The Result: Virginia was overwhelmed by #8 Notre Dame on the road Saturday, falling into a big hole, eventually losing 35-14 in South Bend. UVa trailed 28-0 at the half, made a quarterback change and limped to the finish in a blowout loss. The loss drops Virginia to 5-5 on the season, with two games left to try to attain bowl eligibility.

The Turning Point: It would be obvious to say the first play of the game, when Chris Tyree fumbled the opening kickoff, essentially giving Notre Dame a free possession, but UVa kept it close for a while after that. Instead, we’ll say the Kobe Pace fumble at the Notre Dame 14 yard line, with UVa trailing 7-0 with 10:16 left in the first half. If Pace doesn't give the ball up there, UVa has 1st and 10 on the 12 with a chance to tie the game, and perhaps the game plays out differently, even if the result remains the same. Instead, Notre Dame fell on the loose ball, and then went on a 9-play, 88-yard drive to take a two-score lead.

The Stat That Tells the Story: Virginia turned it over five times, all in the first half, and allowed 28 points off of those turnovers, the exact halftime margin. Conversely, UVa actually took the ball away twice, but didn’t score any points from either takeaway.

Wahoo of the Week: We’ll go with Jonas Sanker for the second week in a row, as UVa’s senior safety continues to show that he’s one of the top defenders in the country. Sanker led UVa with 13 tackles on Saturday, eight of those stops of the solo variety. He also had a pair of tackles for loss, a sack, and a special teams fumble recovery in the losing effort.

Offense:

It was certainly a day to forget for UVa’s offense. Four of the five turnovers belong to that group, with three interceptions and a fumble lost. They also had a turnover on downs around midfield, on the second drive of the game. UVa finished the game with 30 total yards, throwing for 172 and rushing for 128. UVa was 6-for-18 on third down, but made most of those conversions later in the game with the result long decided. Funny enough, despite the rough showing, UVa was a perfect 2-for-2 in the red zone with two touchdowns, both quarterback runs. The area that has hurt UVa the most offensively this season was not a problem in this one.

The biggest problem, obviously, was ball security. That starts with the quarterback, who had his worst game as a Cavalier. Anthony Colandrea didn’t do much early with the game in the balance, and once Notre Dame got up two scores, he started pressing and made some really costly errors. Colandrea finished 8-for-21 for 69 yards and three interceptions; he also rushed for 23 yards. Colandrea threw three consecutive interceptions to end the first half and was benched for Tony Muskett. In relief, Muskett was able to play a bit looser with less pressure, but was easily better than Colandrea, going 9-for-14 for 103 yards, while rushing for two touchdowns, from 19 and 2 yards out, respectively. Now, the question is where does the offense go from here? Colandrea has really struggled to take care of the football in the last three games, and the offense isn’t making enough big plays to counteract those mistakes. Does Tony Elliott turn to Muskett, a steadier hand, for the final two games?

The rest of the offense didn’t have a ton to report. Xavier Brown had a decent game, rushing for 52 yards on 11 carries. Pace had 31 yards on 6 carries, but his best run of the day ended in that game-changing fumble we mentioned above. At receiver Malachi Fields led the way with 81 yards on 4 receptions; Tyler Neville also hauled in 4 passes for 27 yards. Another positive is that UVa surrendered just one sack, coming later in the game when the Hoos tried to rush a play after Fields’ long catch was in question.

Virginia’s offense struggled against a very good Notre Dame defense, and that’s to be expected. But they gave the Irish way more help than they needed, with all of the turnovers in the first half.

Grade: F

Defense:

Virginia’s defense actually fought the good fight in Saturday’s loss and while they weren’t perfect, they were as much a victim of the circumstances as they were at fault for Notre Dame’s points. Right off the bat, UVa had to go out on defense after the muffed kickoff, when they weren’t expecting to be out there. A bad Kam Robinson penalty kept that short drive alive, and the Irish punched it in on the next play. That scoring drive was just 25 yards, and was one of three Irish touchdown drives of 32 yards or less, including one drive that began at the UVa 2 after an interception return. Three turnovers gave Notre Dame short fields, and put UVa’s defense in a really tough spot. Notre Dame only had one really long drive, the 9 play, 88 yard trip in the second quarter; their other long touchdown came on a 76-yard touchdown run.

