Virginia and Coastal Carolina will clash for the first time ever on Saturday afternoon in Conway, South Carolina. The Cavaliers are looking to get back on track after last week's setback against Maryland, while the Chanticleers are hoping to remain unbeaten and stay on track to contend for the Group of Five's College Football Playoff bid with a big win over a Power Four opponent.
Read on for a full preview of Virginia at Coastal Carolina with everything you need to know, including game details and notes, an opponent scouting report, what to watch for, and a score prediction.
Who: Virginia Cavaliers (2-1, 1-0 ACC) at Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (3-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
When: Saturday, September 21st at 2pm ET
Where: Brooks Stadium (20,000) in Conway, South Carolina
How to watch: ESPN+
How to listen: SiriusXM 111 or 202, SXM App 964 | Virginia Sports Radio Network
All-time series: First meeting
Read Virginia's injury report for the Coastal Carolina game here: Virginia Football Injury Report: Updates on Robinson, Boley, Furnish
See below for UVA's week 4 depth chart for the Coastal Carolina game.
2023: 8-5, 5-3 Sun Belt
2024: 3-0
Virginia's defense will be tasked with stopping a run-heavy offense on Saturday afternoon in Conway. Coastal Carolina boasts the 13th-ranked rushing offense in the country, averaging 251.7 rushing yards per game. Powering that ground game is a two-headed monster featuring running back Christian Washington, who has scored four touchdowns and who averages 4.7 yards per carry, and dual-threat quarterback Ethan Vasko, a Chesapeake native and former Kansas transfer who uses his 6'3", 220-pound frame to be very active in the ground game.
Vasko is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, but Coastal is also averaging 19.0 yards per completion, good for third in the country, showing a big play ability in the passing game as well. Vasko's top receiving targets are Tray Taylor (six catches for 132 yards) and Jameson Tucker (seven catches for 110 yards), who both have one touchdown reception this season. Taylor and Tucker aren't the focal point of Coastal's run-oriented offense, but they're dangerous enough to keep the UVA defense honest and punish any mistakes from the Cavalier secondary.
For the Coastal Carolina defense, the name of the game is takeaways. The Chanticleers have forced six turnovers this season, most in the Sun Belt Conference and 15th-most in all of the FBS. Those six takeaways - three interceptions and three forced fumbles - have come from six different players. Coastal has scored three defensive touchdowns already this season, one of only two teams in the country who have done that.
Coastal's leading tackler is redshirt senior linebacker Shane Bruce, who has racked up 20 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. The Chanticleers have nine sacks on the season, 2.5 of which have come from redshirt sophomore linebacker Tray Brown. Bruce and Brown combine to make a formidable linebacking tandem that will offer significant resistance to Anthony Colandrea and the UVA offense.
It's tough to make any grand conclusions about Coastal Carolina at this point, as the undefeated Chanticleers have yet to be significantly challenged in their 3-0 start which included a 55-27 win over Jacksonville State, a 40-21 win over William & Mary, and a 28-20 road victory at Temple last week. Saturday will tell us a a great deal both of these teams.
Turnover Battle
We've just about exhausted the topic of Anthony Colandrea and turnovers (at least for this week), but it's the entire Virginia team that has to be on alert with ball security in this game. Coastal Carolina has so far been one of the best teams in the country in forcing turnovers and immediately scoring points off of those takeaways (three defensive touchdowns). UVA, meanwhile, has a -5 turnover margin this season and has yet to record an interception. Maryland won the turnover battle 4-0 and that was a big reason the Terps walked out of Scott Stadium with the win. Virginia must avoid a similar disadvantage in the turnover category in order to come away from Coastal with a victory.
Sustain and Finish Drives
Coastal Carolina's ability to run the ball effectively is a great recipe for controlling time of possession. That could be especially dangerous against the Cavaliers, who haven't been on the right side of the time of possession battle very much this season. That has a lot to do with Virginia's success passing the ball, but the Hoos didn't do themselves any favors by going 3/15 on third downs plus the aforementioned four turnovers in the Maryland loss. Perhaps more importantly, even when UVA has moved the ball down the field, those drives haven't been resulting in touchdowns often enough, as the Cavaliers have scored just five touchdowns on 12 red zone trips.
Solve the Third Quarter, Win the Fourth Quarter
Last year, Virginia couldn't finish in the fourth quarter, leading to several losses by one score. The Cavaliers helped correct course on that front with a clutch performance in week 2, winning the fourth quarter 14-0 to come from behind and beat Wake Forest. Now, there's a new disturbing trend that the Hoos must avoid sustaining: coming out flat to start the second half. Virginia has been outscored 23-7 in third quarters this season and has scored a grand total of zero points in the last two third quarters. No matter what happens in the first half, the Cavaliers must come out of halftime with an edge that has been absent so far this season.
It's never good to face a must-win situation so early in the season, but there's no understating the difference between Virginia being 3-1 and 2-2 entering the bye week. What awaits the Cavaliers after the bye? Tough challenges against Boston College, Louisville, Clemson, and North Carolina. It's time for UVA to prove that the Maryland loss was only a temporary setback and that the 2024 season can really be a breakthrough year.
Score prediction: Virginia 30, Coastal Carolina 24