UVA offense comes up empty on critical possessions in loss

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Chandler Morris could have used a mulligan in the final minute of Virginia’s 35-31 loss at NC State on Saturday. No such luck.

For most of the sixth-year quarterback’s 43 dropbacks in the game, Morris was highly efficient, slinging the pigskin for 257 yards of mistake-free football. When it came down to the deciding throw of the game, though, Morris made a costly rookie mistake.

The Cavaliers had marched all the way from their own 19 to a first down at State’s 12 with more than a minute to go, trailing by four points. Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings called for a pass play, a wheel route to tailback J’Mari Taylor coming out of the backfield, with a tight end drifting across the middle.

Normally, Taylor would have attracted a linebacker, but surprisingly, defensive end Cian Slone went with Taylor into the end zone and had UVA’s receiver covered. Instead of throwing the ball away, with plenty of time and downs remaining, Morris forced the pass and was intercepted with 62 seconds to play.

Game, set, match (for a complete, blow-by-blow game story, video highlights, full statistics and team/player notebooks, click here).

It was a bad decision by an experienced quarterback, perhaps his only mistake in two weeks of this young season. It was a throw Morris would take back in a heartbeat. Instead, it will haunt him until he finds a way to get it out of his system.

The well-traveled quarterback had put Virginia in position to win as a road underdog, and in spite of a mostly putrid performance by the Cavaliers’ defense.

After posting 31 points — normally enough to win most games — in three quarters, the Wahoos couldn’t scratch in any of their three visits inside the Wolfpack’s 30-yard line in the fourth period, twice inside the Red Zone. Virginia had the ball at State’s 30, 8 and 12 and couldn’t convert, dropping Tony Elliott’s team to 1-1 on the season, while State improved to 2-0.

While putting up 514 yards of offense, 257 on the ground thanks to Taylor’s hat-trick three TDs rushing, all of that success was erased when Virginia couldn’t score when it needed to most.

Fans will second-guess Elliott and Kitchings on decisions down the homestretch that cost UVA the ‘W.’

On the Cavaliers’ first possession of the fourth quarter, they moved from their 23 to the State 30, where they were faced with a fourth-and-5 play. Elliott elected to go for a 47-yard field goal, but Will Bettridge’s kick hit the left upright and caromed off no good.

Elliott contemplated going for the first down, but offered up his logic to media after the game:

“I know the analytics said it was close, but I wanted to get the points, get us within an opportunity to win it on a field goal,” the coach said. “I felt like where we were, we needed points, we needed something on the board.

“I felt like we were in range. We’ve got to find a way to make that. If we make that, then it’s a different ballgame because now, in that two-minute clutch situation, you’re playing for a field goal and not a touchdown.”

True. Had the field goal been good, it’s 35-34 and makes it an easy field goal at game’s end for a win.

Instead, UVA’s defense, which finally stiffened in the fourth quarter — the Cavaliers held State’s offense to a mere 24 yards in the final period — forced a punt and gained good field position at Virginia’s 42 with 12:29 to go.

Morris methodically moved his team down to State’s 8 where he faced a fourth-and-1. Instead of going for a field goal, Virginia decided to call a Taylor run to the right behind an unbalanced line. He was stopped for no gain with 6:37 to play.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t care who the back was,” said Elliott, who makes the fourth-down decisions on whether to go for it or not. “J’Mari just happened to be in there. We’ve got to do a better job of just giving him a little bit more room.”

So why not a field goal there? Certainly there was a risk of not getting the ball back and losing by a point.

Instead, Virginia handed possession to State at the Wolfpack 8, contained QB CJ Bailey and star running back Hollywood Smothers and forced yet another punt, giving Morris one more chance with 2:12 to play. UVA had a timeout remaining and the two-minute warning. After that break, Morris hit receiver Jahmal Edrine on back-to-back passes, moving the ball from Virginia’s 32 to the State 33. Following an incomplete pass to Cam Ross, 1:46 remained. Two plays later, Morris shook State’s defense on a 20-yard completion to the 12 on a third-and-nine.

Things looked good at that point. Enough time to run several plays, no need to rush.

Instead, Morris went for it all on first down and was picked off for the first time this season.

“Left a little bit short and on the inside,” Elliott said of the pass. “Just kind of missed where you don’t want to miss as a quarterback. [State’s] guy made a good, competitive play. Trust me, there’s nobody that’s more frustrated and cares more than Chandler Morris.”

Well, except for a starving Virginia fan base that has suffered one heartbreaking loss after another since that glorious 2019 Coastal Division championship under Bronco Mendenhall and Bryce Perkins.

Sure, it was exciting that UVA has shown so much improvement, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, scoring 48 and 31 points, correcting most of the mistakes that have haunted the program for years, and boasting playmakers all over the field. Yet, frustrating that it took three quarters for the defense to show up and to be in position to pull off an upset, only to have victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.

It was a golden opportunity for Virginia to raise that excitement to another level, particularly with three straight home games coming up.