Five lessons from UVA Football's comeback win over Boston College

The Virginia Cavaliers improved to 4-1 for the sixth time since 1999 on Saturday afternoon with a thrilling, come-from-behind 24-14 win over the Boston College Eagles.

On a beautiful 75-degree October afternoon in Charlottesville, the Hoos seemed destined for a second straight disappointing loss at Scott Stadium through three quarters. However, set in motion by a Chico Bennett Jr. interception. in the opening moments of the fourth, the Hoos erupted for 18 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes to stun the Eagles and earn the victory.

Here are five takeaways from the Cavaliers' blowout win:

While far from perfect, this Hoos squad is resilient

Despite being stuck in the mud for 45 minutes on Saturday afternoon, Virginia caught fire in the fourth inning as they stormed back to beat Boston College. The Hoos could easily have surrendered the lead 14-0 in the first half, either after failing to convert in the second half on a fourth-and-goal attempt, or again after a penalty kick set up another trip to the red zone in the third quarter went off the rails. , but they never did.

Offensively, quarterback Anthony Colandrea was just 7 of 13 for 70 in the first half, while the running game struggled to do much of anything. The young signal caller also took several big hits throughout the afternoon, one of which knocked him out of the game on a play in the second quarter. But time and time again, he was back up and down in the fourth quarter, delivering an absolute strike to Malachi Fields down the sideline to give the Hoos the lead before beating Andre Greene Jr. in the back of the end zone to convert for. two.

And on the other side of the ball, after Thomas Castellanos and the Boston College offense were mauled twice for touchdowns on their first three possessions, Virginia's defense settled down and dominated the final 45 minutes of the game.

Tony Elliott has repeatedly emphasized the resilience of this UVA team, and it was on full display Saturday afternoon. Yes, there are issues that need to be addressed, but you have to love a team that doesn't give up.

The defense won the game for Virginia

After a quarter and a half games, the Hoos defense appeared to be in for a painfully long afternoon trying to stop Thomas Castellanos and Boston College. Virginia allowed the Eagles to rack up 122 total yards in the opening quarter, as the Eagles marched down the field twice without breaking a sweat. But after shaking off the rust, the Cavalier defense held on and won the ballgame outright for the Hoos.

Virginia pitched a second-half shutout, holding Boston College to just 126 yards after intermission while forcing three game-changing turnovers. Arguably the two most important plays of the game, Bennett's interception to set up the Colandrea to Fields touchdown and a Jonas Sanker scoop-and-score to extend the lead to 24-14, were both made by the Hoos defense, slightly that couldn't be said in the match. one of the first four games.

The offense never really got going on Saturday, but the defense more than made up for it. It's hard to remember a Virginia football team that played complementary football like they did against the Eagles.

It took a while for the Hoos to get the rust off

With a fortnight to prepare for the Eagles, Virginia looked rusty rather than prepared coming out of the gate. The comeback was fun and builds a lot of confidence in this team, but it doesn't completely erase the fact that the Hoos didn't look ready to play early.

Even with a few long drives late in the first half that helped bolster their numbers, the Hoos gained just 116 yards in the first 30 minutes, leading to just six points. Virginia picked up just one leadoff loss in the first quarter, as they were held back by a complete collapse in the rushing attack. The Hoos ran for just 36 yards on 19 carries (1.9 yards per rush) in the first half.

And on the other side of the ball, Castellanos was able to connect twice with tight end Kamari Morales running wide open over the middle for huge pickups as the Virginia secondary had some inexcusable coverage breakdowns early.

The necessary adjustments were made and the Hoos earned a big win against a good ACC opponent, so all is forgiven. But with another farewell planned at the end of October, Virginia will hopefully be better able to manage her free time in the future.

Some questionable play-calling didn't do the offense any favors

While the Virginia offense struggled to get going, some head-scratching decisions in the play-calling department seemingly sabotaged the Hoos early.

On each of UVA's first two possessions, the Hoos elected to run the ball on second and long. Neither move amounted to anything, forcing Colandrea and company to play from behind the sticks, something that clearly hasn't been a recipe for success for the young quarterback.

Later in the first half, after the Hoos finally put together a decent drive, offensive coordinator Des Kitchings made a run up the middle on third-and-4 in the red zone, despite seemingly not intending to go for it on the fourth place. UVA, trailing 14-0 at the time, instead opted to send Will Bettridge out for a chip shot field goal in a move reminiscent of the decision-making during Virginia's last home game three weeks ago against Maryland.

Tony Elliott and his staff have preached the importance of a balanced offensive attack and the UVA offense has certainly looked better this season when they have had success on the ground, but they have seemed reluctant to deviate from the game plan, even when the ground game was over. has proven to be ineffective.

Watch Hoos on top of the ACC

For the first time since 2019, Virginia is 2-0 at the start of the conference. And for now, only the Hoos and Clemson have more than one win in ACC play.

It's been an incredibly fun ride so far, and there isn't a Virginia fan who would have turned down a 4-1 start. The schedule gets tougher as time goes on, but the atmosphere is incredibly high in Wahoo country right now, and for good reason. Tony Elliott has his team playing inspired football, and the Hoos are stacking Ws. Now bring on Louisville.