The worst of the rain appears to be set to hold off until at least the second half of tonight’s Virginia-Syracuse game, meaning, the toughest part, conditions-wise, will be the choppy atmosphere, and the chilly temperatures.
It’s football weather.
I’ll be live-blogging from the home office tonight – hoping to avoid having to travel back to the Valley into the teeth of a tropical storm.
Any case …
Kickoff is 7:35 p.m.
Game details
Syracuse at Virginia | 7:35 p.m. ET
- Series: Series tied, 3-3
- Last meeting: Syracuse, 22-20 (2022)
- TV: ACC Network
- SiriusXM Radio: SiriusXM 174 / SiriusXM 234 / SiriusXM 258
- SiriusXM App: SiriusXM 258 / SiriusXM 958
Pregame coverage
- UVA Football: Syracuse forced to start third-stringer at QB on Saturday night
- UVA Football: The TV, radio folks don’t want to have to talk about Solomon Beebe
- UVA Football: Tony Elliott didn’t like a reporter’s question on his team quitting
- UVA Football: Tony Elliott not considering QB change ‘at this point’
- UVA Football: ‘Hoos set to face the ballsiest coach in the ACC on Saturday
Game coverage
Update: 6:47 p.m. Pregame availability report
Syracuse QB Amari Odom is a “game-time decision,” per the 5:30 p.m. ET update to the Syracuse availability report.
What Odom means to the Syracuse offense:
Notable guys listed as “out” for Virginia:
- CB Omillio Agard
- S Jaylen Jones
- DT Jason Hammond
- DE Devon Baxter
Update: 7:28 p.m. Malachi Nelson gets the start at QB for Syracuse
Syracuse coach Fran Brown told ESPN that he’s going with Malachi Nelson as the starter at QB tonight, and that Amari Odom would be available, despite a right shoulder injury.
The idea that Odom could play if needed – either because Nelson sucks, or gets hurt – doesn’t make sense.
He’s either hurt, or he’s not.
Update: 7:42 p.m. Virginia, on the opening possession, goes 75 yards on eight plays
Nice mix of QB runs, TB runs, play-action passing.
Beau Pribula connected with Rico Flores on a quick 6-yard out route, then with John Rogers on a 16-yard play-action pass-and-run.
Pribula also kept on two read options for 21 yards.
He’d run 14 times for 120 yards in the opener, and just 19 times for 63 yards in the next four total.
Is this the one good drive?
Virginia 7-0, 10:29/1st
Update: 7:54 p.m. Syracuse answers
One thing I will not understand about this UVA defense is, how there is so much accumulated talent on that side of the ball, and it’s just … not good.
Malachi Nelson, the third-string QB, was 4-of-5 for 54 yards, with a bubble screen, a traditional screen to a TB, and a read-option pass to the TE.
‘Cuse went 75 yards on 13 plays, and it felt like a drill in practice against the scout team.
Game tied at 7-7, 4:02/1st
Update: 8:03 p.m. End 1
Virginia got to a second-and-4 at its own 41. Pribula checked into a run against a five-man Syracuse front, no gain, then stuck with an inside counter on the third-and-4, no gain.
Brilliant.
I’m the bad guy for pointing out that he doesn’t know what the D is doing.
Update: 8:09 p.m. Advantages/disadvantages to covering from the home office
- D: completely reliant on the director’s shot
- D: have to hear the announcers
- A: the press box runs out of soda; the home fridge does not
- A: it’s not raining in the living room
- D: ACCN commercials
Update: 8:17 p.m. Hot knife through butter, part deux
This is no longer a matter of a good collection of talent underperforming.
The second Syracuse possession is nine plays, 91 yards.
No duress whatsoever.
The third-string QB is 7-of-8 for 129 yards and a TD.
The kid wasn’t good enough to be either QB1 or QB2 out of camp for a bad team.
Syracuse 14-7, 10:26/2nd
Update: 8:19 p.m. Things we’re going to hear in the postgame in three hours
“We’re going to get this fixed. I like my team.”
“It was all about run fits. Just need to fit better.”
“Did I mention, we’re going to get this fixed?”
Update: 8:22 p.m. Beebe gets a touch, no mention of the legal issue
“That pass to Solomon Beebe, a seldom-used running back.”
Guess the ACCN guys were told to not say anything about anything involved with Beebe.
Pribula sacked on the play after the big loss on the pop pass to Beebe.
Adding to the list of what we will hear from TE after the game tonight:
“The sacks, are they all on the quarterback?”
Yes, Coach, they are.
Update: 8:31 p.m. Missed kick
I don’t understand why Fran Brown doesn’t either go for fourth-and-8, or play call on third-and-8 knowing that his kicker is not going to make one from 40-plus.
That’s a missed opportunity.
This Virginia defense is, shockingly, nothing to what it was in Week 0.
Something happened behind the scenes, is all I can say.
There’s no way this unit, with the talent, with the way it played in Week 0, is just now this bad.
I don’t see how you could coach the group to be out of position on every play any better than what we’re seeing.
Update: 8:44 p.m. 77 yards total offense
That’s where the Virginia offense is at the two-minute timeout.
One good drive, two three-and-outs.
