At some point in each of UVa’s four games this season, there has been a moment or two when even if you didn’t get all the way to thinking the Wahoos would win, you at least saw enough bits and pieces to make you think plenty of positive thoughts.
Yet, the totality of circumstances didn’t just at some point overshadow that feeling of optimism. No, it has continually found ways to slam the door rudely in its face.
The question now, with a third of the season behind them, is what that will eventually mean for the Wahoos and the program as a whole.
At 0-4, the Cavaliers are both lost and somewhat found. Unsurprisingly, what everyone has collectively found is a team that needs more and better.
And soon.
A 49-13 loss to Tennessee in Tennessee, especially when your QB1 goes down with injury, is honestly not a big deal. So, perhaps in some ways “four” of the O-fer makes it sound worse than it is. But in subsequent losses to James Madison, Maryland, and most recently NC State, the Hoos have been in the fight until they very much weren’t.
Against the Dukes, it was the post-delay period where UVa gave up a pair of eight-play, 80-yard TD drives to lose. Against Maryland, it was the post-halftime period when Virginia allowed 28 of what would go down as 42 unanswered points. And of course, against the Wolfpack it was the back-breaking penalties in the final 36 seconds.
Just like with those penalties, on their own each of these losses would feel much more like the one in Nashville: A result that is disappointing but doesn’t linger. Collectively? Oh, it’s lingering.
What’s been interesting over the course of the young season has been the friction between those fans and observers who watch the team and come away with a sense of optimism contrasted against those who can’t help but worry with each play, each quarter, and each game that things are not primed for course correction.
What is not up for debate is the play of first-year signal caller Anthony Colandrea, affectionately referred to as AC10 by some well before he had control of the proverbial conch shell. Over the course of these four games, he has shown himself to be not only apt but also ready, which is not typically the conclusion one makes this early about a rookie QB who didn’t even win the job in camp (itself a rarity). After an impressive coming out party against JMU, he bounced back from a disastrous second half in College Park to put up impressive numbers against NCSU: He accounted for 314 yards of total offense, including a career-high 43 on the ground. And in a potential game-saving situation, he not only helped UVa put together an 11-play scoring drive (and 2-point conversion) but went 5-for-6 passing for 50 yards and added 10 more rushing yards in the process.
He’s been a revelation. To even the naysayers, he’s a bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, his play has also been framed as another reason for pessimism: Even with this very impressive kid, the Wahoos still can’t find a way to win.
One hopes, with apologies to those in Chestnut Hill, that changes this weekend. (If not, that’s a column for another day).
What’s also undeniable about this team has been the play of Malik Washington, who was named the ACC’s Wide Receiver of the Week following his 10-catch, 170-yard, two-touchdown effort against the Pack (all career highs). He’s now the third player in school history to have 100 yards receiving in three straight games and he’s caught a pass in 29 straight dating back to his time at Northwestern.
An absolute godsend if there ever was one, Washington’s arrival in Charlottesville—especially in partnership with Colandrea’s emergence—has been exactly what this team needed at receiver. Everyone wondered what the Wahoos would look like at that position and while Malachi Fields has been solid, Washington has carried the offense at times.
These two players and their somewhat non-traditional ways of landing at UVa and in their respective roles are proof of concept for a staff that frankly needs all the help it can get. They are exactly the kind of thing you want to see and reasons why some look at things and see a glass half full.
The detractors, on the other hand, see a team that in spite of a future All-ACC kind of QB and the league’s top receiver (in both catches and yards, mind you) can’t seem to get out of its own way.
The defense has clearly not been up to the task and the special teams units have had a number of extremely frustrating moments. Even if you sprinkle the AC10 sauce and the Washington bonafides, it’s a tough sell.
Consider, as we’ve covered in deep detail, the bevy of close games that have not gone UVa’s way. We now have one more to add to the pile. In fact, the three-point loss to NC State is the seventh game decided by a touchdown or less in the first 14 of Tony Elliott's tenure. And among them, the Wahoos are 2-5 in one-score game.
That, dear reader, is not good.
The waiting, as the song says, is the hardest part. There remain eight games on UVa’s schedule, beginning with Saturday’s 2 p.m. kickoff at BC. As has been the case through the first third of the season, much can happen and will. The determination on the big picture and all of that, with apologies to those on both sides of the issue right now, will play out.
What’s not up for debate is that the forecast is, for now, cloudy.
We'll have to wait and see where things go from here.
