UVA Football falls to Georgia Tech 45-17

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Virginia defense gave up 305 rushing yards to Georgia Tech and the Yellow Jackets scored four rushing touchdowns in beating Virginia 45-17 Saturday at Scott Stadium.

“It’s on me, I didn’t do a good job of having this team prepared to play at a high level,” said UVA head coach Tony Elliott. “We weren’t able to capture the momentum after it changed. For a little while it was back and forth and it was competitive and then we started making some critical mistakes and they found some answers and made some adjustments that we could not adjust back to.”

“I feel like everyone just got down and they got on a run and got momentum, said UVa quarterback Anthony Colandrea. “As a team we need to find a way to collect energy because we were so down in that game.”

“It’s going to challenge us to see how we respond next week, said UVA junior safety Jonas Sanker. “Are we going to take this and let it kill our confidence or are we going to fight back and fight for the identity of the team and try to build the culture of this program.”

Virginia falls to 1-4 in the ACC and 2-7 overall. The Cavaliers play at #13 Louisville on Thursday night.

These postgame notes are from a UVA football press release:

Virginia Team Notes

• Virginia’s three-game win streak against Georgia Tech was snapped. The all-time series is tied at 22-22-1.

• The 28-point victory was the largest margin by either team in the series against Georgia Tech since 2012 (GT, won 56-20).

• Virginia led 7-3 after the first quarter and has held a lead of at least seven points in six of its nine games this season.

• Georgia Tech scored 21 points in the second quarter, tied for the most by an opponent this season (Maryland scored 21 in 4th quarter).

• The Virginia defense recorded a season-high, eight tackles for loss in the contest. The most in a game since 10 tackles for loss, including eight sacks, against the Yellow Jackets in last year’s meeting.

• UVA allowed a season-high, 514 yards of total offense including 305 on the ground. The Yellow Jackets recorded 200 of its rushing yards on nine plays.

• The 305 rushing yards were the most by an opponent since 385 against BYU in 2021. The 500 yards of total offense were the most by an opponent since Pitt in 2021 (514).

• Three different players (Tony Muskett, Grady Brosterhous and Anthony Colandrea) completed a pass in the contest, the most in a game since 2020 against Abilene Christian (Brennan Armstrong, Lindell Stone and Keytaon Thompson).

Player Notes

• Malik Washington caught 11 passes for 109 yards, his fourth-straight 100-yard game. He is the first player in school history to record four consecutive 100-yard receiving games.

• Washington became the sixth player in UVA history to go over the 1,000-yard receiving mark and is the fastest Virginia player (nine games) with 1,000 receiving yards. UVA’s other 1,000-yard receivers include: Dontayvion Wicks (1,203 in 2021), Herman Moore (1,190 in 1990), Hasise Dubois (1,062 in 2019), Billy McMullen (1,060 in 2001) and Olamide Zaccheaus (1,058 in 2018).

• Washington has recorded double-digit receptions in three-straight games (12 vs. North Carolina and 12 vs. Miami) and has caught a pass in 34-straight games dating back to his time at Northwestern.

• For the season, Washington has 1,044 yards, 14 yards behind Olamide Zaccheaus for the fifth most in a single season in UVA history. His 79 receptions on the year are the fourth-most in a single season in program history.

• Washington accounted for 170 all-purpose yards which included a career-high, 40-yard kick return.

• Brosterhous completed his first collegiate pass, a 21-yard completion to Malik Washington in the first quarter.

• Josh Rawlings hauled in his first career touchdown catch to give UVA the initial 7-0 lead. The reception was his second of his career.

• Ben Smiley recorded UVA’s lone sack in the contest, it was his second of the season and now has 3.5 sacks in his career.

• Jonas Sanker led the Cavaliers in tackles with 10 (five solo). It was his second double-digit tackle effort of the season. He now has 79 tackles on the year, the most on the team.

• Kobe Pace caught his third touchdown of the season. He has 14 career touchdowns (10 rush, 4 rec).

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