Three lessons from Virginia football's loss to Notre Dame

The Virginia Cavaliers lost to the No. 8 seed Notre Dame battles Irish 35-14 on Saturday evening. Despite a back-and-forth first quarter, Notre Dame came away with the win in the second quarter. The Hoos are now 5-5 on the season and remain one win away from making the bowl with just two games left on the schedule.

With the loss, we have three (yes, just three) takeaways for the Cavaliers moving forward.

UVA needs to take better care of football

Virginia fans got a pretty good idea of ​​how the game would go on Saturday when Chris Tyree, a transfer from Notre Dame, fumbled the opening kickoff. The Irish scored on the ensuing drive, which started at the 25-yard line, and never really looked back.

The Hoos did have a chance to keep things competitive. The Wahoo defense forced four straight punts after the first scoring drive. But a fumble in the redzone from Kobe Pace early in the second quarter and three interceptions on the final three drives of the half from Anthony Colandrea allowed the Irish to run away with it.

In fact, Notre Dame scored touchdowns on Virginia's first four turnovers. The Irish would have scored on all five had their kicker hit a 54-yarder before halftime. Add to that the fact that Ethan Davies fumbled a few punt returns that the Hoos recovered, and Virginia's mistakes in this game were just too many for them to have a chance.

Tony Muskett should be Virginia's starting quarterback

On that note, Tony Muskett should start the final two games of the season for the Wahoos.

It's a shame Anthony Colandrea hasn't been a more consistent quarterback in his second season. In his last four games, he has averaged 131.8 passing yards per game, a 55.6% completion percentage, 1.8 interceptions, 4.8 sacks and just 1.8 touchdowns.

Yes, those are rough numbers that don't tell the whole story. Playing the defenses of Notre Dame and Clemson was never going to be easy. Still, overall, Colandrea's sophomore year fell short of what UVA fans had hoped. He has thrown twelve touchdowns to eleven interceptions. He has thrown for over 200 yards just once in three of 10 games and only once since September 14th.

Colandrea's three picks against Notre Dame were ugly. On his first, he either missed or ignored Notre Dame safety on Tyler Neville's crossing route, while also completely missing a wide-open Chris Tyree on a go route down the field.

On the second, he committed the cardinal sin of quarterbacking by throwing across the body while rolling left toward the middle of the field and into tight coverage. The third came when he hit Malachi Fields late on a slant route.

The game escaped Colandrea. He finished 8-for-21 passing for 69 yards and the three interceptions. Muskett came into the game in the second half and, while hardly inspiring, was more in control. He went 9-for-14 for 103 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Yes, Muskett is in his final year of eligibility, while Colandrea still has two left. However, that doesn't matter at this point. Virginia hasn't played in a bowl game since 2019. These next two games are far too important to play against Colandrea because of the next two seasons.

And while Muskett has been uninspiring in his limited opportunities, the passing game with Colandrea has been a weakness for the Hoos in recent weeks. The veteran has shown enough to have a chance in these last two games.

The UVA season comes down to SMU and Virginia Tech

A win over Notre Dame was hardly expected for Virginia. After the upset of the past few weeks at Pitt, there was certainly some optimism that the Hoos could compete. But achieving bowl eligibility and ensuring the 2024 season is a success was always going to be determined by the Cavaliers' performance against SMU and Virginia Tech.

The No. 14 ranked SMU Mustangs have had a good first year in the ACC. The Mustangs are an impressive 9-1 and will be determined to avoid a resume-destroying loss to the Hoos in Charlottesville.

Meanwhile, if the Hoos fall at home, they'll head to Blacksburg to try to do something the program hasn't done since the turn of the century. Even at 5-5, the Virginia Tech Hokies are hardly a juggernaut. But they've played some good teams close and shut down others. It would be foolish to predict a win for the Cavaliers, but if they succeed, it would be a huge boost for the program.

UVA's 4-1 start to the season has been an encouraging stretch. The upset against Pitt was a bull's eye. Still, finishing season 1-6 would still leave a sour taste in the mouth heading into the offseason. Winning either of the next two won't be easy. That's the bar though.