Notre Dame Football: Virginia Cavaliers Q&A with Streaking The Lawn

Everyone’s talking about the NYC showdown with undefeated Army and the season-ending rivalry road game with USC, but what kind of challenge might a Virginia team looking for bowl eligibility pose?

Well folks, we’ve done it. We’ve finally made it to the 4th quarter of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team’s regular season, as Marcus Freeman’s squad sits at 8-1, ranked 8th in the College Football Playoff poll, and looking for 3 more wins to snag one of those 12 coveted spots in the postseason.

Winning out isn’t a foregone conclusion, as we all know, and many are talking about an undefeated Army team or USC in a season finale rivalry game in LA as potential challengers to the Irish’s 11-1 final record. But most aren’t really bringing up this weekend’s opponent, the Virginia Cavaliers, as a potential trap game or upset. The Wahoos aren’t exceptional by any stretch of the imagination, but they ARE 5-4 on the year and coming off a win on the road against then-18th-ranked Pittsburgh, so they’re not exactly a pushover either.

So, to ensure we as fans are taking things one game at a time and not looking ahead (because if we set that example, obviously the team will follow our lead), we reached out to our good friends over at Streaking The Lawn, SB Nation’s Virginia Cavaliers site. We spoke to Garrett Keogh, who in his first appearance on a One Foot Down Q&A did a great job giving us some great insight into the Virginia program, as well as some excellent insight into horses, potential Tony Muskett puns, and Sean Singletary.

So, let’s dive right in and see what he had to say, just so we’re prepared for whatever the regular season’s final ACC opponent is bringing to Saturday’s home finale for the Irish.

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1. Tony Elliott is 11-20 in his almost 3 seasons at the helm of this Virginia program, with this season serving as a nice little improvement from seasons 1 and 2 (including a nice road win over Pitt last weekend), but still barely above .500 on the year.

How do you feel Elliott is doing in the role so far, especially compared to his predecessor Bronco Mendenhall? Do you think UVA can become an ACC contender under Elliott?

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: It’s been up and down for sure. Last season, the ‘Hoos struggled the entire year but a top-10 upset win over UNC sparked some optimism among the fan base only for it all to be squashed in a horribly bad loss at home to rival Virginia Tech. This year, while minimal difference thus far in the win category, has been much better. Finding a way to get to 6 wins and a bowl game was the goal coming into the year and with 3 games to play, the opportunity is there for this team.

Mendenhall went 2-10 in his first year and in 2019, won 9 games and had Virginia in the ACC championship game as well as an Orange Bowl berth. Can Elliott get to that point? The jury is still out, especially given the current NIL era where Virginia’s pitch is a little different than others, being such a highly regarded academic school. Consistently making bowl games with the occasional 8 or 9 win season and winning games against the Hokies is the ideal situation for the program if you ask realistic UVA fans.

Mendenhall was able to get that elusive rivalry win in 2019. For good or for worse, UVA’s performance in that game at the end of this month will largely determine how the fanbase feels about Elliott and the direction of the program going forward.

2. How’s Anthony Colandrea performed as the starter this year? What are his greatest strengths, and what weaknesses/limitations do you think ND could exploit on Saturday?

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: Colandrea has had plenty of good moments but also a number of head-scratchers. He’ll make spectacular plays that showcase just how good he can be and come back with a few questionable decisions leading to turnovers. He’s thrown for 12 touchdowns so far this year with 8 interceptions but has been fearless no matter the situation.

What makes him tough to contain is his ability to create with his legs to keep plays alive. He’s rushed for 40+ yards four times this season and even caught a pass last week. He’s a Florida kid that has plenty of swagger, the kind you need out of a quarterback going on the road against a top-10 team.

Where Notre Dame can really create problems is with their pass rush. Virginia’s offensive line has struggled to protect Colandrea at times and while he is able to roll out of the pocket to make plays, he has a tendency to force some throws when pressured. Getting in the backfield early and often, much like UNC did a few weeks ago, could really swing this game in ND’s favor.

3. Talk us through the names to know on the Cavaliers offense besides Colandrea — what weapons do they have that Irish fans should be worried about this weekend? Also, how’s our old friend Chris Tyree been doing in his grad transfer season?

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: We’ll start in the backfield. Running back Xavier Brown has been a versatile option for the ‘Hoos on the ground and a safety blanket for Colandrea through the air. He’s Virginia’s RB2 but seems to come up big every time he gets the rock. He adds some speed to the offense and does well getting outside for yards on screen plays. Ask any UVA fan and they’ll tell you Brown should touch the ball way more than he does. He had both a receiving and rushing touchdown last week against Pitt and will be a critical player this weekend to help Virginia put together drives.

