Despite having already racked up two losses, Virginia walked into a game as the underdog for the first time this season. SMU opened as a 7.5-point favorite and was up to 9.5 by Friday, and after seeing Virginia’s availability report, it’s not hard to figure out why. The ‘Hoos listed 22 players as out, including receivers Kameron Courtney (Virginia’s leading receiver) and Rico Flores Jr. (its intended No. 1), cornerback Omillio Agard (Virginia’s most reliable cornerback) and safety Corey Costner,
with safety Brandyn Hillman a game-time decision who ended up sitting out. Since joining the ACC in 2024, SMU had been undefeated in league play at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, with ACC teams going 0-9.
For a half, Virginia played some of its best ball of the last month. It leaned on Jekail Middlebrook, ran the ball 22 times before halftime, and tied the game 10-10 on a Will Bettridge field goal with 29 seconds left. Then a brutal roughing-the-passer penalty for a late hit on the final play of the half set up a 45-yard SMU field goal, and the Cavaliers went into the locker room down 13-10.
Virginia scored just three points in the second half. SMU outgained Virginia 404-258 and won 23-13, making ACC teams 0-10 in Dallas. Virginia falls to 4-3 (2-2 ACC) and is still winless away from Scott Stadium this season.
Here are my six takeaways from the loss.
The coaching decisions were baffling again, and abandoning the run topped the list
For 30 minutes, Virginia was finding success. On the opening drive, Middlebrook carried on three straight plays, caught a screen to set up fourth-and-inches and converted it on a direct snap. A broadcast graphic on that drive showed Virginia with 251 rushing attempts this season, the most in the ACC and 19 more than second-place Florida State, and with Flores and Courtney out, the offense leaned on that identity even harder. For what felt like the first time since the NC State game, we were playing bully ball with our “vaunted offensive line.” Virginia ran 22 times for 82 yards in the first half against an SMU defense that had allowed about 111 rushing yards per game outside of its loss to Louisville. Just as important, the run game controlled the clock and kept SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings on the sideline, which was critical to letting the defense rest.
Virginia went into halftime down just three points. Despite the close score, Virginia ran the ball only 10 more times the rest of the game. After halftime, Virginia went three-and-out on three of its first four drives, the time-of-possession edge flipped, and SMU finished with the ball for 30:59 to Virginia’s 29:01.
The turn came after SMU kicked a field goal to go up 16-10 late in the third quarter. Virginia went from running almost every down to throwing almost every down, and it never went back. It was a baffling decision. I have personally called for Virginia to pass more to avoid becoming too predictable. However, that doesn’t mean going almost entirely to a passing game that has already shown how deficient it can be. Virginia requires a balance of the two to be effective and the coaching staff seems unable to find that balance.
Down 10 in the fourth quarter, the ‘Hoos called three straight go routes to receivers who never got even with the defensive back, while SMU sat back and conceded the underneath throws. Even the broadcast called it out, pointing to a run game that had been working and the easy yards Virginia refused to take. Middlebrook finished with 14 carries. SMU’s Kendrick Raphael finished with 22 for 124 yards.
There were smaller head-scratchers too. Virginia declined a delay-of-game penalty that would have backed up an SMU field goal try in the third quarter.
The injuries are taking their toll
Start with the receivers. Da’Shawn Martin, Jacquon Gibson, John Rogers and Ty’Lyric Coleman combined for eight catches. Flores, the UCLA transfer brought in to be the No. 1 receiver, had just started to find his stride after a hamstring injury when he hurt his right knee against Syracuse. He was ruled out. Courtney, who had four catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns against Delaware, was out too, along with running back Peyton Lewis. For a passing game that was already rough against Power Four competition, playing without two of its top three receivers is essentially a death sentence.
The defense was hit harder. Agard, who had arguably been UVA’s best defensive player this season, tore his ACL and is out for the season. Defensive tackle Jason Hammond has been out since elbow surgery after the Norfolk State game, and defensive end Devon Baxter is out after shoulder surgery. Hillman, who hurt his ankle against Syracuse, did not appear in the box score, and Costner was also out. Then in the third quarter, safety Ethan Minter took a hit to the head and neck area when an SMU tight end landed on him. He walked off under his own power.
That left a thin secondary against the ACC’s top passing offense, and it showed on SMU’s first touchdown. Jennings shoveled the ball to tight end Randy Pittman Jr. on fourth-and-1, and Pittman broke a tackle into the end zone, the ninth touchdown catch of the season for an SMU tight end group that entered with the most in the country.
Will Bettridge matched his best game of the season
Many Virginia fans have lamented Bettridge’s struggles this year, so it’s only fair that I give him his flowers. On a day when most of the offense sputtered, he was perfect. He went 2-for-2 on field goals, both from beyond 40 yards, and made his only extra point.
The first was a 47-yarder on fourth-and-2 with 29 seconds left in the first half that squeaked through the uprights to tie the game at 10. That ties his career long, a mark he first set against Louisville in 2022 and matched in this year’s opener against NC State. The second, a 43-yarder with 22 seconds left in the third quarter, cut SMU’s lead to 16-13 and was Virginia’s first score in more than 15 minutes of game time.
After misses against West Virginia and Delaware, Saturday looked like the kicker who set the school’s single-season record with 24 field goals last year. As the broadcast noted, he is the active FBS leader in field goals made.
