What Went Wrong: Dissecting Virginia's Frustrating Defeat to Maryland

Matt Newton | Sep 15, 2024

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The momentum Virginia had generated in its comeback victory at Wake Forest must have dissipated at some point during halftime of the game against Maryland on Saturday night. Anthony Colandrea had just scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown run with one second remaining to put the Cavaliers ahead of the Terrapins 13-7 at halftime.

Sure, UVA had missed some opportunities to build a bigger lead, but the defense was playing well, the offense was having some success moving the ball, and the Cavaliers' outlook was generally pretty good considering they were set to receive the ball to start the second half.

Instead, Virginia went three-and-out to start the third quarter, beginning a chart of second-half possessions for the Virginia offense that looked like this: three-and-out, interception, three-and-out, three-and-out, fumble, turnover on downs.

30 frustrating minutes later, Virginia's 13-7 halftime lead turned into a disappointing 27-13 defeat, the first loss of the 2024 season.

So, what went wrong?

It begins, as it so often does in college football, in the trenches. Virginia's offensive line is in pretty bad shape right now. If you looked behind the south end zone during Saturday's game, you would have seen a long line of inactive UVA football players sporting sweatpants, boots, crutches, casts, and slings. Many of those injured Cavaliers are offensive linemen.

Ethan Sipe and Drake Metcalf are the big ones, two transfers who were expected to provide important depth snaps, but who are now lost for the season. But there are others like Charlie Patterson and Noah Hartsoe whose absences are also notable. Most significantly, starting left tackle McKale Boley has yet to play this season as he continues to deal with an ankle injury. Terry Heffernan just doesn't have as many pieces to work with as he was supposed to.

Anthony Colandrea was only sacked once on Saturday night, but he was hurried seven times and frequently had to throw the ball away. Though Virginia's ground game wasn't bad - 123 total rushing yards and 4.1 yards per carry - it wasn't good enough to be leaned on consistently.

Virginia's playcalling did not take the lack of protection into account nearly enough. With Colandrea having almost no time to scan the field, the Cavaliers needed shorter routes for their best playmakers, namely Malachi Fields, who had just four catches for only 36 yards. UVA hit on a few big plays - the 45-yard bomb from Colandrea to Trell Harris comes to mind - but Colandrea's opportunities to give his receivers time to run long-developing routes like that were few and far between.

Even in the first half, when Virginia managed to drive the ball deep into Maryland territory, the red zone playcalling left much to be desired. The 45-yard pass to Trell Harris gave the Cavaliers first and goal from the 6-yard line. Kobe Pace ran the ball down for four yards to the 2 and then the Cavaliers attempted two passes, both falling incomplete, before settling for a 19-yard chip shot from Will Bettridge.

On their next drive, the Cavaliers again reached the red zone, but more immediate pressure on Colandrea forced a throwaway and another short field goal. It's still early, but Virginia has scored touchdowns on only five of its 12 trips to the red zone this season. That's not nearly good enough execution at the most important part of the field.

And then there's Anthony Colandrea. One of the biggest keys we mentioned in the lead-up to Saturday's game was Colandrea taking care of the football. His worst game from a turnover standpoint came against Maryland last year, when he threw three picks on consecutive possessions in the second half, turning that game into a blowout. This time around it was, unfortunately for Colandrea and the Hoos, not that much different. The Anthony Colandrea experience necessitates taking the bad with the good in terms of high-risk, high-reward plays, but when you combine his willingness to put the ball in jeopardy with the fact that he was consistently under pressure, the outcome is a three-turnover game for Colandrea, four turnovers for Virginia as a team, and a shutout in the second half.

Also contributing to that scoreless outcome was the fact that the Cavaliers converted on just three of their 15 third down attempts, while Maryland went 8/19. The disparity in third down conversions and turnover margin led to a significant advantage in time of possession for the Terrapins, who possessed the ball for 35:36 of gametime.

As for the Virginia defense, this was far from a bad game and it was really the turnovers/time of possession factor that was primarily responsible for Maryland putting up 27 points. The UVA offense was unable to sustain drives in the second half and turned the ball over four times. The Cavalier defense held the Terps to only seven points in the first half and did not allow any points off of the first three turnovers by the Virginia offense. It should also be mentioned that two of Maryland's three touchdown drives started around midfield.

With that said, there are three things that are concerning for the UVA defense moving forward:

1. Despite knowing that Maryland's offensive game plan was going to involve frequently putting the ball in the hands of Tai Felton, the nation's leading receiver, the Cavaliers were unable to stop Felton, who had nine catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.
2. After breaking through for six sacks against Wake Forest last week, the UVA pass rush reverted to being relatively unimpactful, sacking Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. only once.
3. Injuries. Namely, linebacker Kam Robinson missed the game after spraining his knee in the game against Wake Forest. We'll see if Tony Elliott has positive news about a timetable for Robinson's return at this week's press conference.

This loss is by no means the end of the world for Virginia. But it does represent a massive missed opportunity to make a statement by defeating a rival and improving to 3-0 for the first time since the legendary 2019 season. It especially feels like a missed opportunity given the fact that UVA went to the red zone twice before Maryland had scored a point and came away with just six points and given that the Terrapins committed eight penalties for 66 yards.

What this frustrating defeat does mean, however, is that next week's game at Coastal Carolina now becomes even more important than it already was. The Cavaliers cannot miss this opportunity to get to 3-1 and it might just be a must-win game with regards to Virginia's aspirations to become bowl eligible this season.

For More Virginia Football News

By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia's 27-13 Loss to Maryland

Virginia Shut Out in 2nd Half, Suffers First Loss of Season to Maryland

Virginia vs. Maryland Live Score Updates | NCAA Football