The Cavaliers blew a halftime lead against rival Maryland Saturday. The offense sputtered for Virginia (2-1, 1-0 ACC) while the Terrapins (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) forced four turnovers. Virginia’s defense held as long as they could, but offensive woes spoiled this highly anticipated matchup. The result was a disheartening 13-27 loss for Virginia.
Maryland opened the game with four quick passes by junior quarterback Billy Edwards. With Virginia expecting another short pass, Edwards took a home run shot. Senior receiver Kaden Prather streaked wide-open down the sideline, but Edwards’ pass floated harmlessly beyond his target. On third-and-15 Edwards’ pass was dislodged at the catch point by graduate safety Antonio Clary.
The Cavaliers took the field on their own 20-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea swung out a screen to graduate receiver Chris Tyree who turned on the jets and bolted down the sideline for what appeared to be a 65-yard touchdown. But Virginia's elation melted into despair as the catch and run got wiped by a holding penalty. Four plays later, the Cavaliers punted.
A good punt by graduate punter Daniel Sparks backed Maryland up to the Terrapin nine-yard line. After a tackle for loss and a false start, Maryland went backward, forcing them to punt from their own six-yard line.
Virginia’s second drive was jump-started by a 33-yard go-ball from Colandrea to freshman receiver Kameron Courtney — his first career catch. Graduate running back Kobe Pace and junior running back Xavier Brown ran the football down to Maryland’s five-yard line. But on third down Colandrea dropped back, tried to escape the pocket and the ball was poked free — recovered by Maryland.
The Cavalier defense rose to the challenge again though, forcing another three-and-out, as Edwards’ third-down pass overshot senior receiver Tai Felton sprinting over midfield.
Virginia’s third drive was a nightmare. First, a wild backyard scramble on a designed run by Colandrea who reversed directions three times deep into his backfield, covering about 50 yards to get back near the line of scrimmage. Then came an ugly overthrow by Colandrea, straight into the arms of senior cornerback Dante Trader Jr.
Trader Jr. returned the ball to Virginia’s 35-yard line. In need of a defensive stop, graduate cornerback Kempton Shine broke on an outbreak and swatted the ball to the turf on third down. Junior kicker Jack Howes missed a 52-yard field goal and Maryland was turned away empty-handed.
Back on offense, the previous two turnovers had no effect on Colandrea’s confidence. First, the young quarterback uncorked an arching pass down the sideline to senior receiver Malachi Fields who drew a pass interference call working back to the football. Colandrea took another deep shot, this pass reeled in by junior receiver Trell Harris, who dove for an incredible 45-yard gain. The Cavaliers’ drive stalled at Maryland’s two-yard line and junior kicker Will Bettridge knocked in a 19-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
Edwards missed on another deep pass and the Cavalier defense forced another three-and-out. Colandrea’s subsequent drive had a surgical start, with accurate passes in rhythm for three first downs. Virginia turned to the run on four straight plays driving down to Maryland’s 14-yard line. But once again, Maryland’s defense stiffened in the red zone, holding Virginia to another field goal.
The Terrapins discovered a run game of their own, starting the ensuing drive with three straight runs, getting them to midfield. This laid the groundwork for play action, and on the following play, Edwards launched a ball to a deep post route in the endzone. The ball was on target and catchable, but junior cornerback Jam Jackson displayed perfect technique to cleanly wrap around the receiver and swat the ball down. The drive ended with a Maryland punt.
Unfortunately, the Cavalier offense sputtered and Sparks had to punt from inside Virginia’s endzone. The Terrapins started in Virginia territory and executed a nice two-minute drill, capped by a 19-yard Edwards touchdown pass to Felton working against Jackson.
The Cavaliers responded with a hasty drive of their own that started with 50 seconds left in the second quarter. First, Colandrea found graduate tight end Tyler Neville running up the seam for 42 yards. Then with nine seconds left in the half, from Maryland’s 10-yard line, Colandrea scrambled up the middle, juked a linebacker and powered across the goal line with one second left in the half, putting Virginia up 13-7.
With momentum on their side heading into the third quarter, Virginia received the ball out of half and went three and out. The Terrapins moved the chains once with a strong catch by sophomore tight end Preston Howard. Then Edwards’ deep ball finally landed, hitting senior receiver Kaden Prather on a 26-yard back-shoulder touchdown. Maryland took a 14-13 lead with the PAT.
Brown kickstarted the Cavaliers’ next drive with a 14-yard run outside the tackle. But at a critical juncture on third-and-ten Colandrea, rolled out and committed his third turnover of the game — throwing a sideline interception to junior defensive back Jalen Husky.
But in just three plays, Virginia’s defense forced the Terrapins to punt. As was the theme to this point, the Cavalier offense frittered away the opportunity and punted the ball right back to Maryland.
Realistically, a defense can only hold for so long — especially when facing the nation’s second leading receiver. And sure enough, Felton caught a quick pass, broke Jackson’s tackle attempt, and sped ahead for 37 yards. Felton made another catch to get the Terrapins down to Virginia’s 10-yard line. Maryland’s aerial assault was derailed, however, when graduate defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter sacked Edwards on third down. Howes knocked through the field goal to extend the Terps lead though, now to 17-13.
Virginia’s offense continued to flounder, as Colandrea missed Fields on a back-shoulder pass. The ball sailed high and Colandrea slapped his helmet in frustration as the punt team took the field for the fifth time.
The offense just “couldn’t establish a rhythm,” Coach Tony Elliott said.
Maryland converted a fourth-and-two over midfield to close out the third quarter and ultimately advanced to Virginia’s 15 but settled for another field goal to increase their lead to 20-13.
Colandrea went right back to Fields on the ensuing drive’s first play, this time a completion of 15 yards. Fields caught a screen two plays later but fumbled the football, which was recovered by Maryland.
Edwards took the field and immediately connected with redshirt freshman receiver Ryan Manning for 36 yards. And from Virginia’s one-yard line, Edwards snuck the ball and plowed through an exhausted Cavaliers’ defense for the touchdown, putting Maryland up 27-14.
The last gasp for Virginia’s offense came up short as Colandrea was tackled short of the sticks on 4th down. Maryland strung together a 10-play drive to drain the final five minutes off the clock — securing the 27-13 road victory.
Virginia will next travel to Coastal Carolina Saturday for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Read More
What we know about Virginia football a quarter of the way through the season
By Peter Kriebel | 15 hours agoA football beat writer for The Cavalier Daily examines the early results of Virginia's 2024 season.
Virginia stars, Brian O’Connor talk baseball offseason and the 2025 campaign
By Emory Huffman and Xander Tilock | YesterdayAnyone who watched the 2024 regular season will be glad to hear that pitching depth should be much improved this season compared to last.
No. 2 women’s soccer falters against Wake Forest in first defeat of the season
By Peter Kratz | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers conceded multiple goals in a game for the first time this season.
