UVA (1-0) opens its 2024 ACC schedule on the road at Wake Forest (1-0).
Follow our #TeamAFP coverage with Chris Graham in the home office in Virginia and Scott German on the scene at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Field in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Demon Deacons put up 513 yards of total offense in a 45-13 win over North Carolina A&T in their opener last week.
The well-traveled Hank Bachmeier, a 25-year-old sixth-year, is the QB. Bachmeier played for four years at Boise State, passing for 1,879 yards and nine TDs as a freshman way back in 2019, and a career-high 3,079 yards and 20 TDs in 2021.
After a year at Louisiana Tech, Bachmeier is in his third senior season with a different uniform on his back.
He passed for 263 yards and three TDs in the opener last week.
Junior tailback Demond Claiborne rushed for 135 yards and a TD, three catches for 35 yards and 37 yards on two kick returns in the win.
Fifth-year senior wideout Taylor Morin had six catches for 100 yards and a 73-yard punt-return TD.
On the UVA side, sophomore Anthony Colandrea, who won the QB battle with fifth-year senior Tony Muskett in training camp, was on point in Virginia’s 34-13 win over Richmond, going 17-of-23 through the air for 297 yards and three TDs, and putting up 79 sack-adjusted yards on the ground.
Fifth-year senior tailback Kobe Pace had 93 yards on the ground on 11 carries, leading a rushing attack that put up 229 sack-adjusted yards and averaged 6.5 yards per attempt.
Wideout Malachi Fields had five catches on six targets for 100 yards through the air.
The UVA defense limited Richmond to 257 yards of total offense.
Details
Series: Virginia leads series, 34-17
Last meeting: Wake Forest, 37-17 (2021)
ESPN2: Mike Monaco (play-by-play), Kirk Morrison (analyst), Dawn Davenport (sideline)
School Radio Feeds: Virginia / Wake Forest
SiriusXM Radio: SiriusXM 162 / SiriusXM 194 / SiriusXM 391
SiriusXM App: SiriusXM 956 / SiriusXM 981
Line: Wake Forest -2
Over/under: 55.5
Projected score: Wake 28, UVA 27
Wake gets first blood
Update: 7:18 p.m. Virginia went three-and-out on its first possession. Wake drove 71 yards on five plays, lots of good misdirection on runs and passes, scoring on a 17-yard run by Demond Claiborne.
Too easy.
Wake leads 7-0, 11:37/1st.
Dropsies
Update: 7:25 p.m. Anthony Colandrea hit Trell Harris in stride for what would have been a 55-yard TD.
Would have been.
Harris flat-out dropped it.
Colandrea overshot Andre Green on third-and-8.
Points, but
Update: 7:34 p.m. First and goal at the 4, Anthony Colandrea ran twice, obviously was supposed to pitch it to Kobe Pace on the second-down run, then Pace got stuffed on third-and-goal.
Will Bettridge was good from 19, and it’s 7-3 Wake, 5:39/1st.
Drive: 6 plays, 68 yards, 3:06.
Malachi Fields has four catches on four targets for 86 yards.
Fields broke one for 45 yards on this drive.
Wake answers
Update: 7:43 p.m. Matt Dennis converts a 21-yard kick after the UVA D held inside the 5.
Wake drive: 9 plays, 62 yards, 3:12.
Wake 10, UVA 3, 2:27/1st.
First quarter stats
Total offense: Wake 144, UVA 100
- Anthony Colandrea: 6-of-10, 90 yards
- Malachi Fields: four catches, 86 yards
- Kam Robinson: five tackles, one sack
- James Jackson: three tackles, one sack
Batted ball picked off
Update: 7:59 p.m. Anthony Colandrea, dropping back on third down, had a pass batted into the air and picked off by Wake D lineman Kevin Pointer to set up the Deacs inside the UVA 10.
Demond Clairborne scored on second-and-goal from the 1.
On the play, Kam Robinson went down with a non-contact injury, which is not good.
Wake leads 17-3, 13:01/2nd.
Great response
Update: 8:11 p.m. Virginia picked up a third-and-long, then drove down the field with a no-huddle offense.
Anthony Colandrea looked very comfortable with the tempo: 5-of-6 for 59 yards passing, plus an 11-yard keeper.
Scoring play: Colandrea to Harvard transfer TE Tyler Neville 18 yards for the TD.
Wake leads 17-10, 10:05/2nd.
🤯 TYLER NEVILLE pulls this one out of the sky for his first career touchdown as a 𝗛𝗢𝗢! pic.twitter.com/NpQDSyjDG8
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 8, 2024
Wake scores again
Update: 8:19 p.m. Matt Dennis good from 38 on a kick after the Wake drive stalled on the edge of the end zone.
Good D in plus territory. It would be better if it could get stops sooner.
Wake 20, UVA 10, 7:17/2nd.
