CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – On a day – and in a football season – when it’s become painfully apparent that points are at a premium for Virginia’s offense, Tony Elliott playing it safe going into the half on Friday night against Duke was a decision that didn’t match the moment. 

Of course, there’s no guarantee that a more aggressive approach would have produced a touchdown in that spot, and no guarantee that UVA wouldn’t have committed a critical error that would have cost it the three points it did score in the 19-16 loss to the Blue Devils.

“There at the end of the half, really just not trying to do anything too risky,” Elliott said.

It would have been a gamble. As underwhelming as Pribula’s been this season, he has not been interception-prone. The Missouri transfer has only been picked off twice, and once was on a desperation heave on his final play of Friday night’s loss. 

And with an offense that is averaging just 16 points a game, the risk outweighed the reward.

Only Elliott didn’t think so. His defense was playing lights-out. Duke’s offense had done nothing after a strong opening touchdown drive.

He played for the field goal.

UVA (4-4, 2-3) got the ball with good field position, starting at its own 42-yard line with 1:44 left before halftime. Jekail Middlebrook immediately moved the Cavaliers into Duke territory with a 21-yard run. 

Pribula ran them into field goal range with a 14-yard gain on the next snap, giving Virginia the ball at the Blue Devils’ 23-yard line with 1:22 left.

Middlebrook got the ball next and picked up six yards, down to the Duke 17. At this point, there were 46 seconds left. A makeable field goal attempt had been secured.

The play-calling mindset should have shifted. UVA should have looked to the end zone.

Instead, it called two more runs, settled for the 32-yard Will Bettridge field goal and went to the locker room up 13-7. 

Virginia settled for field goals on three of its four red zone trips, and also missed a chance for points when Bettridge couldn’t connect on a 47-yard try in the third quarter.

“You needed to find touchdowns because those four points were going to come up big,” Elliott said afterward. “We had our opportunities. We were definitely in position.”

One of those opportunities came at the end of the half. Elliott should have gone for the end zone.

Here were three other takeaways from UVA’s loss to Duke.

Intentional grounding was a costly mess

A second key moment when UVA settled for a field goal came in the final minutes of the game. With the score tied 13-13, UVA got down to the Duke 11-yard line. But on second down, Pribula was flagged for intentional grounding, backing the Cavaliers up to the Duke 18. 

UVA again played it safe with the play call, running Pribula for 5 yards and setting up a go-ahead 30-yard field goal by Bettridge with three minutes left. 

If not for the penalty, Virginia would have at least been able to run more time off the clock, and possibly take shots at the end zone. Instead, on third-and-18, Pribula ran for 5 yards and then Bettridge came on to kick.

After the game, Elliott explained that Pribula and the offense had missed the blitz pickup call, leaving the quarterback under almost immediate pressure, being flushed to his right. Because the formation had most of the receivers to his left, Pribula couldn’t get the ball close enough to an eligible receiver to avoid the flag. 

“He made a protection adjustment call that didn’t get properly communicated that forced him to get rid of it early,” Elliott said. “The only way he could get rid of it was to his right and we had everything over there to the left.”

Middlebrook delivered again

A week after Virginia went away from giving him the ball in the second half of a road loss to SMU, Jekail Middlebrook was the focal point of the Cavaliers’ offense from start to finish. The Middle Tennessee State transfer responded with a career day. Middlebrook got a season-high 24 carries that he turned into 117 yards and a touchdown.

A few things stood out about Middlebrook’s day. First, UVA didn’t give him the ball until its third possession of the game. The first two drives included four passes, two Pribula runs and a sack. Middlebrook finally got a carry on the Cavaliers’ third possession. Already trailing Duke 7-0, Middlebrook took a handoff on the first play of that drive, gained 20 yards and got an additional 15 because of a face-mask penalty. He ended that drive with a 1-yard scoring run, Virginia’s only touchdown of the game.

One of the criticisms of Middlebrook’s play this season has been a lack of explosiveness. And, even with his strong production Saturday, that was true again. He gained 41 of his 117 yards on two plays. On his other 22 carries, he averaged 3.5 yards per rush.

Sparks was booming kicks

With Virginia’s offense scuffling, punter Daniel Sparks is getting plenty of work. And Sparky has delivered. Saturday, he boomed five kicks, averaging 56.2 yards per punt. He pinned two inside the 20-yard line and crushed a 66-yarder in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, their coverage unit allowed Duke’s KD Cotton a 27-yard return, out to the Blue Devils’ 32-yard line. 

Sparks leads the ACC, averaging 51.1 yards per punt this season. His 20 kicks of 50 yards or longer are the most in the conference, as are his 17 punts inside the 20-yard line.