In Tony Elliott’s weekly press conference ahead of the trip to Wake Forest, he was asked about the focus on finishing games strong given how many close games went the other way a year ago.
“So if you're at a practice today, it was a big emphasis in the last few periods of practice to emphasize the fourth quarter, making them mindful that this is where it's not just we put our four fingers up in the air and we play a video and, like, it's a mindset,” Elliott explained. “It's a mentality and an understanding that this is where we have to have our best, our best focus, our best attention to detail.”
On Saturday night in Winston-Salem, that preparation showed up and paid off.
Virginia found itself in a 14-point hole in the first half and carried a 13-point deficit into the fourth quarter. From there, the Wahoos took control of the game, winning the fourth 14-0 and rallying for a 31-30 win over the Demon Deacons.
Saturday’s game felt headed for a loss as the third quarter wound down and Wake regathered a two-score lead that UVa had cut into late in the first half, trailing by just three at the break. But the Cavaliers were undeterred by a strong third quarter from their opponent and were good enough in the fourth to overcome it and win.
The season is still young and there’s lots to work on. But for a program trying to turn the corner, every win matters and for the players to be able to see that their efforts can pay off if the execution is right, that’s big, too.
Last year UVa won a close game at UNC but for the most part came out on the wrong side of those tight contests. The Hoos blew a 13-point fourth quarter lead against JMU in their second game of 2023 and flipped the script on Wake Forest this year, doing the same to them.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing about the win on Saturday, besides the strong finish, is that they can play better than this.
Think about how many things didn’t go their way. Trell Harris drops a perfectly-thrown would-be touchdown from Anthony Colandrea that would have tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Colandrea has a terribly unlucky interception off a tipped pass that set up a short Wake touchdown drive (he’d throw another interception later, too). The Hoos also had a golden opportunity for a game-tying touchdown in the first half but ended up having to settle for a chip-shot field goal after failing to convert in the red zone. They gave up 400+ yards through the air to a quarterback that hadn’t done that since the very first game of his long collegiate career, way back in August 2019 (when Bryce Perkins was UVa’s QB1).
All of that, plus a few poorly-timed penalties, put the Cavaliers in a tough spot. But they were able to make enough positive plays to overcome it all.
The win was a team effort to power through on the road and pull out a close one, UVa’s first win in an ACC opener since 2020 and its first 2-0 start of the Elliott era.
Two areas of success put the Hoos over the top. The first was the success of the passing game, led by Colandrea who continues to look the part. And we say the entire passing game, because it was a collective effort, from the quarterback, his targets, and the offensive line, which put together one of its best pass-blocking performances in recent years. Colandrea was sacked just once and was under pressure just over 10% of the time, and that set UVa’s sophomore quarterback up for success in their comeback win. His targets came up big too, particularly Malachi Fields, who had two massive 4th-down catches on the game-winning drive and looks like Colandrea’s go-to guy on big downs. Harris was explosive too and looks like a nice complement to Fields through two games. UVa finally got the tight ends involved too, with Harvard transfer Tyler Neville hauling in two touchdowns. The amount of talent across the board in the passing game, from the quarterback and the receivers, will give UVa a shot in a lot of games this year. And if the blocking can be what it was against Wake, the offense should continue to produce.
The other area of success was opportunistic playmaking from a defense who had their fair share of struggles on the day. WF’s offense moved the ball efficiently but UVa often won out when it mattered. The Hoos held Wake to three field goals in short-yardage situations, created two 4th-down stops in UVa territory, came up with six sacks (many of which derailed quality drives from the Deacs) and came up with the big turnover when it mattered, with Malcolm Greene stripping the ball away from Taylor Morrin and Antonio Clary securing it. It wasn’t a perfect effort, but Virginia’s defense did enough to give the offense a chance, and ultimately kept Wake out of the end zone for the final 22:40 of the game.
With a big ACC road win in the bag and everyone around the program feeling good about the start to the season, it’s time for UVa to turn the page.
We’ve seen how the program dealt with setbacks, now we’ll get to see how it handles success.
UVa goes right into another challenge, with a talented Maryland team headed to Charlottesville this weekend. The Terps are coming off a last-second home loss to Michigan State and will certainly be looking to get back on track against the Wahoos.
The fourth quarter proved so pivotal in Saturday’s win over Wake, and it was just as important in last season’s loss to Maryland. But in that one, the Wahoos were the victim of a late onslaught rather than making one happen themselves.
UVa entered the fourth quarter of that game down a touchdown but in the red zone. Three Colandrea interceptions, starting with one there in the red zone, doomed the game for the Cavaliers, who ended up losing by 28.
On Saturday night, we’ll get to see how much Colandrea and Co. have grown from their last tilt with the Terrapins.
UVa’s season is off to the fast start it needed, and on Saturday night we saw that the Wahoos can finish strong.
This weekend, we’ll see if they can sustain success.
