The guy sitting next to me in the press box – he knows who he is – was loudly suggesting that Tony Elliott might want to lift the struggling Anthony Colandrea in the second half of Virginia’s 27-13 loss to Maryland Saturday night.
My response: did you not see how bad Tony Muskett looked in mop-up duty against Richmond two weeks ago?
And anyway, it’s not like the loss was all on Colandrea’s shoulders.
ICYMI: Maryland 27, Virginia 13
After a mostly solid first half, in which Colandrea was 13-of-19 for 189 yards, and the UVA offense gained 288 total yards, and AC wasn’t sacked once, he was under constant fire in the second half from a rejuvenated Maryland defense.
Sacked three times, and under consistent pressure from the Terps front, Colandrea was just 8-of-18 for 58 yards, and the ‘Hoos gained just 82 total yards in the final 30 minutes, as three of UVA’s second-half possessions ended on three-and-outs, two ended with turnovers, and one was a turnover on downs.
“Just keep swinging. I mean, it’s like a great shooter, man, they got to keep shooting, like a baseball player goes in the slump, he’s got to keep swinging, right? So, we’re not, we’re not going to panic and have a knee-jerk reaction here,” Elliott told reporters after the game.
Even in the mostly solid first half, Colandrea had a fumble on a third-and-goal scramble, and an INT on a bad misread on a pass that he tried to thread to a well-covered Malachi Fields that put Maryland in plus territory.
Those miscues were a big reason why Virginia led just 13-7 at the half, despite outgaining Maryland 288-141.
The first three red-zone trips resulted in just two Will Bettridge chip-shot field goals, as the offense bogged down with the short fields.
“We were excited to get points, because the number-one objective in the red zone is to score points, but you want to have a higher touchdown percentage than you do field goals. So, we were excited to get the six points, but definitely want to come away with touchdowns, and you need touchdowns, especially when you’re playing a good team,” Elliott said.
“In the in the red zone, man, everything speeds up, right? Everything speeds up, because it’s a shorter field distance. Everything happens a lot faster. You just got to, you, man, you got to, got to make sure that you don’t beat yourself, and then you got to go execute at a high level. And so we’ll be evaluating that,” Elliott said.
The one red-zone touchdown came on one of those “oh, crap” Colandrea plays.
With a first-and-goal at the Maryland 10, with nine seconds on the clock, and one timeout, what Elliott was thinking was, “let’s call something that’s pretty safe, and if it’s tackled short of the of the end zone, we’re gonna call timeout and come away with three points. “
Colandrea didn’t play it like there were nine seconds left in the first half. He dropped back, went through his progressions, pulled the ball down, and zigged and zagged his way into the end zone, breaking the plane with a second to go on the clock.
Video: Anthony Colandrea mad scramble
AC TO THE HOUSE 💪 pic.twitter.com/i5irSyZTVn
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 15, 2024
Exciting play, and he scored, but, man.
“Glad that he made a play, but the first thing when he came off, I said, Hey buddy, you got to understand the situation, like, you got to be absolutely right in that situation, which he was, because if not, if we’re running around in that situation, we can run the clock out and come away with no points. So, you know, excited to see him make a play, but again, it’s another opportunity for us to teach,” Elliott said.
That was basically the last positive play for the Virginia offense for the night.
Colandrea’s counting numbers – 21-of-37, 247 yards, two INTs, 102.0 college passer rating, 54,7 NFL passer rating, the one TD on the ground, the one fumble on the scramble – are mid.
But Colandrea isn’t hearing footsteps.
“We’re going to coach, because there are some good things he did, good things he did, too. He made a lot of plays for us as well. And so, each one, we’ll dissect individually and try to coach him, you know, from a fundamental standpoint, from a situation standpoint,” Elliott said.
“He’s a competitor, and there’s nobody in that locker room that’s probably hurting more than him, man. He wants to go out and do everything that he can to help the guys, and he’s shown progress, right? And we’re going to be confident that he’s going to continue to progress. And, man, it’s a long season, right? There’s going to be learning opportunities for everybody, but he’s a competitor, and the message is, man, just keep competing, and then remain, you know, locked in on correcting those mistakes, and even on the sideline with his demeanor in the conversation, you know, he was receptive to the corrections. He wants to be successful, man, he wants to lead his football team. And you know, there’s going to be some nights where you got to learn some tough lessons.”
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Chris Graham
