A week after dropping an ugly home loss to the Maryland Terrapins, the Virginia Cavaliers (2-1, 1-0 ACC) found themselves back on the road, this time traveling to Conway, South Carolina to duel the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (3-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) in the first meeting of all-time between the two schools. Both teams are commandeered by dual-threat sophomore quarterbacks, with Anthony Colandrea squaring off against Chesapeake native Ethan Vasko. The warm, sunny afternoon kickoff set the scene for what would quickly turn into a one-sided offensive affair for Tony Elliott’s Cavaliers.
Things could not have started off better for Virginia after a deep kickoff was fielded and then fumbled by Tray Taylor. Gunner Eli Wood recovered the loose ball on the 13-yard line, giving UVA excellent field position to begin the game. Less than ninety seconds later, Virginia found the end zone on a 7-yard pass to Malachi Fields. However, Coastal Carolina countered quickly. On their opening drive, Vasko dissected the Cavalier secondary with a pass-heavy drive, including a 31-yard loft that was hauled in by wide receiver Jameson Tucker. The impressive air attack encountered a series of misconnections as they entered opposing territory, however, leading to a red zone field goal.
Soon after, both defenses stepped up, with the next three drives resulting in three-and-out punts. Pinned deep into their own territory and desperate to get something moving, Vasko launched a throw into a swarm of Cavalier defenders. The ball was tipped around and eventually caught by a diving Antonio Clary, once again giving Virginia an amazing spot on the field. They were able to capitalize, cashing in for six more after a 29-yard run by Xavier Brown and then, on the next set of downs, a quarterback sneak by backup Grady Brosterhous to make it 14-3.
On the next offensive possession for the Cavaliers, Brown had another big run, breaking out for 24 yards to extend the drive on third down. These situations were where Virginia demonstrated the biggest growth, going 9-for-18 after only having a 20% third-down efficiency last week against Maryland. Heading into the second quarter, Virginia continued to drive down the field, getting all the way to Coastal’s 6-yard line before being stopped. Elliott opted to send out the field goal unit for a chip-in by Will Bettridge rather than being aggressive, extending the lead to fourteen. CCU’s offense returned to the field with a new burst of energy, working down into Virginia territory. A strong defensive counterattack by the Cavaliers brought up a 4th-and-2 from the 29-yard line, where head coach Tim Beck opted to take a gamble and go for it. The risk paid off, as Vasko delivered a strike to Tucker which found the end zone to make it a one-score game.
Virginia countered with a heavily ground-based drive, an offensive strategy that would continue for the majority of the remaining game. Notable carries during the series included a 16-yard run by Brown, a 25-yard scramble by Colandrea, and was capped off by a “tush-push” style run that gave Brosterhous his second touchdown of the day. Another Chanticleer punt with under two minutes to go resulted in the Cavalier offense getting one more chance before the half. They capitalized, as Bettridge buried a 47-yard field goal on a last-gasp effort to score before the half to make it 27-10.
The Cavaliers’ opening drive of the third quarter stalled outside of the red zone and resulted in another long field goal, this time 45 yards. Bettridge remained poised and split the uprights once again to give UVA a twenty-point lead. The rest of the third quarter was a whirlwind of big plays. A 58-yard dime to Tray Taylor on the second play of Coastal Carolina’s next drive gave them a free ticket to the red zone, but their aggressive approach finally caught up to them, turning it over on downs after they were stuffed for no gain on a 4th-and-1 rush attempt. Shortly after, an electric 75-yard run by Xavier Brown allowed Virginia back into rival territory, and a touchdown by Kobe Pace capped off the drive. Coastal Carolina answered with a 65-yard strike of their own on the first play of the next drive and punched in a score three plays later to make it 37-17. Early in the fourth quarter, Colandrea found Malachi Fields for their second touchdown connection of the day, this time on a 37-yard pass. Virginia’s comfortable lead allowed them to give valuable playing experience to the second-team rosters. Coastal Carolina tacked on one more touchdown before the end of the game to set the final tally to 43-24.
Putting up 384 rushing yards, Virginia’s ground game looked to be much stronger than in past weeks. Xavier Brown led the ground effort with 171 yards, while Fields hauled in 65 yards to lead the receiving corps. Coastal Carolina’s leading rusher was Vasko, with 24 yards, while Taylor led the air attack with 70 yards. Sloppy penalties throughout the game hurt the Cavaliers, who entered the game averaging 3.3 flags per game but accumulated seven of them throughout Saturday’s contest. The biggest hurdle to the Chanticleers’ success were their untimely turnovers and failure to convert on crucial downs, going 4-for-13 on third down and only 1-for-4 on fourth. The Cavaliers, who celebrated their victory with a trip to the beach just down the road, will head into a bye as they prepare for a difficult test against Boston College on October 5th. Coastal Carolina will also take a week off before they face Old Dominion.
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