Virginia, like last year up in College Park, dominated the opening quarter-plus on Saturday night in the rematch, didn’t have much to show for it, turned the ball four times, and got dominated in the second half, on the way to a loss.
No other way to say it: Maryland is the better team, and head and shoulders the better program in the DMV.
The final score last year was 42-14 Maryland. It was 27-13 Maryland on Saturday.
Other than the score, and a few minor details, it was the same game.
The Virginia offense scored touchdowns on its first two possessions in last year’s game and led 14-0; Saturday night, in front of a crowd announced in the range of 41,000, the ‘Hoos drove into the red zone on their second possession, but failed to score after Anthony Colandrea fumbled on a third-and-goal scramble.
The next two possessions also got into the red zone, but ended with short Will Bettridge field goals, so with Virginia dominating everything in the scorebook – plays, total yards, time of possession, it was just 6-0 midway through the second quarter.
It could have been, and should have been, more.
That opened the door for Maryland, which, after winning the field-position battle on an exchange of punts, went 47 yards on seven plays, scoring on a 19-yard TD pass from Billy Edwards to Tai Felton, to go up, 7-6, with 54 seconds left in the first half.
Virginia answered with a quick-strike drive of its own, going 71 yards on five plays, gaining 39 on a pass from Colandrea to tight end Tyler Neville that got UVA another first-and-goal, with nine seconds left, and then, after a timeout, Colandrea scored on a 9-yard scramble, breaking the plane with a second on the clock, to go into the break up 13-7.
Which was great, but also, Colandrea was a yard and a second away from making it two field goals on four first-half red-zone trips.
The second half was all Maryland: the Terps outgained UVA 250-82, were 5-of-10 on third downs and 2-of-2 on fourth downs, and had the ball for a staggering 21:39 of game clock.
Virginia, on its six second-half possessions, had three three-and-outs, an INT, a fumble and a turnover on downs.
Maryland took the lead for good at 14-13 on a 26-yard Edwards-to-Kaden Prather TD pass four minutes into the third quarter, then extended the lead with a pair of Jack Howes field goals.
The second of those, a 32-yarder, made it 20-13 Maryland with 12:31 to go.
Virginia got a first down on a 15-yard pass from Colandrea to Malachi Fields, but on a third-and-8 pass from the UVA 42, Fields, struggling to make the yard to gain, fumbled, and Maryland defensive back Quashon Fuller recovered at the Maryland 48.
The Terps, on the ensuing possession, went 52 yards on nine plays, with Edwards scoring on a 1-yard tush-push keeper that made it 27-13 with 7:10 to go.
The loss is the first of the season for UVA (2-1, 1-0 ACC).
More painful than just the L is, it was a sign that this Virginia team hasn’t grown all that much from the one last year that finished with a 3-9 record.
If anything, this was a step back from the way the game up in College Park went last year.
The offense, this time around, wasn’t as efficient as it was last year in terms of converting scoring opportunities, and the defense was clearly spent from about the third quarter on.
Not good.
Next week: at Coastal Carolina (3-0), which hasn’t played anybody of consequence yet – beating Jacksonville State 55-27 in Week 1, William & Mary from the FCS level 40-21 in Week 2, and Temple, which is Temple, 28-20, on Saturday.
Either way, it will be as close to a must-win as you can get in a September game for a UVA game that can’t afford to be 2-2 going into its bye, with seven ACC games and a road game at Notre Dame thereafter.
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Chris Graham
