The Result: Virginia once again rallied from two scores down in the second half against an ACC opponent, but this time they came up a little short. Louisville struck back with a late touchdown to win it 24-20, and drop the Hoos to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in ACC play.

The Turning Point: There were several, but the Cardinals got the ball back with 6:33 remaining at their own 33. On that drive, they converted a 2nd and 12 for 18 yards and a 3rd and 7 for 9 yards on their way to the game-winning score.

The Stat That Tells the Story: UVa had four red zone trips on Saturday, and scored 13 points on those drives. If that number sounds familiar, it should. The Wahoos had four red zone trips in their other loss, against Maryland and came away with 13 points in that game, too.

Wahoo of the Week: There were two great candidates on offense, but we’ll go with Anthony Colandrea, who threw for 279 yards and a touchdown, but also led the Cavaliers in rushing with 84 yards on 15 attempts (93 yards when adjusting for sack losses). He also avoided a turnover for the third straight game, the first time he’s been able to do that in his career as a starter.

Offense: Virginia’s offense moved the ball effectively in Saturday’s game, but just didn’t come away with enough points. UVa outgained a good Louisville offense 449 to 408, and threw for 301 while rushing for 148. UVa also had a better showing on third downs, going 8-for-19. And as mentioned above, UVa didn’t turn the ball over for the third straight game.

The red zone offense continues to be a problem, however. Virginia scored a goal line touchdown on their first drive of the game, but their remaining three red zone trips led to just six points, held to field goals from the 13 and 6 yard line. They also had an empty trip late in the first half, failing to convert 4th and Goal from the 2. On UVa’s three trips that didn’t end in touchdowns, they ran a total of 13 red zone plays, and seven of them either went for no gain or lost yards, including a seven-yard loss on 1st and Goal from the 6, and a three yard loss on 1st and 10 from the 14. On UVa’s touchdown drive to start the game, all six red zone plays were positive, and they also had a penalty called on the Cards for an additional five yards. The red zone offense is what’s keeping UVa from being a very good football team that could certainly be 6-0 if they were efficient inside the 20. In their two losses they left 30 red zone points on the board, more than the margin needed to flip both results. UVa ranks 129th nationally in red zone touchdown percentage, at 37%.

We mentioned Colandrea’s big game, and while there are a few plays he’d probably want to have back, he was the catalyst that kept the ball moving on Saturday. Once again, he was without starting receivers Trell Harris and Chris Tyree, and one of their replacements, JR Wilson, was held without a catch on Saturday. Malachi Fields was dominant though, catching nine passes for 129 yards, and was really UVa’s big-play threat in the loss. Tyler Neville had a productive day too, with 64 yards on 7 catches. Freshman Kam Courtney was again a big part of the game plan, and caught five passes for 42 yards. Xavier Brown didn’t do a ton on the ground with just 19 yards on eight carries, but he did have the big 46-yard touchdown catch on a 3rd and 6 wheel route that gave UVa the lead in the fourth quarter. Kobe Pace was relatively quiet on the ground, too, with 38 yards on 10 totes. Virginia’s protection and run blocking wasn’t quite as consistent in this one, allowing three sacks and nine TFLs. But they still look much improved from what we saw the last two seasons.

In Saturday’s loss, you can see the makings of a very good offense, and perhaps whenever Harris can come back, their explosiveness will improve and the group will be less reliant on red zone scores. The offense moved the ball and controlled the clock but didn’t quite make enough plays where it really counts, on the scoreboard.

Grade: B-

Defense: It’s a similar story for UVa’s defense. They were faced with a tall task, taking on a very dynamic Louisville offense capable of big plays both on the ground and through the air. And for most of the day on Saturday, UVa’s banged up defense kept them in check. Louisville’s numbers didn’t end up too bad overall, going for 408 yards with 177 on the ground, and averaging 6.6 yards per play. But Virginia’s defense held Louisville to just one score in the first half, and only allowed two long touchdown drives, with Louisville’s other end zone trip coming on a 14-yard drive following a special teams blunder.

UVa wasn’t consistently able to create havoc plays, but down the stretch, they got in the backfield more often. The Wahoos finished the day with two sacks, credited to Kam Robinson and Caleb Hardy, and six total TFL’s. Virginia won the turnover battle, too, with freshman Ethan Minter coming up with an interception on a ball thrown deep towards the goal line in the 4th quarter. Minter was forced into action after Hardy, who was replacing the already-injured Antonio Clary, had to leave the game. Winning the turnover battle is huge and it was a big play for a young defender, but unfortunately the field position losses negated the positive play.

