Virginia
Five Takeaways from Virginia Football’s 24-19 Upset over Pittsburgh
In need of a win, Virginia football (5-4, 3-3 ACC) responded off the bye with a massive 24-19 upset over the No. 18 Pittsburgh Panthers (7-2, 3-2 ACC) to propel the Cavaliers back into bowl contention as the Hoos now need only one more victory to reach the illustrious six-win mark for bowl eligibility.
For a recap of the game: Virginia Football Claws Back to Upset Pittsburgh on the Road 24-19
With that said, here’s five takeaways from Virginia’s thrilling upset over the Pittsburgh:
Jonas Sanker is an NFL Caliber Safety
The Cavaliers leading tackler and leader of the defense put the football world on watch on Saturday night. Sanker single-handedly was the spark that allowed the Cavaliers to come back and defeat Pittsburgh on the road. His block on the field goal was magnificent before the interception on the ensuing Pittsburgh drive injected life into the Cavaliers. Sanker stepped up when his team needed him most and will be a future role player in an NFL franchise. Sanker also added five total tackles on the night, four solo.
Virginia Has a Shot to Become Bowl Eligible
An unlikely and unpredictable path to five wins for the Cavaliers puts them one game away from bowl eligibility. After the demoralizing loss to North Carolina, many thought the season was over for the Hoos; Saturday night’s win demonstrated this team’s resilience and fortitude even during tough times. Further, this win shows why Tony Elliott should and will be the future of this football program. The Hoos must find one more win between Notre Dame, SMU, or Virginia Tech. Although this will be difficult, this win inspires confidence that one more regular season win is possible.
The Virginia Rushing Attack was Stellar
The source of the Virginia offense on Saturday night started on the ground. Xavier Brown led the Hoos with 68 yards rushing and one touchdown, while Kobe Pace rattled off 52 yards and a touchdown. The duo was used in rotation, creating a two-headed monster that dominated the Pittsburgh defense all night long. Colandrea also utilized his legs, which was, for the majority of the night, more effective than throwing the ball. The sophomore quarterback scrambled for 40 yards on the ground as the Cavaliers had 170 yards rushing, an impressive performance.
Cavaliers Beat Themselves in the First Half
Virginia could’ve and should have won this game by more than five points, but mistakes, primarily in the first half, allowed this contest to be much closer than it should have been. The Malachi Fields bobbled ball that resulted in an interception robbed Virginia of a touchdown before Colandrea threw an interception right at a Pittsburgh linebacker, giving the Panthers excellent field position. Daniel Sparks, although he had a 66-yard bomb in the second half, had a 16-yard punt earlier in the game. Corey Thomas Jr., who had the game-sealing interception, also had a pass interference that continued a Pittsburgh drive on the verge of collapse on third and long. Virginia was fortunate to have left Pittsburgh with a victory, as mistakes like these are usually on the stat sheet of the losing team.
Colandrea Shows Poise in the Clutch
Colandrea did not play his best football game on Saturday night, but despite this, at the end of the game, the sophomore delivered a masterful drive that lasted eight minutes and 26 seconds and ended in a Will Bettridge field goal. Colandrea showed incredible poise, slowly leading the team down the field, being mindful of the clock, and reading what the defense gave him. The drive included a 16-yard rush from Colandrea, a 25-yard pass to Tyree, and a 12-yard pass to Pace as Colandrea played smart and conservative football, allowing Virginia to seal the victory over Pitt.
Virginia vs. Pittsburgh Live Updates | NCAA Football
Virginia Football Claws Back to Upset Pittsburgh on the Road 24-19
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Hoos in the NFL: Recapping NFL Week 9 for Former Virginia Football Players
Virginia
West Virginia high school football playoffs officially postponed due to litigation
The West Virginia high school football playoffs are officially on hold until further notice.
According to a tweet by MetroNews on Tuesday afternoon, WVSSAC Executive Director David Price released a statement that the state playoffs, all four classifications (26 games), are officially postponed until further notice. Down below is Price’s statement:
“We are extremely disappointed to not be having the playoffs this weekend. We understand the frustration from all of the parties involved, and we want nothing more than to put the focus back on the student-athletes and their pursuit of a championship. However, we must abide by the decisions of the courts and their timeline.” – David Price, WVSSAC Executive Director
Last week, the Wood County Board of Education filed a petition for an injunction on Friday against the WVSAAC, challenging the football playoff rating formula used by the association.
The WVSAAC fully expected on Tuesday that more schools will be filing injunctions regarding being removed from the state’s initial football playoff brackets because of disputes with the association’s playoff rating formula. Point Pleasant on Monday evening went became the latest school looking to delay the WVSAAC playoffs.
Wood County’s injunction was upheld and four schools were displaced from the postseason brackets, which have now already seen more legal action taken by school boards which has officially delayed the WVSSAC playoffs.
“Then we would have competing injunctions. We can’t pick and choose which one we are going to follow. That would be up to a higher court to decide that. We would take a look next at what steps to take for that decision to be made. Hopefully it can be done quickly. If not, then we would have to look at possibly postponing or moving back a week or two until that decision is made. Those are all speculation at this point,” Price said via a MetroNews report from last week.
Hampshire, Westside, Point Pleasant and Tolsia were all schools that were removed from the WVSSAC’s playoffs via the new brackets released on Saturday afternoon.
Follow SBLive West Virginia throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!
Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.