Costly mistakes hurt the ‘Hoos again
Virginia had turned the ball over twice in six games entering Saturday, tied for the fewest in the ACC. Its third came at the worst time. After Middlebrook’s fourth-down conversion on the opening drive, the ‘Hoos fumbled an exchange at the SMU 5. That was seven points left on the field, and a massive swing in the game.
The end of the half was worse. After Pribula kept the ball on three straight zone reads, including one where the defensive end was sitting on the keep, Virginia let the clock run down to 29 seconds before calling timeout and kicking the tying field goal. SMU still had time. Raphael’s 28-yard run got the Mustangs moving, and on the last snap Virginia sent five, forced a throwaway and was flagged for roughing the passer. The 15 yards turned a Hail Mary into a 45-yard field goal, and three points.
The rest came on long downs and distances. Jennings had a 33-yard scramble against man coverage in the first quarter, the longest run of his season. On third-and-10 early in the fourth quarter, Jennings escaped pressure and found Jalen Hale for a 37-yard touchdown that put the game away, and on the next possession SMU picked up 17 yards on third-and-18 and then converted the fourth-and-1. The Mustangs went 4-for-5 on fourth down and showed from the very start of the game that they did not respect Virginia’s ability to stop their offense, going for it on fourth down in their own territory on the opening drive. On Virginia’s last real drive, a holding call on Ben York and a sack stalled things before Martin dropped a would-be first down that hit him in the facemask.
The third-down numbers tell the larger story. Both teams went 4-for-13 on Saturday, but this was supposed to be a Virginia strength. Last season, the Cavaliers converted 49.8% of their third downs. Through seven games this year, they are 30-for-91, about 33%.
The passing game is lifeless
Pribula finished 13-of-22 for 137 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. No Virginia receiver had more than 35 yards. By my count the ‘Hoos had 99 passing yards with five minutes left, and much of the rest came on short completions SMU was happy to give up during a hurry-up drive while protecting a 10-point lead.
The misses were the bigger problem. Pribula had Martin a step behind his man in the first half and threw it too far inside, nearly into the hands of a defender. He missed a wide-open Coleman in the third quarter, stared down Middlebrook out of the backfield on a third down to open the second half, and threw a prayer on third-and-10 that was intercepted before replay overturned it.
The injuries explain some of this, but not all of it. Flores played in only four games before getting hurt, and the passing game has struggled against Power Four defenses all season. Against those teams, Pribula is now 68-of-117 for 776 yards and six touchdowns, 6.6 yards per attempt. Eli Holstein did not attempt a pass for the third straight game.
The banged-up defense gave Virginia a chance to win
For all of that, the defense is the reason this was a game in the fourth quarter. SMU came in averaging 34.6 points and scored 23, three of them on the field goal set up by the roughing penalty at the end of the first half.
The defense set the tone on SMU’s first drive. The Mustangs went for it on fourth down in their own territory and took a deep shot, and Donavon Platt broke it up. Later in the first quarter, Virginia stopped SMU at the 1-yard line, and a false start pushed the Mustangs back into a field goal. In the third quarter, Maddox Marcellus’ coverage forced third-and-goal, Jennings missed, and SMU settled for another short field goal. SMU went 4-for-13 on third down, and Jennings, who entered completing 75% of his passes, finished 23-of-36.
Matthew Fobbs-White was the best player on the field for the ‘Hoos. He had six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and five quarterback hits, and his back-to-back plays on second and third down in the fourth quarter cost SMU 24 yards and forced a punt that gave Virginia one last chance.
It wasn’t perfect. Raphael ran for 124 yards, and SMU’s run game got more efficient as the second half went on. Missed tackles, a problem that has plagued Virginia all year, extended drives all day, and a busted coverage on play action let Yannick Smith go for 59 yards. But a depleted defense held one of the ACC’s best offenses more than 11 points under its average. Unfortunately, the offense didn’t give it any help, going three-and-out on most of its possessions in the second half.
Bonus: Resetting expectations, again
Preseason, this was supposed to be the hardest game on the schedule. SMU was the only ranked opponent on a slate one preseason ranking called the fourth-easiest in the Power Four. Losing it was not the surprise, but going 0-3 away from Scott Stadium to this point is.
At 4-3, Virginia needs two more wins for a bowl game, from a slate of Duke, at Wake Forest, California, North Carolina and at Virginia Tech. Entering the weekend, Duke was 4-1, Wake Forest 5-1 and Virginia Tech 4-2. With injuries piling up in a passing game that was already anemic, I think there are real questions about whether this team gets to six.
Bonus: Daniel Sparks boomed, but the coverage didn’t help him
Sparks punted three times for 162 yards, a 54.0-yard average, including a 68-yard blast in the third quarter that went out the back of the end zone. The coverage gave much of that back. Yamir Knight returned two punts for 46 yards, and another SMU return touchdown came back only because of a holding call. Counting the touchback, Virginia netted about 32 yards per punt. SMU’s Wade McSparron averaged 41.0 with no return yards against him, and pinned Virginia at its own 2. This is yet another example of Virginia failing to play complementary football.
What’s next
Virginia gets a short week before hosting Duke on Friday, Oct. 23. The first thing to watch is the injury report, starting in the secondary with Hillman, Costner and Minter. With Tony Elliott seemingly married to Pribula, the second is whether Virginia’s offensive line can impose its will as it did in the first half Saturday and, if so, whether offensive coordinator Des Kitchings sticks with the run in a balanced attack for 60 minutes. It was working Saturday, until Virginia stopped using it.
