Jay Ballard 
Virginia lost to rival Maryland and will now play Coastal Carolina.
WEST POINT, VA. – This Saturday, Virginia (2-1) heads down to beautiful Conway, SC for a 2PM kickoff with the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina (3-0). This will be Virginia’s first trip to play on the teal turf at Brooks Stadium. As of this writing, the Hoos are a 3.5 point favorite, and the over/under point total is 55.5. If you aren’t a Wrestling fan, scroll down to THE ONE for more football analysis.
This week’s wrestling match / game comparison is Rey Mysterio v. Dave Batista. Rey is the small in stature luchador wrestler that has succeeded in ways wrestlers his size never have before. Batista was the larger than life, huge physical specimen. If you looked at these two side-by-side, you would see a huge mismatch, but in the ring, these two had a classic feud with both winning matches over the other on multiple occasions.
In our matchup this week, Rey is the small school with big heart, Coastal Carolina. Coastal has been a model for building a successful non-power conference program. Players and coaches have come and gone, but the program has continued to succeed, pointing to a great administration and culture. Virginia in this scenario is Dave Batista, the big bad school from the Power 4 Conference, with all the advantages that major programs have. However, if they think they can just show up and win because they are the bigger program, Saturday will not go well. Should the Hoos bring their A game, Coastal will probably not have an answer for our offense or defense, but that is the question, will the Hoos bring their A game? Coastal is completely capable of pulling this mild upset, just like Rey upset Batista on multiple occasions. Now, back to the football:
THE ONE: One is now the number in the loss column of Virginia’s record after falling to Maryland last week 27-13. In that one, the offense, with all of its weapons, simply could not get going. After a successful first half that ended 13-7 Hoos, and probably should have been more like 17 or 21 to 7, the Hoos offense only mustered 8:21 of possession in the 2nd half, and no points. In short, it was one of the ugliest offensive halves from a Virginia football team in years. Can Virginia take this game and learn from it, or will they respond the way that many Virginia teams have before, with another poor performance. This team feels different, but they will have to prove that on the field Saturday afternoon for most fans to believe it. Keeping the one in the loss column would go a long way to convincing fans that all was not lost with one bad half against Maryland.
THE TWO: For the second week in a row, UVa faces a Quarterback that hails from our Commonwealth in Ethan Vasko. Coastal Carolina will feature a Quarterback that likes to hurt you with his legs even more than our own Anthony Colandrea. Vasko (Oscar Smith HS, Chesapeake, VA) has rushed for 190 yards through three games. Coastal relies heavily on the run to move the football, but if safeties and linebackers suck in too close to the line of scrimmage, Vasko is capable of beating you over the top with play action, most likely to Tray Taylor. Making Vasko a pocket passer and bringing pressure right in his face could force him to throw passes into danger. If the Hoos can do that, maybe Virginia’s defense will get their first interception of the season. Last week Virginia had four turnovers to Maryland’s zero. If the turnover margin is that again, the trip home won’t be a fun one.
THE THREE: Coastal Carolina has not faced a team with as much as talent as Virginia on the offensive side of the ball. The three pack of Malachi Fields, Trell Harris, and Chris Tyree could feast on a Chanticleers secondary that is not equipped to stop the Cavaliers, that is unless the Cavaliers stop themselves. The offensive line will more than likely once again be down multiple starters. While Virginia has a clear advantage at the skill positions, if there isn’t enough time for Colandrea to get the ball out or they are constantly getting called for penalties it could be another long day for the Hoos offense.
THE DING, DING, DING: By the time you are eating dinner Saturday night, we’ll know a lot about the rest of the season for the 2024 edition of Virginia Cavalier Football. This is as much as a must win game as the program has faced in some time. While Maryland was a missed opportunity, Coastal represents another chance to change the narrative around the program. Brooks Stadium will be rocking, the Chanticleers are undefeated and in comes a big bad ACC School. The recipe for an upset is there. As Lee Corso says, not so fast my friend. Give me the Hoos in a shootout, 30-27. GO HOOS!
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