Virginia (2-1, 1-0 ACC) suffered defeat for the first time in the 2024 season, getting shut out in the second half en route to a 27-13 loss to Maryland (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday night at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers went 3/15 on third down conversions and turned the ball over four times, while the visiting Terrapins played turnover-free football and ultimately won the possession battle by controlling the ball for 35 minutes and 36 seconds.

It’s the second year in a row that UVA has gotten off to a strong start against Maryland, only to struggle mightily in the second half. Last year in College Park, the Cavaliers jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but the Terps scored 42 unanswered points to end the game. This time around, Virginia led 6-0 and 13-7 at halftime, but was outscored 20-0 in the second half. This marked the first time the Cavaliers have been held scoreless in the second half of a game since that game at Maryland last year.

Maryland now leads the all-time series with Virginia 46-32-2 and has won each of the last four meetings. UVA hasn’t defeated Maryland since 2011 and hasn’t beaten the Terrapins in Scott Stadium since 2008.

See the chart below for a breakdown of the stats from Virginia’s loss to Maryland:

Here are some key individual stats from the game along with some more notes:

Anthony Colandrea completed 21 of his 37 passing attempts (57%) for 247 yards and also rushed for 17 yards and a 10-yard touchdown that gave Virginia a 13-7 lead going into halftime. That was the second rushing touchdown of Colandrea’s career and he went over 200 yards passing for the 10th time in his career. Colandrea also threw multiple interceptions for the second week in a row and fourth time in his career. Factoring in his lost fumble, Colandrea has had three turnovers in both starts against Maryland.

True freshman wide receiver Kam Courtney posted his first-career reception, a 33-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter, and finished with two catches for 36 yards.

Tyler Neville hauled in a 39-yard reception in the second quarter, the longest catch of his career. Trell Harris also posted his longest-career reception, a 45-yard catch in the first quarter. Harris led all Cavalier receivers with 72 yards. Malachi Fields had four receptions for 36 yards, ending his run of back-to-back games with 100+ yards receiving. Virginia’s team streak of nine-straight games with a 100-yard receiver came to an end as well.

Antonio Clary led the Cavaliers with 14 total tackles, a career-high, and also had a tackle for loss and two pass breakups. Jonas Sanker had 11 tackles in the game and he now has 204 career tackles in 34 games. James Jackson was the third Cavalier defender with double-digit tackles, posting 12 tackles.

Jahmeer Carter recorded Virginia’s lone sack of the night, giving him 2.5 sacks for his career. It was Carter’s first sack since UVA’s upset win at North Carolina last season. Chico Bennett tied a career-high with eight tackles, matching the amount he had against Louisville last year. Jam Jackson registered a career-high nine tackles and recorded two pass breakups while defending the nation’s leader in receiving yards Tai Felton, who finished with nine catches for 117 yards.

Maryland football defeated Virginia, 27-13, on Sept. 14 thanks to a dominant second half after a slow start on offense and an end-of-half breakdown on defense.

The win against the Cavaliers was not pretty, but it showed the resiliency of the Terps, who bounced back from a disappointing 27-24 loss to Michigan State a week earlier.

Maryland will now look to string together wins as it faces Villanova on Sept. 21 at noon. But first, here are three takeaways from the win against Virginia:

Maryland had a slow start.

The Terps finished the first quarter with only 47 total yards. They finished the first half with 141 total yards (46 rushing, 95 passing) and went to the locker room down 13-7.

Not only did Maryland struggle to find the end zone, junior kicker Jack Howes missed a 52-yard field goal with 1:59 remaining in the first quarter.

“I thought that Virginia came out and out-efforted us in the first half and that’s not anything that I’ve ever had to be concerned with our team,” head coach Michael Locksley told reporters after the game. “Then I thought the physicality in which they played, they kind of out-physicaled us as well.”

The Terps remained scoreless until 54 seconds remained in the half, when junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. found senior receiver Tai Felton for a 19-yard reception to give the Terps a 7-6 lead.

Edwards finished with 263 passing yards and two touchdowns on 28 of 43 throwing. Felton finished with nine receptions, 117 yards receiving and a touchdown, becoming the first Terp to ever finish with 100-plus receiving yards in three consecutive games to start a season.

“We’re putting a lot on him and I really like the way the kid’s playing,” Locksley said of Edwards. “I like the way that he continues to lead us on offense and he’s doing some special things for us.”

Maryland continues to force turnovers.

Maryland’s lack of offense in the first half was not due to a lack of opportunities.

The Terps’ defense forced two turnovers in the first quarter alone. Senior linebacker Donnell Brown recovered a fumble and senior safety Dante Trader Jr. hauled in an interception.

“Our defense had two big stops in the first half, which gave us a chance to stay in the game and stay in the fight,” Locksley said. “And I knew at some point the offense would get going and we did the second half.”

Maryland finished the game with four takeaways. Sophomore defensive back Jalen Huskey and senior defensive lineman Quashon Miller finished with an interception and fumble recovery, respectively.

Maryland’s defense stifled Virginia in the second half.

Not only did Maryland’s defense force four turnovers, the unit pitched a second-half shutout after allowing Virginia to march down the field in 49 seconds to end the half.

After giving up 288 yards and 13 points in the first half, the Terps held the Cavaliers to 82 yards in the second half.

Maryland, on the other hand, finished with 20 points and 250 yards in the second half alone. The Terps also dominated possession, 21:39 to 8:21.

“To allow no points on defense, [defensive coordinator Brian Williams] and the defensive staff did a good job of switching the looks up,” Locksley said. “I think we had only one penalty. Those penalties kept coming early in the first half, but those are the things we could control. And then to create four turnovers was huge for us.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics