Virginia
Virginia Shut Out in 2nd Half, Suffers First Loss of Season to Maryland
The Virginia Cavaliers (2-1) suffered their first defeat of the season with a 27-13 loss to the Maryland Terrapins (2-1) on Saturday night at Scott Stadium.
Both defenses had the upper hand through the first two quarters. UVA was forced to settle for two early field goals inside the 10-yard line, which is not a recipe to win against quality football teams. In the postgame presser, Coach Tony Elliott spoke about how important it is to “come away with touchdowns” when in the red zone, but mentioned he was still happy to walk away with early field goals as the Hoos built a lead.
The Virginia defense kept Virginia in the game early, applying strong pocket pressure on Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards, who couldn’t quite seem to find a rhythm out of the gate. Notably, the Maryland offense was also quite erratic with penalties. The Terrapins totaled seven penalties for 51 yards in the first half of the contest.
The Virginia offense was quite lackluster themselves, despite amassing 288 total first half yards. Colandrea and Co. went just 2 of 8 on third down conversions through the first two quarters, and coupled with two bad turnovers from Colandrea (1 fumble, 1 interception) the Virginia offense was far from spectacular.
The first sign of life from both offenses came at the very end of the half. The Billy Edwards – Tai Felton connection came to life, with Edwards finding Felton on consecutive 15+ yard passes, with the second being a 19-yard TD for Maryland’s first score of the contest.
The Virginia offense responded with their most exciting drive of the game. With less than a minute left in the half, Colandrea found tight end Tyler Neville for a 41-yard gain to set the Hoos up in the red zone with just nine seconds left in the half. Colandrea danced his way around the Maryland defense and rushed in for the Cavaliers’ first score of the game, giving the Hoos a 13-7 halftime lead.
The Terrapins took over from the jump in the second half. After a Virginia three-and-out, Edwards and the Maryland offense orchestrated one of the stronger drives of the game, finding the endzone on a 8-play, 68-yard drive capped off by a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kaden Prather.
Poor offensive play compounded for the Hoos. On the next drive, Colandrea turned the ball over for the third time on the day, floating a weak pass down the sideline that was intercepted by Maryland’s Jalen Huskey.
Fortunately for the Hoos, the Virginia defense continued to step up where the offense faltered. The Terrapins didn’t turn any of their first three turnovers into points on the other end, and the defense deserves to be recognized for said efforts. Chico Bennett Jr. led the charge, with 8 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss; including a huge third down tackle to stuff the Maryland offense after Colandrea’s second interception. Antonio Clary, James Jackson, and Jonas Sanker were all elite tonight as well, totaling 14, 12, and 11 tackles respectively.
Elliot spoke in the postgame on Virginia’s inability to “establish a rhythm” offensively in the second half. The Hoos’ next three drives went three & out, three & out, fumble; after the Cavaliers fourth turnover of the game, the Terrapins found the endzone to extend their lead to 27-13 late in the fourth quarter, a lead that would hold as Saturday’s final.
Up next, the Cavaliers (2-1) travel to take on the undefeated Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (3-0) next Saturday, September 21 in Conway, South Carolina.
1. Virginia Tech’s Defense
The Hokies’ defense had an excellent night against the pass this weekend, only giving up 50 total passing yards and no passing touchdowns, along with an interception. The defense held Old Dominion scoreless in the first quarter and only 17 yards of total offense for the entire first quarter alone. The defense, however, struggled against the run in certain situations, giving up 240 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns with one coming in the final few minutes of the game. The defense outside of the final touchdown when the game was out of reach, held Old Dominion to a touchdown and a field goal for most of the game.
2. Virginia Tech’s Run Game
Virginia Tech ran all over the field the whole game, with nothing but fierce intentions. Quarterback Kyron Drones had a huge run for 53 yards where he stiff-armed and ran over defenders, runningback Bhayshul Tuten had a couple of similar runs as well, where he broke tackles for touchdowns. The Hokies offense ran for 289 yards and had 3 total rushing touchdowns from QB Kyron Drones and RB Bhayshul Tuten.
3. Offense Came Out Swinging
In the first quarter, the Hokies offense exploded with two touchdowns on back-to-back drives. The Hokies’ protection was the best this season allowing no sacks and giving the offense enough time to develop for both passing and running. Virginia Tech wide receiver Jaylin Lane had 106 receiving yards in the first quarter and a touchdown with his longest reception coming in at 46 yards off a wild pass play. Kyron Drones was able to get outside the pocket and make throws down the field, which led to a lethal rushing attack for him finishing the game with 117 rush yards and a rushing touchdown.
4. Offense And Defense Needs Consistency Through All Quarters
It was a tale of two quarters in the first half for the Hokies, the first quarter they came out on fire but then the second quarter are held scoreless. The offense only managed to get 80 yards of offense in the second quarter and the defense struggled against the run.
The defense allowed Old Dominion QB Quinn Henicle to get a 65-yard touchdown in the second quarter and gave up a total of 176 rushing yards in the second quarter. These two things cannot happen as the season progresses, or it will be a lot tougher to win games against ranked teams who can be consistent on both sides of the ball.
5. The Offensive Line Played Great
The offensive line was an underrated key to victory in this one, as they kept the backfield clean and a place to get things done. The offensive line for the first time this season gave up 0 sacks the whole game and were key factors for the offense as a whole being able to be as explosive as they were, having a total of 465 yards. The most yards this season by the Hokies through the first 3 games that they’ve played and the most points they’ve scored. If the line can keep up this consistency along with the rest of the offense, the Hokies could go far this season as the defense has proven they can play well enough through most of the game.
Virginia
Virginia Tech vs Old Dominion: Three Players to Watch on The Monarchs Offense this Saturday
The Virginia Tech Hokies are looking to continue their winning ways, as they take on the Old Dominion Monarchs this Saturday. This week, the Hokies are coming into this game after winning dominantly against Marshall last weekend, but this game will be a tough one, as they are going against a team that is winless on the season. Let’s look at three top players to watch on the Old Dominion Monarchs offense this Saturday.
1. QB Grant Wilson
Grant Wilson is struggling to start the season, completing 58% of his passes with 2 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. However, last season, Grant finished with 17 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, and 2,149 yards with the team finishing the season 6-7 good for 4th in the SBC East. Grant and the Monarchs have lost by a touchdown or less in the last two weeks, so it should be interesting to see how he responds to another big game matchup this weekend.
2. RB Aaron Young
Transfer running back, Aaron Young is coming off a game in which he had 25 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown. Aaron has been used a lot so far in the first 2 games of this season, running the football and averaging 69.5 yards a game on 41 attempts this season. This could be a threat for the Hokies as they have shown a history of struggling against the run, in the first two games this season they have given up a total of 328 rushing yards.
3. WR Isiah Paige
Isiah Paige is coming off a week where he finished with 115 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, and 8 receptions, with his longest reception being 72 yards. Now this matchup for the Hokies secondary should be interesting as last week against Marshall, the longest reception given up was for 25 yards and the most receiving yards for the game were 73 for all Marshall receivers. Isiah will be a target that the Hokies must watch and it will be interesting to see what the defense schemes up for this as they held Marshall to 131 pass yards on 36% pass completion percentage.
Virginia Tech will be away at Old Dominion on Saturday with kickoff starting at 6:00 PM on ESPN+.
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