To get live updates on your phone – as well as follow your favorite teams and top games – you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App
— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi
Virginia
Virginia couple visits metro Atlanta during mission to dine at every Texas Roadhouse
ATLANTA – A Virginia couple on a unique quest to visit every Texas Roadhouse in the country is making stops in metro Atlanta.
Judy and Mike McNamara embarked on their journey to visit all 600 Texas Roadhouse locations after Judy retired six years ago, planning to travel more. The couple’s love for the restaurant chain inspired them to make this mission a reality.
So far, they’ve dined at 460 Texas Roadhouse locations across 49 states. This week, they plan to stop at the Texas Roadhouse in Douglasville on Thursday and then in Hiram on Friday.
Virginia
The Plus/Minus: Virginia Basketball Throttles Coppin State
In a buy-game special, the Virginia Cavaliers overwhelmed the Coppin State Eagles in pretty much every facet of the game. This game gave Virginia the chance to try out a new point guard and give more run to Jacob Cofie, who looks like he’s going to be Virginia’s most-impactful newcomer. Better competition awaits, but for now we’ll just review this game.
Plus
A win is a win is a win. Coppin State is not the team that Campbell was, and the disparity in talent made for uninspiring viewing if you weren’t a Cavalier fan. Virginia’s non-conference slate has gotten less inspiring in recent years, but for interim head coach Ron Sanchez, you can only play the teams that are in front of you. Four Wahoos – Dai Dai Ames, Isaac McKneely, Elijah Saunders and Jacob Cofie – all reached double figures.
Plus
Andrew Rohde was the announced starter at point guard, and he came out and warmed up, but he was a gametime scratch. Christian Bliss didn’t dress out for the second straight game. (Jalen Warley is long gone.) Virginia had exactly one healthy lead guard, but fortunately Dai Dai Ames was up to the task. He did not impress in his 10-minute stint against Campbell, but he looked a like a completely different player this go round. He scored Virginia’s opening basket on the night, an and-one, was 2/3 from deep, and had three assists against zero turnovers. It could take Rohde three games to match Ames’ 13 points in this game. Now, he doesn’t look like he’s going to push the pace much – Virginia had 61 possessions this game versus 55 against Campbell and it took seven possessions in two minutes late in the 2nd half to get there – but Ames showed he could get into the paint, showcasing the best point guard touch in the lane since Ty Jerome. Sure, it was against substandard competition, but Ames certainly deserves a longer look as the team’s point guard.
Plus
With 3:20 remaining the first half, Coppin State was still hanging around and Virginia’s lead was just 23-14. Isaac McKneely poured in three threes in less than two minutes to break open the game and give Virginia a 32-16 lead. McKneely went 4/8 from beyond the arc and helped Virginia go 9/27 from deep. Now, that’s just 33% and that’s not great, but seeing Virginia attempt that many threes is a good sign.
Minus
Ames went 2/3 from beyond the arc and Elijah Saunders was 1/2, but TJ Power, Ishan Sharma and Taine Murray went 1/13. Again, 27 attempts is a better reflection of the modern game, but McKneely is going to need more help.
Plus
After blitzing Campbell in the first half, Jacob Cofie was largely silent in the first against Coppin State. He came out blazing in the second half, scoring all 11 of his points – a perfect 4/4 from the line and 1/1 from deep – enroute to an 11-rebound double-double. Cofie played the Ryan Dunn role to perfection, adding three blocks, four steals and a pair of assists. He’s had a magical two games. Even when he loses the ball on a steal and fast break, he’s able to convert:
Minus
Conversely, it’s been a rough start for TJ Power, who went 1/6 from deep and is looking like the guy who got dropped to mop-up minutes for Duke last year. With the emergence of Cofie, he’s going to struggle for minutes, but maybe Power can fill the role of glue guy for the team. His +22 plus/minus was the second-highest (only behind Ames) on the team.
Plus
Elijah Saunders looks like he’s going to be able to give Virginia a post-up game. He flashed a sweet hook turnaround against Campbell, and he had two nice post-ups on this night. He was 1/2 from three and a perfect 4/4 from the line.
More: Matt’s Five Takeaways
Plus
Speaking of which, the team shot 11/12 from the charity stripe with the only miss coming from the normally reliable McKneely. Given the adventures this team has had from the pinstripe the past couple of years, the contributions made by Cofie, Saunders and Ames are most welcome.
Minus
Taine Murray had a night to forget. Twice he stepped on the line driving to the bucket, just two of a whopping six turnovers on the night. He airballed a three, and most egregiously, he had a poor closeout and subsequently fouled on a made three, giving Coppin State a 4-point play. He got 18 minutes, which might be the earliest indicator of the difference between the coaching of Tony Bennett and Ron Sanchez. I suspect Bennett would never have given Murray this kind of burn with the night he was having.
Plus
Anthony Robinson made his long-awaited debut and had a beautiful little finish for his first points as a Cavalier. It was widely presumed that Robinson would bring defensive energy to the floor, but this is a sweet touch.
Next Up: Virginia travels to Baltimore on Friday to take on Villanova in the Hall of Fame Series. Game time is 5:00pm and will be shown on TNT. I’ll be at the game, so hit me up on Twitter (X) @JerzyWalker.
Virginia Basketball Beats Coppin State 62-45 | Key Takeaways
Virginia vs. Coppin State Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball
UVA Basketball: Christian Bliss Injury Update, Point Guard Situation
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