In a season full of almosts, the Virginia football unfortunately added another to the list Thursday night. Leading 11th-ranked Louisville in the final quarter, the Cavaliers stumbled in the closing minutes and fell 31-24 on the road.
That’s the fifth game this season that UVA has lost by a touchdown or less. It’s also the fifth time the opponent converted the go-ahead score in the final five minutes or overtime. JMU took the lead with 55 seconds to go, NC State won on a kick with 0:00 on the clock, Boston College made a field goal with 2:11 remaining, and Miami won in overtime. Louisville added to the late-game frustrations as it scored on a touchdown run with 3:25 left.
That’s a lot of almosts in a single season, leaving UVA at 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the ACC with two conference home games left on the schedule.
“We’ve got to take that next step and finish in games,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “Being close is not where we want to be. We want to be on the other side and finish games. You get into four quarter ball games in the ACC and it’s going to come down to two or three plays. There at the end of the game, they made two more big plays than we did. When you don’t make those plays or you allow your opponent to make the plays, then you don’t win the game.”
Playing on a short week after a rough 45-17 home loss to Georgia Tech, the Cavaliers found themselves down 14-0 at halftime after the Cardinals scored midway through the first quarter and then added a punt block touchdown from Jimmy Calloway late in the second quarter. Instead of wilting, the Hoos stormed out of the locker room and into the lead with a 21-0 burst in the third quarter.
The three touchdowns all came in the final five minutes of that frame. It’s not often you’ll see the combination of plays that led to those scores either.
On the first, Virginia worked methodically down the field with 11 plays that covered 80 yards. That drive included a 28-yard reception from Kobe Pace and three quarterback keepers by Anthony Colandrea that measured 22, 12, and 7 yards. The play that scored, though? UVA lined up on 4th-and-Goal from the 1-yard line with backup QB Grady Brosterhous in the popular ‘tush push’ formation, but he spun and handed the ball to Jack Griese for a run to the right edge that reached the end zone.
Trailing 14-7, the Hoos tied the score on the next snap of the game. Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer looked to pass to his right along the middle seam of the field but linebacker Kam Robinson thwarted that plan and more. The Virginia true freshman snared the ball out of the air and raced 28 yards the other way for the touchdown at the 4:05 mark of the third quarter.
With the game tied, Virginia took the lead in the final minute of the period. This time on a 2nd-and-27 situation created by two holding penalties, Colandrea completed a pass to Perris Jones who gained 7 yards before a group of Louisville players converged. Jones took helmet to helmet contact and lost the football with the Cards’ Cam’Ron Kelly credited for the forced fumble. UVA receiver Malik Washington scooped up the recovery and sprinted 42 yards for the touchdown. The Hoos led 21-14 after the extra point.
“The biggest things was I just challenged the guys,” Elliott said. “We don’t even look close to who I know you are and what you’re capable of. There’s no fear. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just go play.”
On the go-ahead touchdown play, the game was delayed when Jones stayed down on the field after the hit. The Louisville athletic training and medical personnel rushed to him immediately. After several moments, Jones was carted off the field and transported to the hospital. UVA media relations released a statement after midnight that said “Virginia running back Perris Jones has regained movement in all of his extremities after being injured during Thursday’s football game at Louisville.”
Both teams showed resilience to get back into a closely contested game in the fourth quarter. After a trade of field goals, however, the Cardinals came up with two plays that flipped the scoreboard and the eventual outcome.
The first was a 52-yard scoring strike as Plummer connected with Ahmari Huggins-Bruce over the middle as UVA’s defense had a blown coverage that saw no defenders anywhere near the catch downfield. The Cavaliers could not answer on offense and the next snap for Louisville’s offense produced another explosive touchdown for the lead. This time, Isaac Guerendo broke free with on a running play to the right that resulted in a 73-yard touchdown. Suddenly, Virginia trailed 31-24 and a final drive into Louisville territory eventually ran out of steam at the 45-yard line.
Cavalier defensive coordinator John Rudzinski said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network that those two plays stung.
“It came down to too many big plays,” Rudzinski said. “Really, the final two plays on defense wasn’t the standard that we hold ourselves to and two plays we’d like to have back, but you don’t get ’em back in this game. I know the guys fought hard. I thought they played with great effort and came up a little bit short tonight.”
In the end, the stats showed a closely contested game in most ways. Virginia posted 68 plays on offense for 434 yards, while Louisville finished with 59 plays and 423 yards. The Cavaliers had 21 first downs to the Cards’ 19. The time of possession tilted UVA’s way 30:08 to 29:52. The visitors converted 4 of 15 third downs, while the hosts landed at 4-11. The one area that did sit as close: penalties. The Hoos got penalized 13 times for 100 yards and the Cardinals ended up at 7 for 60 yards, though some flags were picked up and waved off.
Individually, Colandrea got the start at QB with Tony Muskett out with an ankle injury. Colandrea completed 20 of 31 passes for 314 yards. He did throw 1 interception and got brought down by 4 sacks. He still tallied a team-high 89 rushing yards. His top target on the night was unsurprisingly Washington, who hauled in 9 catches for 155 yards. Malachi Fields added 4 receptions for 80 yards.
Louisville countered with 243 passing yards and 2 touchdown from Plummer. He found Huggins-Bruce for the big scoring play, but 11 different players caught a pass for the offense. Jawhar Jordan added 17 carries for 95 rushing yards and Guerendo added 6 more for 94 yards. Defensively, Virginia safety Jonas Sanker made 11 tackles. Chico Bennett Jr. chipped in 8 tackles, while James Jackson and Coen King each had 7. Robinson had 4 tackles to go with his pick-6 INT.
It just wasn’t quite enough for the Hoos to get another upset on it’s résumé for the season.
“I saw a group respond,” Elliott said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “I didn’t know how they were going to respond at halftime, but they responded. … We’ve got to learn how to finish. Proud of the guys for being able to have a lead in the fourth quarter, but we’ve got to finish. We’ve got to find a way to make the plays. I’ve got to coach better. I’ve got to have the guys better prepared to make those plays when the game’s on the line.”
You still suck UVA!
And so do your fans