against Coastal.

Virginia vs. Coastal Carolina Live Score Updates | NCAA Football

On the other side of the ball, the Cavalier defense held Coastal to 4/13 on third downs and 1/4 on fourth downs, frequently getting off the field after the Chanticleers had driven into UVA territory. Antonio Clary led Virginia in tackling for the fourth-straight game with eight tackles and also recorded UVA's first interception of the season.

Virginia dominated time of possession, controlling the ball for 37 minutes and nine seconds.

Now 3-1 on the season for the first time since 2019, Virginia has a bye week and will then host Boston College on Saturday, October 5th in Charlottesville.

More Virginia Football News

By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia's Win at Coastal Carolina

UVA Football: Five Takeaways From Virginia's 43-24 Win at Coastal Carolina

Virginia vs. Coastal Carolina Live Score Updates | NCAA Football