Notre Dame hosts the Virginia Cavaliers (UVA) this Saturday afternoon. The Cavs pose the largest passing threat that the Irish have faced in over a month. We preview the UVA offense, fresh off pulling an upset win last weekend on the road at Pitt, here:
Photo by The Irish Tribune
The 5-4 Cavaliers are coming off their most notable win of the season after handing a ranked Pitt squad their second loss of the year, essentially knocking them out of ACC Championship Game contention. Here is how the Cavs have fared in their up-and-down season so far:
vs Richmond (34-13, Win)
at Wake Forest (31-30, Win)
vs Maryland (27-13, Loss)
at Coastal Carolina (43-24, Win)
vs Boston College (24-14, Win)
vs Louisville (24-20, Loss)
at Clemson (48-31, Loss)
vs North Carolina (41-14, Loss)
at Pittsburgh (24-19, Win)
Offensively, Virginia ranks among the middle of the pack in total offense. They lean on quarterback Anthony Colandrea to lead the solid passing attack while featuring a complementary running game with various ball carriers. UVA’s 398.2 total yards per game are the ninth-most in the ACC and top 60 in the country. They have struggled to punch in these yards for scores as their 26 points per game is the third-fewest in the ACC.
One positive mark for the entire UVA team that can be credited to Head Coach Tony Elliott is their team discipline. As a team, UVA’s 5.11 penalties per game are the fourth-fewest in the ACC and top-25 nationally. In addition, their 47.67 penalty yards per game are the seventh-fewest among ACC teams and top 50 in the country.
Virginia’s lack of third-down success could be a reason for their point total being lower than expected. Their 35.6% conversion rate is the fifth-worst in the ACC. Notre Dame’s defense should find success in these spots as they have all year. The Irish defense ranks among the top five in third-down stops, allowing successful conversions just 28.2% of the time.
As briefly mentioned before, Virginia owns the best passing offense Notre Dame has seen in well over a month since their matchup with Louisville. Led by starting quarterback Anthony Colandrea, the Cavaliers are throwing for 254.4 passing yards per game, eighth-most in the ACC and top-40 in the FBS. The biggest problem Colandrea has faced all season is pass protection. UVA has allowed 31 sacks this year (3.44 per game), the second-most in the ACC, only behind Florida State. With time to throw, Colandrea can be dangerous, let’s preview the key players associated with UVA’s passing game:
Sophomore starting quarterback Anthony Colandrea makes this team go. As a true freshman last season, Colandrea completed 62.6% of his passes (154/246) for 1,958 yards and 13 touchdowns with nine interceptions in eight games. Following this campaign, UVA named Colandrea their 2023 Offensive Player of the Year. This season has been relatively similar to last season for the signal-caller, who is completing 63.2% of his throws (172/272) for 1,948 yards and 12 touchdowns with eight interceptions. His 63.2% completion rate and 19.11 completions per game both rank among the top ten in the ACC and top 50 across the FBS. However, Colandrea enters Saturday’s matchup struggling over the past three contests. During this span, he is completing 60% of his throws for only 152.67 yards per game with four interceptions and just three touchdowns. Notably, he has been sacked 15 times in the past two games, no doubt a reason for this dip in numbers. The young quarterback is also capable of making plays with his feet, which will be addressed later in the article.
Colandrea’s top receiving option is senior wideout Malachi Fields. The senior receiver broke out last season after finishing with 58 receptions for 811 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games and being named an All-ACC honorable mention. Fields enters Saturday leading UVA in all receiving categories with 45 receptions for 665 yards and four touchdowns. His 73.9 receiving yards per game ranks third in the ACC as he has posted over 100 yards in three games this season. Fields is coming off his lowest-production game of the season after hauling in just two catches for 11 yards in last week’s win. Overall, Fields is a very good receiver who rarely drops passes and has at least two receptions in each game this season.
Virginia’s second-leading receiver this season has been tight end Tyler Neville. The Harvard graduate transfer totaled 62 receptions for 698 yards and eight touchdowns in 30 games across 3 seasons in Cambridge. Neville was also named First Team All-Ivy in 2022 and 2023 before transferring to UVA this season. This year at UVA, Neville has recorded 27 receptions for 325 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns occurred in UVA’s win at Wake Forest when he finished with four catches and 68 yards. Neville has recorded at least one reception each game and has six games with over 30 receiving yards this year. The grad transfer has proved as a solid receiving threat for Colandrea while also playing well as a blocker.
Virginia has been without key receiver Trell Harris since week five. Despite having missed over half of the season, Harris is still UVA’s third-leading receiver. The talented wideout is expected to be sidelined again this weekend.
Graduate student and running back Kobe Pace has been one of two all-purpose backs for UVA this season. The former Clemson transfer had 19 receptions for 176 yards and three touchdowns (led ACC running backs) in his first season at UVA last year. Pace enters Saturday with 20 receptions for 184 yards but is yet to find the end zone as a receiving threat this season. He has at least one reception in each game, including six multi-reception games. In addition, he has four games with over 20 receiving yards. The graduate back has been reliable as a pass-catcher this season with no drops or fumbles recorded. Pace’s biggest flaw is pass-blocking, not talented in this aspect at all to be brutally honest.
