The Result: Virginia’s upward trajectory was halted on Saturday, when the Wahoos were blown out by Georgia Tech 45-17. The loss dropped them to 2-7 on the season and 1-4 in ACC play, eliminating any chance at bowl eligibility. Saturday’s loss also drops UVa to 1-7 against FBS opponents and 0-5 vs ACC foes at Scott Stadium under Tony Elliott.

The Turning Point: UVa had an early lead but a rough sequence late in the first quarter into the second quarter doomed them. UVa missed a field goal that would’ve put the Cavaliers up 10-3 going into the second quarter. Instead, Tech went down and scored a touchdown to take the lead. Then Anthony Colandrea fumbled on what would’ve been a 1st-down run, giving the Jackets the ball in plus territory and leading to another touchdown. The lead evaporated andUVa trailed 17-7 before the contest got even more out of hand.

The Stat That Tells the Story: Georgia Tech rushed for 305 yards on the day, averaging 6.9 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns in the victory.

Wahoo of the Week: Surprise, surprise, it’s Malik Washington once again. Washington caught 11 passes for 109 yards in the loss and moved closer to several UVa single-season receiving records in the process.

Offense: Virginia had an opportunity for another strong offensive showing on Saturday against a Georgia Tech defense that has been far from dominant throughout the year. Instead, UVa ran into problems right from the outset, with quarterback Tony Muskett injured on a deep-ball interception on the fourth play from scrimmage. Muskett was unable to return and his status going forward is up in the air.

Once it was clear Muskett wouldn’t be able to go, Colandrea entered the game and after leading UVa to a touchdown drive right away, he struggled to play consistently throughout the game and the offense sputtered. Colandrea has played better in the three games where he prepped to start during the week, and perhaps with a few days of reps with the starters he’ll improve going forward too, assuming he has to play again. But on Saturday, it really felt like UVa missed Muskett, who has been a steady presence for the Hoos since returning from injury.

The Cavaliers struggled in several facets of the game, including turnovers, where each QB had a turnover. Frankly, Malachi Fields should have been able to catch the first turnover from Muskett but the defensive back was able to wrestle control of the ball on a game-changing play. UVa was also just 3-of-12 on 3rd down and had four three-and-outs. The Hoos made just two trips to the red zone, scoring touchdowns on both. This game underscores that the red zone TD percentage can play a big role in determining outcomes, but not making it to the red zone in the first place is far more damaging, assuming and offense doesn’t have a bunch of big-play touchdowns.

The ground game didn’t really get going, either. Colandrea ended up leading the team in rushing yards with 33 on seven attempts. UVa rushed for 4.1 yards per carry but never really strung successful runs together back-to-back during the game. Mike Hollns also went out with an injury in the first half, another costly loss for the team, especially in short-yardage situations.

The offense was pretty poor throughout the game and never really got into a rhythm with Colandrea in the lineup. Perhaps we can chalk that up to lack of prep time, but it was a disappointing effort. Still, one has to wonder if this game would have played out much differently if Muskett didn’t get hurt.

Grade: D

Defense: The effort on Saturday was pathetic and indifferent. We have to acknowledge the amount of injuries UVa has had to deal with, which has been a theme of the season. Still, it’s not like the Cavaliers had a bunch of inexperienced players on the field Saturday, having to go way down the depth chart. Most of the 11 defenders in the lineup on a given play have played plenty of snaps this season and many of them were expected starters or in the two deep at the beginning of the season. And the effort they put on the field was difficult to watch.

The Jackets gashed UVa on the ground for 300+ rushing yards, and even their backups found success in the fourth quarter. GT’s gap run scheme and QB runs gave UVa fits throughout the game, and it felt like Cavalier defenders were never in the right gaps. Georgia Tech didn’t have a huge day through the air, but didn’t really need to. The Yellow Jackets did make plays when they needed to, including a 58-yard touchdown pass after a holding call put them in 1st and 20.