The Cardinals live on big plays, and on Saturday, they came up with five 15+ yard pass plays, and seven 10+ yard run plays; those 12 plays accounted for 70.3% of Louisville’s yards. And only one of those plays went for a touchdown, the 14-yard rushing TD allowed in the 3rd quarter.

As far as individual standouts, we mentioned Robinson and Hardy’s sacks and Minter’s INT. Robinson continues to flash, finishing the game with eight tackles, six solo, the sack, and another TFL. Jonas Sanker led the team in tackles with 11, including 0.5 TFL and a PBU. James Jackson had a nice game too, with six tackles and 1.5 TFLs.

The defense has clearly improved from where they were a few weeks ago. Louisville has talent all over their offense and a good offensive coach, and UVa held them to 24 points, tied for their lowest output of the season thus far (24 at Notre Dame). For the second-straight week, UVa’s defense gave the team a great chance to win against a quality conference opponent. Unfortunately in this one, they weren’t able to get that one last stop they needed to pull off an upset.

Grade: B+

Special Teams: After such a good run to start the season, a special teams snafu finally caught up to the Hoos and proved costly. It didn’t exactly come in the way we’d expect though, and wasn’t exactly an operational issue. UVa had Daniel Sparks rugby punt a few times to avoid getting blocked as he did at Louisville last year. His first rugby punt was low and hit a Louisville player running back in coverage, and nearly provided UVa a golden opportunity to recover the ball at the Cards’ 28 yard line, but Louisville ultimately recovered.

Sparks’ punt early in the second half proved disastrous though, as his punt bounced off the back of a teammate on a low kick, and Louisville took over possession at the UVa 14, and scored one play later to go up 17-7. It’s more difficult to know what to make of this one versus a more typical special teams breakdown but it was very costly nonetheless, and provided Louisville excellent field position to score their second touchdown of the game.

Other than those two punts, Sparks was fine, and hit a huge 56-yard punt that led to a big swing in field position late in the game, but ultimately didn’t matter as Louisville went down and scored anyway.

Will Bettridge was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goals, hitting from 31 and 23, and made both of his PATs. UVa didn’t do much in the return game, with Ethan Davies returning a pair of punts for 12 yards; Jonas Sanker did have an ill-advised 14-yard return in the second quarter, too. Louisville didn’t do much on special teams, either, with no punt return yards and 31 kick return yards on two attempts.

It’s unfortunate that UVa’s punt error cost them in a close game, but it did. Special teams issues have been fewer and further between, and this one may have not caused a loss on its own considering UVa still rallied back and regained the lead, but it was the first time this season we’ve been able to directly point to a special teams error and say that it got in the way big time for the Hoos.

Grade: D

Coaching Staff: Virginia had a golden opportunity to get to 5-1 on Saturday, and 3-0 in ACC play. They just weren’t able to hold on against a good football team. Louisville made a few more plays than UVa did, and finished off the game after the Cavaliers had them on the ropes. The result is disappointing for Virginia, but the effort wasn’t.

UVa was pretty banged up heading into this game, but still made a lot of plays on both sides of the ball, and kept Louisville’s explosive offense from running away with the game. Virginia’s offense moved the ball, they just need to figure out how to close out red zone drives. The decision to go for it on 4th and Goal from the 2 was a bold one but not necessarily the wrong one; Louisville has a potent offense, and settling for field goals in close is exactly how you can lose a game to a team like that. Unfortunately, the incomplete pass to Courtney kept the Hoos from possibly taking a 10-7 lead into the break, and proved somewhat costly in a four-point loss. Virginia’s opening drive was well thought out and they closed it out with a touchdown on the goal line; UVa’s offense moved the ball the rest of the way, but just didn’t quite finish when they needed to.

Once again, UVa found themselves down two scores in the second half against an ACC opponent. And for the third time in three tries, they kept fighting and eventually retook the lead. This time though, Louisville had just a little bit more in the tank, and made the plays they needed to and overcame UVa’s rally. Sometimes you have a good plan and execute fairly well, and just lose to a team that’s better on the day. That’s how we feel about this one right now, and the staff deserves some credit for keeping the team engaged and fighting when things aren’t going well. The next step is avoiding these double-digit deficits in the first place, and finding a way to play a more complete game from start to finish.

Grade: B