You totally knew where things were going when it was 30-17 Wake in the fourth quarter, and it wasn’t a good place.
The Deacs had taken control with a drive that took up the first half of the third quarter, and you just knew that Anthony Colandrea was going to come out pressing, trying to do too much, which is what happened, with the sophomore underthrowing a ball intended for Trell Harris that ended up being intercepted.
At least the defense stiffened in the red zone on Wake’s next possession, but still, 30-17, Wake had the ball, after a UVA three-and-out, and they’d scored on six of their eight possessions, not counting having the one play with two seconds left in the second quarter after the blocked punt.
It started innocently, with a third-down stop near midfield.
Then, Colandrea and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings found a rhythm, with AC going 5-for-5 for 68 yards on the next possession, which ended with a Colandrea-to-Harris 24-yard TD pass that got it back to 30-24 with 10:37 to go.
Virginia head coach Tony Elliott, at this point, had his guys’ attention.
“We didn’t start the second half the way we wanted to, right. They came out and had two scoring drives, and, you know, we had a turnover and a three-and-out,” Elliott said. “I just told the guys, don’t press. You know, it’s still a lot of ball, and we’re trying to get to the fourth quarter, and all we need to do is get to the fourth quarter and be in one-possession game, and we give ourselves a shot.”
Video: UVA Football finds a way
Here, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson blinked.
His offense got a first down in plus territory, but the drive stalled, and after QB Hank Bachmeier missed on a third-and-9 from the UVA 36, Clawson should have punted.
Instead, he left his offense on the field, and Trey McDonald fought his way through a block to sack Bachmeier for an eight-yard loss, setting up the ‘Hoos with great field position.
The next Virginia possession took several years off the end of a lot of our lives.
Colandrea converted one fourth down with a pass across the middle to Malachi Fields, who had to reach behind his body to haul the pass in for the first down.
Then, on a fourth-and-2 at the Wake 9, Colandrea connected again with Fields at the 2.
Colandrea ran for a yard on first-and-goal, and Elliott and Kitchings went with the Grady Bunch play, the tush-push formation popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles, with third-string QB Grady Brosterhous under center, on second-and-goal.
Brosterhous plowed forward for the 1-yard TD with 2:07 to go, and the extra point from Will Bettridge put Virginia on top for the first time all night.
Keep in mind: Wake had led 17-3 at one point in the second quarter, 30-17 in the fourth quarter, with the ball.
Bachmeier, who had 403 yards passing on the night, led the Deacs into plus territory again – Wake had 544 yards of total offense on the night; it was only a close game because the Virginia D had forced three red-zone field goals, leaving 12 points off the scoreboard.
Bachmeier connected with Taylor Morin for a 20-yard gain on a first-down pass at midfield, but UVA corner Malcolm Greene forced a Morin fumble, and Antonio Clary outfought everybody to get the recovery at the UVA 29.
Wake forced a punt, but had to burn its three timeouts, and was reduced to trying the lateral play on its final snap from its own 28.
Ballgame.
ICYMI: Virginia 31, Wake Forest 30
- Live Coverage: UVA Football faces Wake Forest in ACC opener on Tobacco Road
- UVA Football: ‘Hoos, down two scores in the fourth, find a way to win
- Report Card: Grading UVA Football in the 31-30 comeback win at Wake Forest
- Scott German: Virginia posts ‘program win’ with rally at Wake Forest
That’s about as improbable a win as you can draw up – not because Wake, a one-point favorite going in, is particularly formidable, but just because of the way the game was going.
It felt over, and then, just like that, it was over, and Virginia walked out with the win.
“We’ve been working really, really hard as a program, been challenging these guys to grow up, and tonight they took a step forward. Being down in the fourth quarter, to come back and find a way to win, man, that’s all I can say, that’s the good lord above,” said Elliott, who, we all know, is coming off back-to-back three-win seasons, but last year’s group was a bit snakebitten.
The Week 2 loss to JMU was a one-point loss in a game with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, and a lightning delay that the JMU side used to regroup, and the UVA side, you know, didn’t handle very well.
NC State won on a last-second field goal after Virginia was penalized on a missed field goal that should have sent the game to OT.
Louisville won by a touchdown in a game with another blocked punt that got returned for a TD.
Miami won with an OT field goal. Boston College won with a field goal with 2:11 remaining.
“We lost a lot of close games last year. You know, we had five games a touchdown or less, a one-point loss and several field-goal losses in the fourth quarter. Tonight, they found a way,” Elliott said.
Colandrea passed for 357 yards and three TDs, with two INTs.
Fields had 11 catches for 148 yards. Grad transfer tight end Tyler Neville had two TD catches.
The defense, which had 11 sacks all last year, had six tonight, and six QB hurries.
They gave up all those yards, but the guys on that side had two sacks and forced a turnover in the fourth quarter.
“I told them in the locker room that we’re going to win this game, because we love each other, right, and guys are going to have to step up,” an emotional Elliott said after the game.
“I told them, there may be a guy that’s got to play one play in the second half to make the difference in the game, and I told them, grit was going to win, toughness was going to win, and everybody stepped up to the challenge,” Elliott said, echoing what he’d said earlier in the week, that a win over this Wake program would, in his mind, be a “program win.”
The locker room was loud after the game, and it should have been.
This Virginia program has had challenges the past couple of years, working through the coaching transition, the unspeakable tragedy of Nov. 13, 2022, the growing pains in 2023.
It’s just one game, but it feels significant, given that one of the parts of sports that you can overlook is that, in addition to having to learn how to play the game, you also have to learn how to win.
And then: you have to do it again.
“So now, they just, you know, need to build upon this,” Elliott said. “Stay humble, right, but have confidence knowing that, hey, we can be a fourth quarter team, and the great teams, they found a way to win a game in the fourth quarter.”
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Chris Graham
