The Virginia Cavaliers’ offense continued to look explosive against NC State on Saturday after scoring 48 points on Coastal Carolina last week. A couple of poorly timed penalties and a missed field goal stained the Hoos’ offensive production in the second half, but moving the ball was never an issue.
Unfortunately, on the other side of the field, a lot of that was the same for the Wolfpack’s offense. Virginia struggled to tackle and contain NC State running back Hollywood Smother,s but the ‘Hoos defense
still forced two punts at the end of the game, which gave Virginia’s offense the ball back with 2:12 remaining.
Chandler Morris quickly drove up the field after completing five passes for 69 yards in less than a minute, but made a grave error in the red zone. Morris threw his first interception this season to a defensive end in the end zone while tight end Dakota Twitty was open underneath.
Here are four takeaways from UVA’s exciting non-conference matchup against NC State.
One bad mistake dooms the ‘Hoos
One brutal mistake will plague Chandler Morris’s otherwise near-perfect performance on Saturday.
He finished the game completing 30-of- 43 (70%) passes for a touchdown on top of 56 yards on the ground. The interception also ended what could’ve been his most impressive drive of the game. The North Texas transfer’s first two passes of the drive were impressively placed in between two defenders and his throw to Cam Ross on a crucial third down was put only where his receiver could grab it.
Still, the interception happened, and there is no excuse for it. Did it end the game? Yes, but the ‘Hoos still had lots of other opportunities to put it away. On the prior drive, J’Mari Taylor was just inches away from getting a first down that could’ve regained the lead for Virginia and on the drive before that, head coach Tony Elliot elected to try a 47-yard kick that rang off the post.
Elliot could’ve gone for it instead of kicking, or the exact opposite on the later drive. When a game is as close as this one, it’s never about just one play.
J’Mari Taylor proves he’s a feature back
After using an evenly balanced running game by committee against Coastal Carolina last week, there were still some questions left about which running back in Virginia’s stable was going to stand out.
Saturday’s performance from Taylor means it’s going to be hard for that to be anyone other than him. The North Carolina Central transfer ran through the Wolfpack’s defense all day, finishing with 150 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.
Taylor has enough size and power to finish falling forward when running through the tackles but, also showed the ability to bounce an outside run for a big gain.
Taylor had two touchdown runs that gained over 39 yards. Xavier Brown, before exiting the game with a shoulder injury, and Noah Vaughn provided more production as well. That duo combined for 51 yards on 12 carries.
Virginia’s front seven looks concerning
For every big run Taylor had, it seemed like NC State had a response. The Wolfpack’s lead back, Hollywood Smothers, completed his game with an eerily similar stat line to Taylor’s. Smothers finished with 17 carries for 140 yards and two touchdowns, just 10 yards and a touchdown away from Taylor’s exact production.
The ‘Hoos struggled to tackle through the first three quarters of the game, but that was only an issue when they were actually able to get their hands on Smothers. On a few of his runs, usually on counters or sweeps with a lead blocker, Smothers would dash through a hole without being touched. No Virginia player registered a sack or finished with more than three solo tackles.
It’s easy to see that the ‘Hoos are missing linebacker Kam Robinson, who Elliot said “will miss a couple of games” with a fractured collarbone on August 18. Virginia’s pass rush was non-existent for the majority of the game, but edge rusher Daniel Rickert was able to disrupt a crucial pass on third down with 2:29 left in the game.
Still, one sack through the first two games of the season isn’t an encouraging sign moving forward.
UVA’s offense is humming
Virginia finished with over 500 total yards in a game for the first time since a win over Richmond in 2022. While it stings that it wasn’t for a win, it should still be celebrated. The ‘Hoos had a perfect equilibrium of passing and rushing attack, finishing with 257 yards rushing and passing.
Morris was able to execute the quick passing game efficiently all afternoon, which forced the Wolfpack’s defense to creep up the field as drives progressed. His ability to get the ball out quickly opened the defense up for Taylor to gash through it.
The Cavaliers’ offensive line also kept Morris clean, not allowing a sack and only four hits. Cam Ross had another productive outing with five catches and 81 punt return yards. Trell Harris and Jahmal Edrine also worked hard to get themselves open throughout the game, finishing with a combined 13 catches for 120 yards.
The pieces are in place for Virginia’s offense to take a major step up this season.
