BC dominates second half, rallies to win 27-24 as UVA falls to 0-5

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia’s losing streak now sits at eight games dating back to last October, as the Cavaliers blew a 14-point halftime lead and Boston College stormed back to win, 27-24, on Saturday in Chestnut Hill.

UVA (0-5, 0-2 ACC) went with Tony Muskett under center, and the Monmouth transfer — seeing his first game action since the fourth quarter of the season opener against Tennessee — threw for over 200 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

The second half was not as pretty, as the Wahoo offense was outgained 266-39 after halftime and outscored 20-3.

The Eagles (2-3, 1-2) struggled to get much going in the first half, but scored on three-straight possessions to start the second, and took their first lead of the day, 24-21, with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

“Speeches only go so far,” BC head coach Jeff Hafley said of the halftime talk, “so what you say in there to get ‘em all fired up to run out of the tunnel, it doesn’t last. It’s who they are in here (pointing to chest) and how resilient, and how much they trust and believe in their team.”

UVA forced back-to-back fumbles in the fourth quarter, unable to cash in on the first, but managed to tie the score at 24-all on a Will Bettridge 44-yard field goal with 7:10 remaining.

BC milked the clock down and went back in front on a 42-yarder from Liam Connor with 2:11 to play, and the Cavaliers threw four incompletions and turned the ball over on downs, as the Eagles began to celebrate their first conference victory of the season.

“I’ve got to do a better job as a coach, along with the staff, of helping [the players] to make the transition to understanding that when you have success, you can’t take your foot off the gas. You can’t become complacent,” said UVA’s Tony Elliott, who is now 3-12 overall as head coach of the Hoos. “Every play, every drive until the game’s over, you’ve got to be looking at, ‘How can I get better? How can I improve? How can I rely on my fundamentals even more?’ And I think that’s where I’ve got to grow this football team up.”

It’s Virginia’s worst start since the 1982 campaign, and the Cavaliers will be hoping to avoid moving to 0-6 for the first time since ‘81 (that team dropped its first seven games and finished 1-10) when William & Mary comes to town next Saturday.

Muskett finished the contest completing 65-percent of his passes (22 of 34 for 247 yards and 3 scores with one interception), adding 3 carries for 13 yards. He was sacked 5 times on the afternoon for 29 yards.

Malik Washington had another big day, coming up just three yards shy of becoming the first and only Wahoo receiver to ever go over the century mark in four-consecutive games. The Northwestern transfer registered 97 yards and a touchdown on 9 grabs. Fellow wideout Malachi Fields added 88 yards and a Hail-Mary touchdown grab to end the first half.

Game Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia dropped to 0-4 in road games against Boston College. It marked the first trip to Chestnut Hill since 2010. BC leads the all-time series that was first played in 1963 against UVA, 7-1.
• UVA has lost eight-straight games dating back to last season, its longest losing skid since 2013 (final nine games). UVA is 0-5 for the first time since 1982, the first year of Hall of Fame coach George Welsh’s tenure at Virginia.
• Virginia forced a season-high four turnovers (2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries) in the contest. UVA has lost its last three games when forcing four or more turnovers (2022 at Syracuse & 2022 at Illinois). The Cavaliers came into the contest with two turnovers on the year (1 interception, 1 fumble recovery).
• The 21 points scored in the first half were a season-high and the most in the first half since scoring 21 against Virginia Tech in 2021.
• UVA scored on its opening drive for the second time this season (JMU). The drive lasted 10 plays and went for 75 yards, tied for the longest touchdown drive of the season.
• Virginia led by as many as 14 points, tied for the largest lead in a game this season. The Cavaliers have owned double-digit leads in three of their five games this season.
• Saturday was UVA’s first multi-interception game since picking off two against Louisville last season.

Player Notes

• Wide receiver Malik Washington led the Cavaliers in receptions and receiving yards for the third-straight game with nine catches for 97 yards. He was three-yards shy of becoming UVA’s first player to ever record four-straight 100-yard receiving games.
• Washington extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 30 games. He also went over the 150 career reception mark and has 157 for his career.
• Quarterback Tony Muskett was 22 of 34 passing for 247 yards and three touchdowns. He is the first UVA quarterback with three touchdown passes in a game since Brennan Armstrong had three at Pitt in 2021.
• A UVA quarterback has thrown for 200 or more yards in three-straight games. It was Muskett’s 18th 200-yard passing game of his career and first at UVA.
• Running back Mike Hollins scored on a five-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, his first receiving touchdown of his career. It was his Hollins’ 10th career touchdown.
• Making his second-straight start, true freshman Dre Walker recorded his first career interception. He is the first true freshman with an interception since Bryce Hall had two in 2016 against Duke.
• Linebacker Josh Ahern recorded his first career interception to go along with five tackles. It was the first interception by a UVA linebacker since D’Sean Perry vs. Abilene Christian in 2020.
• True freshmen Jaden Gibson and third year Bryce Carter made their first collegiate starts in the contest. Gibson caught two passes for 30 yards. Carter added four tackles.
• Defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter has started 17-straight games, the longest of streak of any Cavalier.

Game Stats

Scoring Summary
Virginia               7  14  0  3 — 24
Boston College   0   7 17  3 — 27

First Quarter
UVA (10:25) — Hollins 5-yd pass from Muskett (Bettridge kick). UVA 7, BC 0.

Second Quarter
UVA (12:11) — Washington 18-yd pass from Muskett (Bettridge kick). UVA 14, BC 0.
BC (0:47) — Garwo III 2-yd run (Connor kick). UVA 14, BC 7.
UVA (0:00) — Fields 39-yd pass from Muskett (Bettridge kick). UVA 21, BC 7.

Third Quarter
BC (9:42) — Connor 42-yd field goal. UVA 21, BC 10.
BC (6:09) — Griffin 4-yd pass from Castellanos (Connor kick). UVA 21, BC 17.
BC (1:04) — Bond 33-yd pass from Castellanos (Connor kick). BC 24, UVA 21.

Fourth Quarter
UVA (7:10) — Bettridge 44-yd field goal. UVA 24, BC 24.
BC (2:11) — Connor 42-yd field goal. BC 27, UVA 24.

Player Stats

Rushing
UVA — Kobe Pace 10-28; Tony Muskett 14-16; Mike Hollins 3-13; Perris Jones 2-9. TOTAL — 29-66.
BC — Pat Garwo III 23-87; Thomas Castellanos 16-78; Alex Broome 3-34; Ryan O’Keefe 2-13; Ozzy Trapilo 0-1. TOTAL — 47-203.

Receiving
UVA — Malik Washington 9-97; Malachi Fields 5-88; Jaden Gibson 2-30; Mike Hollins 2-13; Sackett Wood Jr. 1-10; Kobe Pace 3-9. TOTAL — 22-247.
BC — Lewis Bond 7-104; Josiah Griffin 3-29; George Takacs 2-25; Ryan O’Keefe 3-21; Pat Garwo III 1-4. TOTAL — 16-183.

Passing
UVA — Tony Muskett 22-34-247-3-1. TOTAL — 22-34-247-3-1.
BC — Thomas Castellanos 16-26-183-2-2. TOTAL — 16-26-183-2-2.

UP NEXT

The Hoos will welcome former head coach Mike London and the Tribe to Scott Stadium next Saturday (Noon, ACC Network).