Virginia Tech Crushes Virginia 55-17, Retains Commonwealth Cup
As has been the case too many times to count over the past several years, the Cavaliers will enter the offseason with a bitter taste in their mouths.
After showing some significant progress in the second half of the season, UVA came out entirely flat-footed in the final and most important game of the year, as Virginia Tech came into Scott Stadium on Saturday evening and crushed Virginia 55-17 to retain the Commonwealth Cup.
The Hokies received the opening kick and drew first blood, driving down to the UVA 23-yard line before the Virginia defense made a stand to hold Virginia Tech to a 41-yard field goal from John Love.
UVA nearly answered on the very next play from scrimmage, as Anthony Colandrea rolled out to his right and had Malik Washington wide open streaking down the right sideline. But Colandrea's pass carried Washington out of bounds and it was incomplete, despite Washington making an incredible one-handed catch on the sideline.
Instead of a big-play touchdown on Virginia's first offensive play of the game, the Cavaliers proceeded to go three-and-out on each of their first three possessions.
Virginia Tech drove into UVA territory on its third possession and on 4th and 2, Kyron Drones faked a handoff and threw down the field to Stephen Gosnell, who was wide open behind the Virginia defense and ran untouched to the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown to put the Hokies up 10-0.
After another three-and-out by the UVA offense, Virginia Tech converted another big play, a pitch and catch from Drones to Jaylin Lane, who outran the UVA secondary for a 74-yard touchdown. But that play came back for a holding penalty, giving the Cavalier defense another chance to get off the field. Instead, Drones found Dae'Quan Wright on 3rd and 8 for a 39-yard pickup and two plays later, Virginia Tech ran a reverse to Tucker Holloway and he ran behind a host of blockers on the right side to the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown. The Hokies went 79 yards in five plays and extended their lead to 17-0 early in the second quarter.
Things only got worse for the Cavaliers on their next possession, as Colandrea threw an interception to Mansoor Delane, who took it back to the UVA 18-yard line. Virginia's defense made a big stand after that, as Dave Herard forced a fumble by Bhayshul Tuten and Jonas Sanker recovered at the Virginia 2-yard line.
The Cavaliers finally got their first first down of the game after that, though it came on a penalty. Virginia Tech committed back-to-back roughing the passer penalties, but Virginia still couldn't make anything happen offensively and punted it away again.
Virginia Tech went for it on 4th and 2 on its next drive and Drones found Da'Quan Felton for 15 yards to move the chains. On the next play, Drones pitched it wide to Tuten, who atoned for his fumble by finding a hole and taking it the house for a 32-yard touchdown to give the Hokies a 24-0 lead.
The two teams traded three-and-outs and then Virginia finally put a promising drive together, picking up three first downs on completions to Washington and Fields to get the ball down to the Virginia Tech 21-yard line. The Cavaliers sputtered after that, though, as the Virginia Tech pass rush got immediate pressure on Colandrea on each of the next four plays, resulting in two sacks, the second of which knocked UVA out of field goal range. Colandrea was forced to throw the ball out of bounds on 4th and 29 and Virginia Tech took a 24-0 lead to halftime.
The Hokies outgained the Cavaliers 294-60 in the first half and UVA had -16 rushing yards.
If there was any hope for the Cavaliers to stage an impossible second-half comeback, it ended pretty quickly to start the third quarter. Virginia got the ball first and punted after picking up just one first down. Virginia Tech then scored on its first play as Drones rolled to his right and found an open Da'Quan Felton, who sprinted 84 yards to the end zone for a touchdown to make it 31-0 less than four minutes into the second half.
Virginia finally got on the board on a 25-yard field goal from Will Bettridge at the midway point of the quarter, but UVA's celebration over scoring points was short-lived, as Tuten took back the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. It seemed like the Cavaliers had him contained to the sideline, but Tuten kept his balance and his feet inbounds and rolled to the end zone to make it 38-3.
Virginia's offense showed signs of life for the first time on its next drive. A good return from Ethan Davies set UVA up near midfield and then Colandrea delivered a perfect deep ball, despite getting hit right after he released the ball, that hit Malachi Fields right as he approached the goal line for a 38-yard touchdown.
Virginia Tech responded with back-to-back scoring drives, kicking a 47-yard field goal and then taking advantage of a muffed punt to score on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Drones to Felton. That gave Virginia Tech a 48-10 lead. Virginia scored once more on Colandrea's second touchdown pass to Malachi Fields, but Virginia Tech responded with another touchdown and cruised to the 55-17 win.
Of the many issues UVA's defense had containing Virginia Tech, the biggest had to be the big plays the Hokies were able to deliver. Virginia Tech had eight plays of at least 30 yards, five of which went for touchdowns. And the Hokies, who had been better at running the ball than passing it coming in, lit up the UVA secondary for 248 passing yards and three passing scores.
On offense, Virginia had trouble converting on third down and struggled to protect the passer, with Anthony Colandrea getting sacked six times. But UVA's inability to run the ball, rushing for an average of 1.5 yards per carry, was most significant as it made it easy for Virginia Tech's defense to contain Virginia's passing game.
Colandrea attempted 46 passes in the game, completing 29 of those attempts for 243 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Both of those scores went to Malachi Fields, who had six catches for 89 yards. Malik Washington finished his spectacular season at Virginia, and his collegiate career, with another impactful performance, catching 14 passes for 115 yards. Washington broke the ACC's all-time record for most receptions in a season with 110 and also posted his 10th game with at least 100 yards this season.
Virginia Tech earned its first point in the 2023-2024 Commonwealth Clash, which UVA now leads 5-1.
Virginia ends the 2023 football season 3-9 overall and 2-6 in ACC play.
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