The last true wide receiver to highlight is someone Irish fans are familiar with, Notre Dame graduate transfer Chris Tyree. The former running back turned receiver totaled 74 catches for 880 yards and seven touchdowns in 37 games across the last three years in South Bend. Tyree enters this week’s “revenge game” with 22 receptions for 124 yards in 7 games played, yet to find the end zone. He has five games with at least three catches and three games with at least 20 receiving yards this season. Tyree is coming off his best game as a Cavalier when he recorded four receptions for 42 yards on five targets in last week’s win. Overall, Tyree has struggled in his first season at UVA. He may have turned a positive corner last week but his three drops in the season-opener versus Richmond stand out negatively.
The final receiving threat to highlight is another all-purpose running back, junior Xavier Brown. After missing the majority of last season due to a dislocated elbow, Brown appears to have come back strong. As a receiving option, he has eight receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns on just ten targets. Brown’s best play of the year occurred when he broke free for a 46-yard receiving score against Louisville. His volume has noticeably increased in the past two contests, totaling four catches for 54 yards and a touchdown during this span. Brown provides another backfield safety valve for Colandrea as he has no dropped passes this season. In terms of pass-blocking, Brown is more valuable than Pace, however, he is still not great by any means in this aspect.
Rushing-wise, Virginia has not been as reliant on the ground compared to through the air. They enter Saturday’s contest averaging 143.8 rushing yards per game, 86th among FBS teams. Most of this production comes from their running back duo and quarterback.
Virginia’s leading rusher is starting running back Kobe Pace. The former Clemson transfer had 259 rushes for 1,110 yards and ten touchdowns in 31 games played across three seasons at Clemson and UVA before this year. This season, Pace has 442 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 100 carries. The Cavaliers’ leading rusher has recorded seven games with at least ten carries for 35 yards. Overall, Pace is a good rusher who has yet to fumble this season while having 282 of his yards occurring after contact.
Behind Pace is fellow all-purpose back, Xavier Brown. As a true freshman in 2022, Brown was named UVA’s Offensive Rookie of the Year after rushing for 210 yards and a touchdown on 50 carries. After missing most of last season with a dislocated elbow, the junior running back has bounced back with 436 yards and a touchdown on 68 carries this year. Brown exploded in the win at Coastal Carolina when he finished with 171 rushing yards on just nine carries. Before receiving a season-high 15 carries last week, Brown had between five and nine rushes in each of the first eight games. Statistically, Brown has been a more efficient rusher than Pace this season, including six games with over 30 yards on the ground. Like Pace, Brown is yet to fumble and has found success after contact, with 315 yards after being touched this season.
By no means does Anthony Colandrea pose as a true dual-threat quarterback but he is still a solid runner who is not scared to tuck and run when needed. As a true freshman last season, the young signal-caller rushed for 225 yards on 73 carries in eight games. Colandrea has not been as efficient as a runner this year, entering Saturday’s contest with 104 rushes for 259 yards, however, he has found the end zone twice this season on the ground. He has six games with eleven or more carries and four games with 40-plus rushing yards. The largest issue for Colandrea as a ball carrier is his protection, as he has fumbled five times this season. This could be an issue against a Notre Dame defense that is averaging nearly one fumble recovery per game, top-15 in the FBS.
The final rushing threat to highlight is backup quarterback Grady Brosterhous. The junior, not listed on UVA’s two-deep depth chart, has been the Cavaliers’ reliable goalline option this season. Despite having just ten carries for 14 yards, Brosterhous leads UVA with four rushing touchdowns, including two at Coastal Carolina. Do not be surprised if UVA calls upon Brosterhous should they face a short-goalline scenario, as he has made appearances in seven games this season.
Virginia’s offensive line has not lived up to expectations so far this season. This group, which includes three key returning starters, has allowed the second-most sacks and fifth-most tackles for loss in the ACC.
Junior McKale Boley is the starting left tackle, a returning starter from last season. The solid run blocker has missed four games this season but will be ready for Saturday. He has struggled with pass-blocking this season with four sacks allowed, including two against Louisville.
Another returning starter is left guard Noah Josey. The senior lineman has been great against the pass rush, having only allowed one sack and five quarterback hurries on 371 pass snaps. He is not as dominant as a run-blocker, but he has still been more than serviceable this year.
The final lineman to highlight is another returning starter, center Brian Stevens. The former Dayton transfer and 2022 First Team All-Pioneer League selection was named an All-ACC honorable mention last season in his first year at UVA. In eight games played this season, Stevens has been great in pass-blocking and is yet to allow a sack. Similar to Josey, Stevens is not as dominant as a run-blocker but is more than serviceable in this aspect as well.
There is no doubt Virginia will do everything in their power to play spoiler during Saturday’s Notre Dame Senior Game. Will UVA have enough offensive firepower after collecting their biggest win of the season last week? That question will be answered this weekend when the Irish defense tries to limit the Cavaliers' offense capable of winning games by air or ground.
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