Five takeaways from UVA football’s comeback win over Boston College

The Virginia Cavaliers improved to 4-1 for just the sixth time since 1999 on Saturday afternoon with a thrilling, come-from-behind 24-14 victory over the Boston College Eagles.

On what was a beautiful, 75-degree October afternoon in Charlottesville, the ‘Hoos seemed destined for a second-straight disappointing loss inside Scott Stadium through three quarters. However, kickstarted by a Chico Bennett Jr. interception in the opening moments of the fourth, the ‘Hoos erupted for 18 unanswered points in the closing 15 minutes to stun the Eagles and earn the win.

Here are five takeaways from the Cavaliers’ huge win:

While far from perfect, this ‘Hoos squad is resilient

Despite looking stuck in the mud for three quarters on Saturday afternoon, Virginia caught fire in the fourth as they stormed back to beat Boston College. The ‘Hoos easily could’ve packed it in down 14-0 in the first half, or after failing to convert on a fourth-and-goal attempt down eight in the second half, or again after a penalty derailed another red zone trip in the third quarter, but they never did.

Offensively, quarterback Anthony Colandrea was just 7-of-13 for 70 in the first half while the running game struggled to do much of anything. The young signal-caller also took several huge hits throughout the afternoon, one of which knocked him out of the game for a play in the second quarter. But time and time again he got back up, and down five in the fourth quarter, delivered an absolute strike to Malachi Fields up the sideline to give the ‘Hoos the lead before finding Andre Greene Jr. in the back of the end zone to convert for two.

And on the other side of the ball, after getting shredded by Thomas Castellanos and the Boston College offense for touchdowns twice on their first three possessions, the Virginia defense settled in and dominated the final 45 minutes of the game.

Tony Elliott has frequently emphasized the resiliency of this UVA squad, and it showed up in a big way on Saturday afternoon. Yes, there are problems that need to be addressed, but you’ve got to love a team that doesn’t quit.

The defense won the game for Virginia

Through a quarter-and-a-half of play, the ‘Hoos defense seemed to be in for a painfully long afternoon trying to stop Thomas Castellanos and Boston College. Virginia allowed the Eagles to put up 122 total yards in the opening quarter as the Eagles marched down the field twice without breaking a sweat. But after shaking off the rust, the Cavalier defense locked in and flat-out won the ballgame for the ‘Hoos.

Virginia pitched a shutout in the second half, holding Boston College to just 126 yards after the break while forcing three game-changing turnovers. Arguably the two most important plays of the game — Bennett’s interception to set up the Colandrea to Fields touchdown and a Jonas Sanker scoop-and-score to extend the lead to 24-14 — were both made by the ‘Hoos defense, something that couldn’t be said in any of the first four games.

The offense never truly got into a rhythm on Saturday, but the defense more than made up for it. It’s hard to remember a Virginia football team playing complementary football the way they did against the Eagles.

It took a while for the ‘Hoos to knock off the rust

With 14 days to get ready for the Eagles, Virginia looked rusty rather than prepared coming out of the gates. The comeback was fun and inspires a ton of confidence in this team, but it doesn’t completely erase the fact that the ‘Hoos didn’t look ready to play early on.

Even with a pair of lengthy drives late in the first half helping to bolster their numbers, the ‘Hoos managed just 116 total yards in the opening 30 minutes leading to just six points. Virginia picked up just one first down in the first quarter as they were held back by a complete meltdown of the rushing attack — the ‘Hoos ran for just 36 yards on 19 carries (1.9 yards per rush) in the opening half.

And on the other side of the ball, Castellanos was twice able to connect with his tight end Kamari Morales running wide open over the middle for huge pickups as the Virginia secondary had several inexcusable coverage breakdowns early.

The necessary adjustments were made, and the ‘Hoos earned a big win against a good ACC opponent, so all is forgiven. But with another bye on the schedule at the end of October, hopefully Virginia is better able to manage its time off moving forward.

Some questionable play-calling did the offense no favors

As the Virginia offense struggled to get rolling, some head-scratching decisions in the play-calling department seemingly self-sabotaged the ‘Hoos early on.

On each of UVA’s first two possessions, the ‘Hoos opted to run the ball on second-and-long. Neither play went anywhere, forcing Colandrea and company to play from behind the sticks — something that has clearly not been a recipe for success for the young quarterback.

Later in the first half after the ‘Hoos had finally put together a decent drive, Offensive Coordinator Des Kitchings dialed up a run up the middle on third-and-four in the red zone despite seemingly having no intention of going for it on fourth. UVA, who was down 14-0 at the time, instead opted to send Will Bettridge out for a chip-shot field goal in a move reminiscent of the decision-making during Virginia’s last home game three weeks ago against Maryland.

Tony Elliott and his staff have preached the importance of a balanced offensive attack — and the UVA offense has certainly looked better this season when they have success on the ground — but it seemed like they were reluctant to deviate from the game plan even when the ground game had proven itself to be ineffective.

Look ‘Hoos atop the ACC

For the first time since 2019, Virginia is 2-0 to begin its conference slate. And for the time being, only the ‘Hoos and Clemson have more than one win in ACC play.

It’s been an incredibly fun ride so far, and there’s not a Virginia fan out there who would’ve turned down a 4-1 start. The schedule gets tougher down the line, but the vibes are incredibly high in Wahoo nation right now, and rightfully so. Tony Elliott has his squad playing inspired football, and the ‘Hoos are stacking Ws. Now bring on Louisville.

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