UVA must rule in trenches to spring upset on SMU

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Major stakes are on the line when SMU comes to Virginia for a noon kickoff (ESPN2) Saturday at Scott Stadium.

The Mustangs (9-1, 6-0), newcomers to the league, are playing for a spot in next month’s ACC Championship game in Charlotte and a spot in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. A win over UVA would clinch a spot in the ACC Championship game.

Virginia (5-5, 3-3) is playing to become bowl-eligible for the first time in the Tony Elliott era. Ironically, the last time UVA was bowl-eligible came in Bronco Mendenhall’s final season (2021) when the Cavaliers were matched up against SMU (then a member of the American Athletic Conference) for the Wasabi Bowl at Boston’s Fenway Park. That game was never played, with both teams impacted by Covid.

If the host Cavaliers are to pull off an upset over the 10-point favorite Mustangs, then they’ll have to play better along the line of scrimmage, much like they did in upsetting Pitt two weeks ago, and unlike they did in losing 35-14 at No. 8 Notre Dame last weekend. SMU will be the third consecutive nationally ranked opponent for UVA.

SMU brings a high-powered offense to Charlottesville, averaging 39.9 points per game, second to only Miami in the ACC. The Mustangs also boast the conference’s third-best scoring defense (22.4 ppg).

One of the challenges for Elliott’s Cavaliers is to establish a running game early in the game and take some of the pressure off quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who was benched at halftime of last week’s game in South Bend.

Easier said than done.

SMU is No. 1 in the ACC in stopping the run, giving up only 99 yards per game on the ground. The Mustangs’ defense has been much more vulnerable to opposing passing attacks — which could be in Colandrea’s favor — as they are ranked 13th in the 17-team league in defending the pass (249 yards per game).

If Virginia can have some success on the ground, it will allow Colandrea more valuable time in the passing game and also allow him to activate the play-action portion of UVA’s offense.

“They’re deep on the defensive line,” Elliott said of SMU. “So they’ll roll in a lot of guys. They stay fresh. Their backers are athletic. They flow fast.

“They can change up structures if they need to, but they play gap-sound and kind of get extra hats to the box to help support it in their eight-man structure.

“They can have guys on the perimeter that can support it very quickly, but then also take away some of your run outlets. They play fast. They play physical. They’re playing as a unit and they have a lot of speed too.”

Certainly, if Virginia is to compete against SMU, then Colandrea will have to play one of his better games of the season. After throwing three interceptions in the final three minutes of the first half at Notre Dame last week, Elliott pulled his starter for backup Tony Muskett.

While the coach didn’t say he would start Colandrea this weekend, he essentially hinted that would be the case earlier in the week when Elliott said if the game were to be played Tuesday, he would stick with his starter and give him an opportunity to bounce back.

Elliott has helped quarterbacks navigate tough periods in their careers before, when he was offensive coordinator at Clemson.

“You have to help [Colandrea] stay focused on his fundamentals,” Elliott said. “Keep encouraging him. Help him to just focus on taking ownership and what he can correct and then he just has to keep playing.”

Elliott said that in 2016, Deshaun Watson threw 17 interceptions that season, and that also in Trevor Lawrence’s sophomore year, the future Jacksonville Jaguars QB went through a rough stretch.

“You just have to keep playing and keep working,” the coach said. “Encouraging him to block out the noise. Don’t listen to anybody on the outside. Just go back to work and the basics. Last thing you want to do is scare him and have him fearful and indecisive.”

Virginia will be saluting its seniors and players who have exhausted their eligibility.

“I’m extremely grateful, and I mentioned this to the staff that I know I came in the door with a big dream and a big vision, and I still have that big dream and that big vision,” Elliott said. “I think about those guys and they had an opportunity, more than one, to leave.

“Jonas Sanker has been huge. Same with Chico Bennett and Jahmeer Carter. Regardless of what maybe the win-loss record is, these young men always have a special place in my heart, just because of the character that they’ve exhibited and how they’ve helped me grow as a human being and how they’ve helped the staff grow, how they’ve helped us bring this team back together to be able to work daily on turning that tragedy into triumph.”

UVA Offensive Player Stats

UVA Defensive/Special Teams Stats

SMU Offensive Player Stats