Neville again
Update: 8:29 p.m. Tyler Neville 24-yard TD pass from Anthony Colandrea. Wake lead now down to three, at 20-17
UVA picked up a fourth-and-1 on a sideline pass from Colandrea to Trell Harris to set up the score.
Drive: eight plays, 75 yards, 2:44.
TYLER NEVILLE, AGAIN‼️
That’s his first career multi-TD game 💯 pic.twitter.com/MgB49QtstH
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 8, 2024
Mistakes
Update: 8:48 p.m. Malachi Fields with a dumb penalty taking away a big gain to Tyler Neville that would have gotten UVA into field-goal range, then, a blocked punt, what else is new.
At least it didn’t get taken back to the house, and there were only two seconds left.
Daniel Sparks, the punter, needs to have more urgency on what should have been a quick kick.
Half: Wake 20, UVA 17.
Halftime stats
First: that half felt a little (just a smidge) like the BYU game from 2021 (OK, that one was 42-38 at the half).
Total offense: UVA 279, Wake 275 (with the 26-yard screen pass on the final play of the half padding Wake’s stats).
UVA
- Anthony Colandrea: 19-of-27, 239 yards, two TDs, one INT.
- Malachi Fields: 5 catches, 98 yards.
- Tyler Neville: 3 catches, 58 yards, two TDs.
- UVA: Seven receivers with a catch.
- UVA D: three sacks.
Wake
- Hank Bachmeier: 10-of-19, 194 yards.
- Demond Claiborne: 11 carries, 50 yards, two TDs.
That was a march
Update: 9:22 p.m. Wake went 75 yards on 14 plays, and used 7:20 of the third quarter, to make it a two-score game again.
Scoring play: Hank Bachmeier to Donavan Greene 3-yard TD pass.
Wake 27, UVA 17, 7:40/3rd.
The concern: that Anthony Colandrea will press because the offense was on the sidelines for so long.
Unfortunately, I called it
Update: 9:30 p.m. Virginia got the ball to midfield, and then Anthony Colandrea underthrew a deep sideline to Trell Harris, and was INT’d by Wake DB Jamare Glaskar at the Wake 23.
Three, but still a two-score game
Update: 9:40 p.m. Another short Matt Dennis field goal makes it 30-17 Wake with 2:10 left in the third.
Wake has scored on six of its eight possessions; what’s keeping this within hailing distance is, three of the six were field goals.
Three-and-out
Update: 9:44 p.m. Man, that long Wake drive sapped everything out of the Virginia side.
Third quarter-only stats:
- Wake gained 133 yards on 24 plays
- Virginia gained 27 yards on eight plays
Tempo
Update: 10:01 p.m. Trell Harris 24-yard TD pass from Anthony Colandrea, caps a seven-play, 66-yard drive.
Colandrea was 5-for-5 for 68 yards on the drive.
Still a game, if the D can do something: Wake 30, UVA 24, 10:37/4th.
TRELLLLLL 🕺
That’s also Anthony Colandrea’s third touchdown pass of the night 💯 pic.twitter.com/vMiM9Qn5Kc
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 8, 2024
Two fourth-down conversions lead to a score
Update: 10:23 p.m. Grady Brosterhous scores from a yard out with 2:07 left to put Virginia up, 31-30.
Two fourth-down conversions on passes to Malachi Fields.
Drive: 12 plays, 56 yards.
Wake helped by going for a fourth-and-9 in plus territory, and failing to convert.
GRADY BUNCH TO TIE‼️
Will Bettridge drills the PAT to give us our first lead of the night.
UVA 31, WF 30
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/USnfuF4PU7
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 8, 2024
We have ourselves a final
Update: 10:44 p.m. A wild last couple of minutes with no scoring wraps us up.
Final: UVA 31, Wake 30.
"This is confirmation for the hard work they've put in!"#GoHoos | #UVAStrong pic.twitter.com/f8utLE5JZc
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 8, 2024
Final stats
Total offense: Wake 544, UVA 430
Virginia: six sacks (11 all last season), six QB hurries
Wake: one sack, two QB hurries
UVA
- Anthony Colandrea: 33-of-43, 357 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs
- Malachi Fields: 11 catches/13 targets, 148 yards
- Trell Harris: 7 catches/11 targets, 91 yards, 1 TD
- Tyler Neville: 4 catches/4 targets, 68 yards, 2 TDs
- Antonio Clary: 11 tackles, one sack
- Jonas Sanker: 10 tackles, one sack, one QB hurry
- Trey McDonald: nine tackles, one sack
- James Jackson: eight tackles, one sack
Wake Forest
- Hank Bachmeier: 27-of-42, 403 yards, 1 TD
- Donavon Greene: 11 catches/16 targets, 166 yards, 1 TD
- Demond Claiborne: 21 carries, 86 yards, 2 TDs
Key stat: Wake had to kick three field goals.
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