Defense turns nasty in shutting down BC

By Jerry Ratcliffe

A few weeks ago, when Virginia suffered the sting of defeat against crusty old rival Maryland, Tony Elliott talked to his defense about turnovers. The Cavaliers came out of that loss ranked near the bottom of FBS teams in turnover margin.

Elliott knew his team had to stop the bleeding. He told his defense that if Virginia wanted to become a top 25 team, then it needed to create more turnovers.

The Cavaliers got the message.

Since then, UVA’s defense has taken the ball away from opponents six times over the past two games, including three times in Saturday’s 24-14 comeback win over Boston College. Two of ‘em — Chico Bennett’s first interception of his career, which set up the go-ahead touchdown; followed by Jonas Sanker’s 40-yard score off a scooped-up fumble — provided a dramatic ending for the Homecoming crowd of 38,285.

Until those developments, the thought of Virginia staging its biggest second-half comeback at Scott Stadium (14 points) since 2019 (UVA trailed ODU by 17 at halftime), didn’t appear too promising. Virginia’s offense had coughed and sputtered like an old jalopy for most of the game.

The defense, however, was putting together a hair-chested stretch of football to remember. John Rudzinski’s ‘D’ was pure nasty.

After Boston College (4-2, 1-1) took a 14-0 lead with 13 minutes to go in the first half, Rud’s defense slammed the door shut and stonewalled the Eagles the rest of the afternoon. Virginia not only held BC scoreless the final 43 minutes of the game, but didn’t allow the Eagles to cross midfield but twice the rest of the game … the deepest BC penetration was to the UVA 33, and that came in the second quarter.

Trailing 14-9 early in the fourth quarter, sophomore nose tackle Anthony Britton, making his first start for injured Jason Hammond, tipped a pass from BC quarterback Thomas Castellanos and Bennett, making his 41st start, made his first career interception at midfield. Running back Kobe Pace made an explosive, 20-yard run, followed by a 30-yard scoring strike from Anthony Colandrea to wide receiver Malachi Fields. A 2-point pass to Andre Greene, Jr., pushed Virginia into a 17-14 lead with 10:34 to play.

BC crossed midfield for the only time in the first half on the ensuing series, but didn’t get far. Castellanos, who had been a thorn in Virginia’s saddle in the Cavaliers’ heartbreaking loss in Chestnut Hill a year ago, was stripped by Kam Robinson, with the ball rolling around near the sideline when Sanker scooped it up and never looked back.

BOOM. Virginia 24, BC 14 with six minutes to go. Castellanos, a dangerous dual-threat QB who started the game a perfect 11 for 11 passing, was controlled by the Cavaliers’ defense. Corner Kendren Smith picked off Castellanos with 3:04 to go and the Wahoos, 4-1 for the first time since 2019, milked the clock.

“Honestly, I didn’t see nothing … the ball just fell in my lap,” Sanker said of the loose pigskin. “Every opportunity I get to have the ball, I’m going to embrace it. I’m going to make the most of it.”

Sanker and Fields, both products of Charlottesville high schools, have been key figures in Virginia’s success this season. Back-to-back touchdowns by the duo were special and meaningful in Saturday’s 14-point comeback, the team’s second, two-TD, fourth-quarter comeback this season (previously at Wake Forest).

“Malachi has been scoring touchdowns since he got [to Virginia], so I just had to kind of try to join the club,” Sanker grinned. “But, yeah, he’s been fun to watch. I think the coolest part about him is how humble he is. I tell him every day that I’ve gotta shake his hand, that I’ve gotta say hi to the best player on the team. He just laughs and says the same thing to me.”

On the other side of the postgame interview room, Bennett was basking in the glory of his first pick.

“Coach Rud always emphasizes when it’s third-and-short, don’t expect a sack, so get your hands up quick and that’s what Britt did and allowed me to come and make that play,” Bennett said. “So shout out to [Britton].”

The play changed the game around and gave Virginia the momentum it needed to pull off an important win. Elliott had stressed to the team all week that it needed to defend Scott Stadium, where the Cavaliers had won only four times in 13 games during his two-plus years heading up the program.

“Coach Elliott told us just make sure you lock in, have a fireman’s mentality,” Bennett said. “Make sure you take those punches and punch back. Just bounce back and come together as a team.”

This was a huge win for Virginia, beating a BC team that dominated then-10th-ranked Florida State in Tallahassee to open its season, then lost a winnable game at SEC-tough Missouri (27-21).

Eagles coach Bill O’Brien was clearly frustrated afterward, taking the blame for the loss, but pointing out that his team played lousy, while giving Virginia all the credit or doing what it had to do.

“Awful, awful,” O’Brien said postgame. “Bad coaching, bad execution. Bad all the way around. You gotta play 60 minutes. It’s not a 30-minute game. Next question.”

In Virginia’s press room, Elliott was enjoying the moment, four wins in his pocket in early October after winning a total of six games in his previous two seasons.

“What I think it shows is that the guys in the locker room are buying into what we’re trying to build as a program and they’re learning how to win close games, they’re learning how to win fourth-quarter games,” Elliott said.

Certainly that was missing last year when UVA lost five games by a combined 17 points.

Maybe this team has learned how to win.