CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A year ago, Virginia football had a magic to it. This year, the magic has morphed into meh.

From Beau Pribula’s red-zone fumble on UVA’s first possession to the fourth-quarter touchdown the defense allowed to seal the loss, the Cavaliers repeatedly came up small in the biggest moments, falling 23-13 to No. 24 SMU on Saturday.

“I just feel like we beat ourselves a little bit,” Pribula said. “… There’s just a ton of little things that if we fix, we’ll be better off.”

It was the kind of game the Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2 ACC) found ways to win last season, as they racked up a program-record 11 victories and earned a spot in the conference championship game. Behind quarterback Chandler Morris and linebacker Kam Robinson, UVA seemed to have a key play up its sleeve nearly every time it needed one. It won five one-score games.

This year, those plays – and playmakers – haven’t shown up.

Saturday’s loss raised questions, certainly, about UVA’s up-and-down offense. Chief among those was why the Cavaliers abandoned Jekail Middlebrook and a running game that seemed dominant in the first half. Middlebrook ran 12 times for 55 yards in the first half, more than half of his team’s 82 yards on the ground before the break. The Middle Tennessee State transfer also caught a pair of passes for 16 yards.

After halftime, Middlebrook got the first two carries of the third quarter, gaining four yards, then caught a 3-yard reception on the third snap. He would not touch the ball again. Coach Tony Elliott explained the shift away from Middlebrook as an attempt to keep a fresh running back in the game in the second half.

At the same time, Pribula was just 7 for 15 passing in the second half for 66 yards.

UVA’s defense played well enough to win, but had its share of critical issues, too. It didn’t record a sack on SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings until there was 5:40 left in the game.

Defensive end Billy Koudelka’s roughing the passer penalty on what should have been the final play of the first half gave the Mustangs an untimed down to kick a 45-yard field goal and take a 13-10 lead to the locker room at the intermission.

But the biggest breakdown came early in the fourth quarter, with UVA hanging in the game, down 16-13. On a third-and-10 play at the Virginia 37-yard line, Jennings slipped away from the rush of Matthew Fobbs-White and Cazeem Moore, stepped up and completed a pass to Jalen Hale. The pass went over one defender and into Hale’s hands just as a second Cavalier flew by.

“He’s got some Houdini in him,” Elliott said of Jennings.

Hale found some magic of his own. After catching the pass, he ran away from corner Justin Ross, safety Jalen Jones, linebacker Kam Robinson and, finally, safety Montino Williams for the game-sealing touchdown.

“In the end, couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch,” said Elliott, whose team hosts Duke on Friday night on a short week. The Cavaliers are 4-0 at Scott Stadium this season, 0-3 away from Charlottesville.

On a Saturday that saw Virginia, Duke and Pittsburgh suffer losses that put them on the outside of the ACC title race looking in, all three of those teams can look back and kick themselves over missed opportunities.

At the same time, Miami – the unquestioned class of the conference – made the plays it needed to to pull out a dramatic, and, yes, controversial double-overtime win over rival Florida State in a tremendous football game in South Florida.

Good teams find a way.

Right now, Virginia has lost its way.