At receiver, the name to know is Malachi Fields. At 6-foot-4, 220 lbs, he’s been Virginia’s most reliable receiver thus far and currently ranks third in the ACC in receiving yards with 665. He’s a superstar in contested catch situations and has helped bail out the offense on multiple occasions with a few ridiculous grabs.

Virginia fans have been waiting for that breakout game from Tyree all season. He missed two games earlier in the year with a groin injury but had his best game as a Wahoo last week against Pitt, catching four passes for 42 yards along with a run for 13. Fields has been the guy at receiver for most of the year combined with a handful of others getting targets, so his touches are down more than ND fans would expect. Tyree has yet to find the endzone this season, but perhaps a trip back to South Bend sparks a big performance.

4. How do you anticipate the UVA defense will hold up against the Irish, especially in the ground game? Does Virginia have any key players on defense who could be game-wreckers or really frustrate the ND offense and help keep this game close?

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: In my opinion, stopping the run will be the most telling aspect of the game as to whether or not Virginia can stay close. They’ve been without starting linebacker James Jackson for a handful of weeks and his replacement, Trey McDonald, was ejected for targeting in the second half against Pitt and will miss the first two quarters on Saturday. It’ll be a tough task for Virginia to contain ND’s different options on the ground given that lack of depth they’ll have at that position.

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Safety Jonas Sanker has been UVA’s star on defense. He’s a guy you’ll see on Sundays next year. Just last week, he blocked a field goal, snagged an interception, and had two TFL’s. He’s one of those guys who makes every tackle and has been there in the backend to save this defense from giving up explosive plays. He’s had an awesome season and is a legit All-American candidate to remember once awards are handed out in December.

5. FAN QUESTION:

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: So Virginia actually has a live horse lead its team out of the tunnel to begin their games at home and get the crowd going. It’s a pretty cool sight and who doesn’t love a live mascot?

Having already seen Sabre the horse’s breakaway speed on the football field, I’d have to say Virginia would at least be in the playoff conversation, hovering near the top 10.

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6. How many gun/bullet/Revolutionary War/Three Musketeers puns do you typically make when QB Tony Muskett gets into the game or comes up in conversation about the QB depth chart? Do you have any favorite musket/Musketeers puns you’d like to share?

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: Haha I personally don’t have any favorite puns, but if you scroll Twitter during a game when UVA is struggling to throw the ball, you’ll find some elite GIFs and memes from fans calling for Muskett to go in the game.

From Friends episodes to old movies, there’s some good content out there.

7. FAN QUESTION:

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: I love this question, it’s awesome to hear fans outside of UVA remember Singletary’s career.

So I’m 23 years old, and as a kid, I grew up idolizing Sean Singletary. His buzzer-beating floater to beat Duke in 2007 is one of the most iconic moments in Virginia basketball history and I’d like to think students know of #44 or have at least seen a highlight or two of his. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. He’s a guy I personally wish was able to play under Coach Bennett with how hard he competed all over the floor.

8. FAN QUESTION:

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: It’s a tough choice; the Golden Dome has the distinct height advantage over UVA’s Rotunda. I respect the Golden Dome’s ability to be seen all over campus, and with Virginia recently tearing down the school’s old basketball arena, U-Hall, there’s one less dome in Charlottesville for the public to admire. There’s plenty of rich history on both sides.

I like the look of the gold, so I’ll give it to Notre Dame.

9. Alright, let’s get down to it — who wins, what’s the final score, and how does it happen?

Garrett Keogh, Streaking The Lawn: Rejuvenated by last Saturday’s win and now one win away from bowl eligibility, I think Virginia comes ready to play and could potentially hang around for a little while if they can find early success on offense and spread the ball around to their receivers.

Given the early season loss, I don’t foresee Notre Dame taking the ‘Hoos lightly and losing this game. Ultimately, Notre Dame’s defense will hinder UVA’s ability to move the ball consistently and I think the ND pass rush proves too difficult for the offensive line to withstand for all four quarters.

ND wins 35-14.

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Alright folks, I want to give a massive shout-out to Sean Singletary Garrett for being such a good sport and giving us some really good answers to both the serious and the silly questions we posed. I encourage you all to head over to Streaking The Lawn to check out some really excellent coverage they have going on over there — including, maybe, a Q&A with yours truly in the next day or two.

Furthermore, I highly recommend you toss both Garrett and the Streaking The Lawn account some Twitter follows, as they’re an excellent source of reporting, analysis, and funny quips not only on UVA athletics but also just college sports in general.

That’s it for this week — as always, GO IRISH, BEAT WAHOOS!