Third time in four weeks, the D can’t stop a bad QB from eating them alive.
This program is on life support.
Update: What?
Three penalties on third downs – roughing the passer on Fisher Camac, late hit on Jacobie Henderson, a questionable PI on Kam Robinson – extended the possession for Syracuse.
End result: a free three points.
This is what the money people are paying for.
Syracuse 17-7, :32/2nd
Update: 9:03 p.m. Half: Syracuse 17, Virginia 7
Syracuse, with its third-string QB, leads Virginia, with the guy the head coach insists on continuing to start, 17-7 at the break.
Virginia put up 117 yards on offense – 40 of those in the final 32 seconds, against a prevent defense from Syracuse, which was just trying to make sure to keep the ball in front of them.
Malachi Nelson is 9-of-14 for 142 yards and a TD in his first start for Syracuse, which has 217 yards of offense, and hasn’t had to punt yet – its four possessions went TD, TD, missed FG, FG.
Beau Pribula is 6-of-9 for 38 yards.
Update: 9:30 p.m. Another missed FG
Man, Syracuse needs to go to the free agent wire for a kicker.
Another miss, this one from 41.
Syracuse gained 69 yards on the drive, but got nothing.
The Virginia offense, at the least, needs to get a couple of first downs, to let the D get its legs back.
Update: 9:41 p.m. Three and out
The lack of adjustments: shocking.
Truly unfathomable.
Update: 9:51 p.m. Boo (sigh …)
After the latest dismal showing by the offense, there were audible boos from the home crowd.
Which is impressive, considering that it looks, from TV, that there are maybe 50 people still there watching.
Update: 9:56 p.m. Short
Six of Beau Pribula’s 14 pass attempts were at or behind the line of scrimmage.
Five traveled 10 or more yards in the air.
Pribula is 0-of-5 on those five attempts.
Update: 10:02 p.m. Finally
The sixth medium/deep ball connected: Pribula to Da’Shawn Martin 37 yards for the TD.
Syracuse had nine guys in the box, like they have most of the night.
Martin had one-on-one on the edge, beat his man by two steps.
Syracuse 17-14, 2:01/3rd
Update: 10:07 p.m. I love Dave Clawson, but …
Clawson keeps saying, Virginia’s defense has kept its team in the game.
Syracuse has 344 total yards; the issue is, two missed field goals.
Syracuse has punted twice.
And it feels like their issue in the third quarter was getting away from what had worked, not Virginia doing anything different or better on D.
Update: 10:20 p.m. Virginia takes the lead
Seven plays, 73 yards, direct snap to Jekail Middlebrook, who scores from three yards out.
One medium ball, a 17-yard completion to Kam Courtney, to get the ball into plus territory.
Then an option-pitch play to Middlebrook for 29 yards to get the ball into the red zone.
In other words: not just running the ball into the line and throwing swing passes behind the line.
Virginia 21-17, 11:42/4th
Update: 10:35 p.m. Short field score
The Syracuse punt team had a huge blunder – a low snap forced the punter to his knee to field the ball, and replay caught it, and gave Virginia the ball at the ‘Cuse 34.
One short pass, then runs, with Middlebrook scoring from five yards out on a direct snap – second time tonight that was used.
On this one, the line shifted to unbalanced to the right, and Middlebrook went in that direction.
Middlebrook: 14 carries, 89 yards, two TDs.
Virginia 28-17, 5:20/4th
Update: The fourth-stringer
Danny Lauter, the fourth-string QB, just threw a 46-yard TD pass, on third-and-22, which, seriously.
It was bad enough that the third-stringer was eating their lunch.
A guy who literally takes reps with the scout team just threw a 46-yard TD pass.
Then the guy completed the two-point try on a slant.
Virginia 28-25, 2:50/4th
Update: 11:05 p.m. ‘Great gut-check win for Virginia’
Alternative perspective: rallied, then held on, for a three-point win against third- and fourth-string QBs.
Quick recap
The stats seem to indicate that Syracuse would have won this game by at least a TD, maybe more.
‘Cuse had a 430-288 edge in total offense, didn’t turn the ball over.
But …
Two missed field goals, a bad snap on a punt that gave UVA a short field, it adds up.
Virginia won, somehow, 28-25, in front of maybe 1,000 people there at the end, in a rainy, and energy-depleted, Scott Stadium on Saturday night.
Beau Pribula was 11-of-19 for 119 yards, and had 46 sack-adjusted yards on the ground.
The W means we get more of this underwhelming crap next week.
Keep in mind, this Syracuse unit that held Virginia to 288 yards tonight gave up 499 yards last week to UConn – not the one coached by Dan Hurley.
Syracuse, forced to go with its third- and fourth-string QBs in this one, got 267 yards and two passing TDs from those guys.
I would not have guessed in a million years that the Virginia D that made CJ Bailey and NC State look like the JV team would morph by midseason into the defense that you get in a hotel ballroom walkthrough.
This Virginia team has to be the worst $40 million 4-2 team in college football history.
That said, at least the third- and fourth-string QBs didn’t beat us, right?
Can’t wait for the word salads from Tony Elliott in a few.
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Chris Graham