UVa also allowed them to go 8-of-15 on 3rd down, including seven conversions on eight attempts through the middle of the game after missing their first three tries. Georgia Tech also hit a bunch of big plays, with 13 explosives (10+ yard runs and 15+ yard passes). To make matters worse, many of them went for touchdowns. GT had nine rushes of 10+ yards, totaling 200 yards, including four touchdowns. Four of Tech’s six touchdowns on the day came on plays of 30+ yards. UVa also gave up a pair of touchdowns immediately after holding calls had the Jackets in 1st-and-20 situations.

There aren’t many positives to highlight, other than Jonas Sanker going for 10 tackles and Ben Smiley coming up with a sack, which have been few and far between for UVa this year.

The effort was bad across the board and frankly, the Hoos weren’t even close to getting it right in this one. They looked unprepared and many of Georgia Tech’s successful plays came in situations that were in UVa’s favor or were plays where a UVa defender wasn’t even close to making a play. Georgia Tech’s offense has been put under strain and buckled when they’ve had to pass to win and Virginia never really put the Jackets under pressure.

Simply put, Saturday’s effort cannot be repeated the rest of the way, regardless of how many injuries there have been.

Grade: F

Special Teams: UVa’s special teams were pretty quiet on Saturday. Georgia Tech kept kicking the ball short and UVa did a nice job fielding those and didn’t have any turnovers or major gaffs. Ethan Davies fielded both of his two punt returns cleanly.

In the kicking game, Will Bettridge missed his first field goal since the season opener, coming up short on what would’ve been a career-long 48 yarder. It’s pretty clear that Bettridge is pretty consistent inside of 40 yards or so, but this kick was probably at the edge of his range (and maybe should’ve come after the end of the quarter when the wind flipped). Daniel Sparks averaged 46.2 yards per punt, with a long of 62 yards. The Jackets did have one punt return of 22 yards, however.

Special teams didn’t cost UVa the game on Saturday or make any plays to help the Hoos win. Bettridge’s miss was disappointing but he was bound to have one miss eventually. Hopefully it doesn’t disrupt his confidence if he has another big 40+ yard kick to make.

Grade: C

Coaching Staff: Virginia wasn’t able to carry any momentum from two solid road games into this home contest on Saturday, playing as favorites for only the second time this season. In short, it didn’t feel like UVa was very well prepared to play this game. Perhaps they took the Jackets lightly, or felt a little too comfortable playing at home. Or perhaps the Muskett injury was so damaging to the team’s psyche that they weren’t able to get out of their funk for the rest of the game.

Regardless, the staff has to find a way to get the team to play as hard and effective as it has against good teams, against any team. On Saturday, Georgia Tech kicked UVa’s butt in basically every way it could and looked like a team prepared to come into Charlottesville and win. UVa looked like a team that expected to win and simply went through the motions.

Because of that, there weren’t a lot of coaching decisions that decided the outcome during the game itself. UVa probably punted a few too many times in the third quarter down three scores or more in its own territory. But those plays probably wouldn’t have made a difference. And anyone concerned about burning Colandrea’s redshirt is either overthinking it or isn’t considering how inconsequential a player’s fifth year of eligibility is to a coaching staff trying to find its footing and get the program going. And besides, Colandrea might have to play the rest of the way now given Muskett’s unknown injury status.

UVa has lost a lot of close games where a decision here or there, or a play here or there have decided the outcome. This was not one of those games.

The Wahoos were outclassed by the Jackets and continue to struggle at home under this staff. UVa is not playing for the postseason anymore, but the staff has to find a way to get the team to play hard for the final three games and try to build some momentum going into the offseason, and of course, try to beat their in-state rival in a few weeks.

We aren’t dinging the staff too much for their in-game management, but the team’s effort and preparedness for Saturday’s contest against a Georgia Tech team that certainly deserved their respect and attention was poor,and falls at least partly on the staff.

Grade: F