Notre Dame finished the game with 448 yards, with 234 on the ground and 214 through the air. UVa’s defense remarkably held the Irish to 1-for-12 on third downs, but it didn’t really seem to matter. Notre Dame ended up converting three of those stops anyway, as they went 3-for-4 on 4th-down tries. UVa also forced a pair of red zone stops on Irish scoring attempts from in close. Notre Dame rushed for 6.2 yards per carry, and as the game wore on, Virginia’s defense found it harder to stand up to the Irish front and their ground game. Notre Dame dominated time of possession, especially in the second half, and ended up holding the ball for 34:40.

UVa did force one turnover, a Trey McDonald interception early in the second half. Unfortunately the offense wasn’t able to do anything with it, and Notre Dame ended up tacking on another touchdown before the Hoos finally got on the scoreboard.

We mentioned Sanker’s exploits as a positive. Kendren Smith also had a decent day with eight tackles; Kempton Shine added six, and Robinson and McDonald had five each; McDonald in particular had a solid outing considering he didn’t play in the first half, after having to sit out following a targeting call last week. Perhaps the biggest takeaway for the defense on Saturday was all the injuries suffered. A bunch of players had to come and go from the game after getting banged up, and the health of the defense, going into a tough clash with a high-powered SMU offense, will be a big factor.

Grade: C-

Special Teams:

UVa’s special teams haven’t been totally mistake free this year, but they’ve been better overall. On Saturday, they had a glaring mistake right off the bat, with Tyree’s kick return fumble leading to a free Irish possession. Luckily for the Hoos, special teams got away with another blunder later, when Notre Dame’s fake punt touchdown got called back for an illegal formation. UVa clearly wasn’t ready for that one and it led to an easy score that got wiped out by the flag. Special teams did eventually even their own turnover margin, with Sanker catching a bobbled fair-catch attempt to give UVa the ball in Notre Dame territory. Unfortunately the offense couldn't take advantage.

The rest of the day on special teams was relatively uneventful. Ethan Davies bobbled a punt catch, but recovered it. Daniel Sparks averaged 40 yards per punt on seven total kicks, with a long of 51 yards. Will Bettridge didn’t have any field goal attempts in the loss, and made both PATs. UVa didn’t really have any returns after Tyree’s blunder, with just 20 total kick and punt return yards in the loss.

The game was probably going to be an uphill battle regardless, but spotting Notre Dame a free possession at the UVa 25 to start the game was pretty brutal. And for that alone, we have to dock the grade significantly.

Grade: D-

Coaching Staff:

This one is a bit harder to evaluate than some fans may think. Yes, UVa got rolled in the first half and trailed 28-0 at the half. That’s not great, on its own. UVa did play a little better in the second half, but the game wasn’t exactly in danger for Notre Dame. The biggest issue on Saturday wasn’t necessarily coaching itself, but the execution of the players. Two guys put the ball on the turf, and Colandrea had a nightmare day with three picks, all of which were ill-advised and poorly-placed throws. All coaches can do on those is watch from the sideline, and eventually make the decision they ultimately did, to switch to Muskett.

The coaching choices that are most important aren’t ones that came in the game on Saturday, but what they do going forward. The quarterback situation is certainly in the balance, or should be, heading into the home finale with SMU. The staff will have to decide which guy gives the team the best chance to win, and build a game plan to help that guy lead the team. It’s critical that they make the right choice here.

We’ll give the staff a disappointing grade simply based on how brutal the first half was, but Elliott and company have the opportunity to change course now and try to salvage bowl eligibility.

Grade: D