An onslaught of boos flooded Scott Stadium late Saturday afternoon as the PA announcer’s voice boomed over the loudspeakers. For the second straight year, the Virginia Cavaliers’ home opener was suspended due to inclement weather. An anxious tension could be felt amongst fans as they flocked to the exits during the second-quarter stadium evacuation, many reminiscing upon the last time the Cavaliers entered a delay with a two-score lead over an in-state rival on UVA Strong Day. Fortunately for them, though, this is where the similarities between last year’s contest against James Madison and Saturday’s against Richmond cease.
The Cavalier offense came out of the gates firing on all cylinders—the first offensive snap was a 35-yard run from second-year quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who had only been officially named the starter one week prior to the season beginning after dueling throughout the offseason with veteran Tony Muskett. Two plays later, he fired a 35-yard pass into the end zone, where it was caught by Trell Harris for the first touchdown of the year. Meanwhile, Virginia’s defense looked just as impressive from the start. Richmond only achieved one first down across their first four possessions, three of which ended in punts and the other a fumble stolen by star Cavalier linebacker Kam Robinson.
Following the turnover, a second promising drive emerged but began to sputter as the Cavaliers approached the red zone. A brilliant play design found tight end Sackett Wood, Jr. wide open, but an inaccurate pass—one of only six incompletions on the day from Colandrea—resulted in the Hoos settling for a field goal to extend the lead to 10–0, which quickly grew to 17–0 after another explosive drive capped by an electrifying 57-yard touchdown by Jack Griese. By the end of the first quarter, Colandrea had already thrown for an astounding 188 passing yards.
The Spiders eventually found the end zone on a tactical and time-consuming drive, primarily fueled by the powerful running game established by Zach Palmer-Smith. However, shortly thereafter, the weather took a turn for the worse. A rain delay of over two hours would ensue as around an inch of rain fell on Charlottesville, but the system passed through as the game was announced to be resuming at around 9:15pm. The rain delay did not seem to faze the Hoos, and a 37-yard kickoff return by Xavier Brown set up a four-play, 56-yard drive entirely executed by returning running back Kobe Pace, growing the lead to 27–7 heading into a condensed halftime hiatus.
The Cavaliers’ lead grew once again coming out of the break, heavily relying on the run game and winning the battle in the trenches in what was ultimately a promising display from an offensive line corps that is entering the season with lots to prove. Colandrea punched it in on a seven-yard rush, recording what would be his third and final touchdown for the evening. He would go on to finish the night with 346 all-purpose yards before checking out in favor of Tony Muskett as Coach Elliott began to experiment with depth heading into the later stages of the game. Richmond would go on to tack on two field goals in the fading moments of the game, concluding in a 34–13 victory for UVA.
Coach Tony Elliott had emphasized throughout the offseason the importance of maintaining a balanced attack and was successfully able to execute this tactic today, blending a mix of strong rushes with passes that spread the field and keep the defense guessing. Colandrea’s mobility and increasing confidence with assuming the role of field general helped to facilitate this, and in many cases extended plays that could have otherwise ended in a loss of yardage or no gain. The receiving squadron’s agility was crucial to the success of the air attack, and yards after catch—such as those acquired by Malachi Fields after a double-juke move to elude the Spiders’ secondary—truly tell the story of the team’s promising offensive performance. The defensive effort was led by safeties Jonas Sanker and Antonio Clary, each recording 8 tackles. The team totaled 7 tackles for loss throughout the contest, which helped to keep the Spiders from gaining offensive traction for much of the game.
Virginia will be back in action next Saturday at 7 pm on the road against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are a hit-or-miss team that is fresh off of a 32-point victory in their opener versus North Carolina A&T. Meanwhile, Richmond will begin preparing to host Wofford in hopes of earning their first win of the young season.
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