In its first two ACC losses this season, the Virginia football team lamented slow starts that contributed to the setbacks. With a chance to play a conference game at home finally on Saturday, the Hoos erased the slow start trend but then fell apart as the game progressed as Louisville pulled away to a 34-17 win at Scott Stadium.
The double-digit loss dropped UVA to 0-3 in the ACC and 2-4 overall. It also dumped more fuel on a growing frustration fire.
"Right now, frustrating walking out of that locker room, very frustrating," Cavalier offensive lineman Derek Devine said of the team's mood. "But we have to put it behind us. We have to come in Monday focused on the bye week and Georgia Tech."
"The guys were frustrated. No doubt, we were definitely frustrated," UVA linebacker Josh Ahern said. "We lost the game. That is nothing to be excited about. Like I said we have to live with it, think about it over the weekend, and get back to work."
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. That included a 47-yard field goal from Will Bettridge and a 40-yard touchdown pass from Brennan Armstrong to Dontayvion Wicks. The Hoos had 135 yards of offense in the quarter. On the other side of the ball, the defense allowed no completions and Anthony Johnson secured an interception as well.
Late in the quarter, however, the first sign of trouble appeared.
The offense moved the ball again as Keytaon Thompson hauled in a 15- and 16-yard receptions on consecutive plays, which were followed by a 4-yard gain for Perris Jones. Armstrong broke up the middle for a 10-yard gain into the red zone for the second straight possession, but at the end of the play, he lost the ball and Louisville recovered. In more ways that one.
The Cardinals came into the game struggling in their own right and were without starting quarterback Malik Cunningham among others. Down 10-0 with UVA moving the ball into scoring range again, they may have been reeling on the ropes until that turnover. That gave the visitors a little hope and while they didn't score on the follow-up possession, it kept the scoreboard manageable. Louisville then scored on the first two possessions of the second quarter to tie the score at 10-10 and it added a field goal before halftime to take a lead into the locker room. In addition to the critical turnover that shifted momentum, the Cards' touchdown in the quarter came on a busted assignment. Quarterback Brock Domann pulled the ball on a read option play and raced 44 yards for a touchdown on a key 4th-and-2 play.
"In the first three drives, we ... converted a couple of third downs. Then, once we had the fumble, we just have to be mentally tough, lock in, and not let it steamroll downhill," Virginia offensive coordinator Des Kitchings said. "Because then, the next series of events that happens is drops, sacks, drop, drop, drop. As a fan, you're frustrated, I'm frustrated, we're all frustrated. But, we'll come back in here, we've got a bye week, get some guys healthy, mentally and physically, and get ready to go to Georgia Tech.”
"The good stuff didn't start happening until the second quarter for us. The first quarter was not very good at all, offensively and defensively," Louisville coach Scott Satterfield said. "But our guys settled down in the second quarter. We started making some plays. We battled back in it and they did a great job to get the ball back and to kick the field goal. I thought that was huge right before half to go up 13-10, to get that momentum knowing that they're gonna get the ball back when we come back out in the second half. Our defense did a great job of stopping and holding and then our offense goes down and scores, next thing you know we're up 10. All with only four and a half minutes off the clock. So that's great momentum for us."
Indeed, Virginia could not stop the fraying at the edges.
After the key turnover and busted play allowed the Cardinals to climb into the lead, UVA had a chance to turn the tide with the first possession of the second half. Instead, the Hoos put together a sequence of sack, sack, penalty, penalty that forced Daniel Sparks to punt out of his own end zone. Louisville took over at its own 40 and used the good field position to its advantage. After crossing midfield, Domann connected on a pass up the sidelines to an uncovered Marshon Ford and he scored the 32-yard touchdown that suddenly made it 20-10.
UVA responded briefly with an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that featured 10+ yard completions to Thompson, Lavel Davis Jr., and Wicks before a pass interference penalty moved the ball to the Louisville 11-yard line. Armstrong rushed in from there to cut the deficit back to one score, but that success was short-lived. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Armstrong started the next drive with an interception. The Cardinals turned the ensuing drive into a touchdown after a UVA pass interference penalty erased a difficult goal-to-go situation for the visitors.
The mistakes on both sides of the ball eventually became too much to overcome as Louisville claimed the 17-point win.
"I just have to protect the ball," Armstrong said. "I talked about it earlier on, just trying to switch that mindset from trying to make every play to playing within the offense. The fumble was the fumble, and I've been struggling with that all year. And then the turnovers, I'm playing within the offense, but the execution part of it isn't there."
Offensively, Virginia finished with 319 yards of offense. Armstrong completed 24 of 34 passes for 313 yards with a touchdown and 2 INTs. Thompson led the receivers with 9 catches for 98 yards, while Wicks and Davis added 4 catches each for 69 and 52 yards, respectively. The Hoos only had 6 yards rushing, a number hurt in part by 6 sacks.
Defensively, UVA allowed 473 yards with 198 of those on the ground. Trevion Cooley led the rushing attack with 18 carries for 77 yards and 1 touchdown, while Domann had 71 rushing yards and a touchdown. Domann completed 17 of 30 passes for 275 yards with a touchdown and 2 INTs. UVA linebacker Nick Jackson shook off an early injury to finish with a game-high 11 tackles. James Jackson and Antonio Clary added 8 tackles each, while Donovan Johnson chipped in 7. Johnson added 3 pass break-ups to his early interception. Clary had a pick as well.
"If something happens, momentum changes, we've got to be ready," Clary said. "I think we left some plays out there as a defensive unit that could have changed the momentum of the game by guys just doing their job, being in the right fit. Just making the plays that you're supposed to make."
The Cavaliers have a bye next Saturday before making the trip to Georgia Tech on Oct. 20 for a Thursday night game. That means they now have an extended break to either stew or try to steer the season back on track. Virginia coach Tony Elliott continues to try to find the right buttons to push to get the latter vs. more of the former.
"It starts with an appreciation and a belief, and in that belief, you make a decision, and that's what we've been talking about with this football team," Elliott said. "There's a lot of expectations. I have expectations. They have expectations, the fans have expectations, the administration has expectations of this program. But before you can reach your expectations, it starts with a decision. You have to decide to be successful. You have to decide that every single play, you're going play to win, that you're not going to take a play off. It's that you're going to decide that our core values, running on and off the field, dressing like a team, being disciplined, which we're not doing a great job of right now. Ultimately, that's we're playing for. So I have to do a better job as the head football coach of making sure that is clear within the organization."
3 Comments