The Virginia Cavaliers were pummeled by the SMU Mustangs on Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, losing 33-7 on the season and falling to 5-6.

Ahead of the Wahoos’ season finale in Blacksburg next weekend, we have five takeaways for what this deflating loss means for the ‘Hoos.

UVA doesn’t play like a well-coached team

SMU is a better team than Virginia. Still, there were many mistakes the Cavaliers made that made this game impossible to win.

Here is a list of situational decisions, mental mistakes and simple errors that indicate bigger problems for the Wahoos:

• The decision not to go for it on 4th-and-1 at UVA’s 41-yard line on the offense’s first drive of the game.
• Anthony Colandrea recorded a sack on 4th and 6, causing the ‘Hoos to lose nine yards of field positioning.
• A 12-man huddle penalty after a timeout on a critical 4th-and-1 in the redzone.
• Chris Tyree and Kam Courtney met and enjoyed the second half kickoff.
• Colandrea picked up another sack on 4th down – this time on 4th-and-8 in the redzone – costing the Cavaliers another eight yards of field positioning. Once again Colandrea had no hot route available when he was under pressure.
• UVA didn’t have enough players on offense before a third-quarter play, meaning Suderian Harrison had to come in from the sideline.
• Colandrea missed a wide-open Noah Vaughn in the end zone and fumbled the ball in the red zone late in the fourth quarter.

On their own, one or two of these mistakes would be an excusable example of the chaos of football. They’re strung together like they were today for much of the last two-thirds of this season, and it’s going to be hard to argue that Virginia is a well-coached team — especially on offense.

The injuries to the Wahoo defense were piling up

The Wahoo defense started this game with two backups at linebacker, two backups on the defensive line, one backup at safety and one backup rotating inside at the nickel corner to spell the busted Corey Thomas.

Quarterback Kevin Jennings and the SMU passing attack got theirs through the air. However, John Rudzinski’s group fared quite well against the run, limiting the Mustangs to just 3.2 yards per carry on 35 attempts.

Virginia’s defense certainly wasn’t the biggest problem in this game – UVA won the turnover battle 2-0. Still, the Cavaliers’ chances of doing something spectacular next weekend in Blacksburg look bleaker and bleaker with the missing pieces in this Wahoo defense.

UVA’s offensive line is still a limiting factor

The Mustangs sacked Colandrea nine times on Saturday afternoon. Even when the ‘Hoos showed maximum protection, SMU dominated one-on-one matchups and came home. Virginia’s offensive line consistently lost pass protection or missed assignments entirely. The pressure that SMU exerted on the interior was especially annoying. Very often, all Colandrea could do was turn his back and try to escape the pressure that was right in his face.

There was a stretch this season where the offensive line stringed together some encouraging performances and allowed the Cavalier offense to win on the ground. However, that is no longer the case, as increasing competition was accompanied by a logical struggle to win in the trenches.

The Virginia coaching staff’s commitment to Colandrea is strange

The Virginia coaching staff’s near-unwavering commitment to Colandrea at quarterback has become downright strange.

Colandrea simply didn’t get it done. Over his last 24 drives as UVA’s quarterbacks, the Cavaliers have scored once – when Colandrea connected with Malachi Fields in a heroic scramble to seal the final minutes of the SMU rout.

After that touchdown, Colandrea was not spectacular at all against the Mustangs. He finished with 108 yards passing, while his longest completion was just 15 yards. The sophomore consistently knocked down throws to open receivers down the field and was completely overwhelmed by the pressure the Mustangs put on him.

Now UVA’s offensive line wasn’t doing him any favors. And the play-calling didn’t give him many – if any – interesting routes when SMU blitzed. Additionally, the ‘Hoos lost both Xavier Brown and Kobe Pace to injury during the game, limiting their ground attack.

That’s no excuse for how Colandrea has played. He has become a controlling quarterback whose only real value comes from his ability to occasionally escape pressure and push for positive yards.

Tony Muskett replaced Colandrea in the second half against Notre Dame and led the offense to a pair of touchdowns, suggesting he could be the man to start Saturday. However, Elliott and his staff stuck with Colandrea as the starter and then remained committed to him for the entire 173-yard offensive performance.

Colandrea is far from the only subject of this offense in Virginia. But after all, the definition of insanity is doing the same things while expecting different results. UVA needs to make a change to give the team a chance to become bowl eligible next Saturday.

Virginia’s 2024 season will come down to winning at Virginia Tech

Well, the scenario that seemed destined to happen has become a reality for the Cavaliers. Their season finale against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg will determine whether or not this 2024 campaign is a success. Should Virginia Tech lose to Duke on Saturday night, both the Hokies and ‘Hoos will participate in the Commonwealth Clash next week, one win away from bowl eligibility.

A win for Virginia would be a big moment for the future of the program. Beating VT in Blacksburg for the first time since 1998, making its first bowl appearance under Elliott in the process and ending the regular season with a win would mean UVA has tangible momentum heading into the offseason. With only one year left on Elliott’s contract at this point, the win over Tech would certainly earn him an extension and allow the ‘Hoos to maintain the continuity of his staff heading into year four.

A defeat would mark the 2024 season as a missed opportunity after a promising 4-1 start. It would put Elliott firmly in first place going into 2025, and that would likely mean significant changes to his personnel.

Considering that UVA has defeated Virginia Tech only once in the last twenty years and has not been successful in Blacksburg this century, it would be naive to put any faith in this Cavaliers team to enter Lane Stadium and pull off an upset cause. However, never say never.