In another world, Virginia would have found a way to allow Virginia Tech to blow up the Cavaliers’ season.
Tony Elliott and his crew were having none of that. Virginia dominated the Hokies in the 27-7 win that came with a giant cup (Commonwealth Cup).
“It’s been a long time coming, but the cup is ours,” said Elliott. “Now we’ve got the responsibility to keep it here. Every day this is what we fight for.”
The Cavaliers were picked to finish 14th in the ACC despite having a conference schedule that didn’t include SMU, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), or Clemson. If anyone on Tobacco Road claims to have known that Virginia could pull this off, stand there and wait for their nose to grow like Pinocchio.
It’s amazing how quickly people forgot why the North Carolina State loss wasn’t a conference game. It was explained time and time again before and after the game, but it didn’t become a “what is going on” until the Cavaliers were a threat to win the ACC.
Virginia’s best conference wins came at home against Florida State in double overtime, followed by a road overtime win at Louisville. The win over the Cardinals solidified who this team was and had officially become a threat to make it to the conference title game.
The only thing standing between the Cavaliers and the College Football Playoffs (I can’t believe I just typed that) is Duke.
These two met on November 15th in Durham. At the time, the game was built up as an elimination game, but here we are, thanks in part to SMU losing to Cal. Virginia left town with a convincing 34-17 win, but it was a costly one. The Cavaliers lost their best player on defense, Kam Robinson, for the season in that game.
Keys:
Don’t Shrink in the Moment
All week, the narrative will be “Duke has nothing to lose.”
Virginia cannot let that cause them to coach and play a tight game. The Blue Devils want to get this into the fourth quarter and, despite what happened in the first meeting, they have an offense that can do just that.
Turnovers can’t be part of the equation for the Cavaliers. It’s a delicate balance with Chandler Morris. Virginia needs Morris to be Morris, but it can’t be the reckless version of him. To be fair, we haven’t seen Morris be really bad, and that sentence can’t change for the worse on Saturday.
Balance
Trell Harris and J’Mari Taylor posted big days against the Blue Devils’ defense.
Harris had a career day in receptions and yards (8 rec, 161 yards, 1 TD). He was the first Cavalier wide receiver with at least 150 yards receiving since Malik Washington against Louisville in 2023.
Cam Ross had seven receptions in the game.
Last week, the Hokies focused on Harris and Ross, and the Cavaliers got a solid performance out of Kameron Courtney (six receptions).
Taylor had a 78-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He finished with 133 yards rushing while Harrison Waylee chipped in with another 69 yards. Waylee’s numbers are bigger than most realize.
The Cavaliers want to possess the ball, and sometimes that means the running game just has to be good enough and not dominant. It’s a luxury to have when the Cavaliers have multiple ways to get yards on the ground.
Live in the Moment
This isn’t the time to think about next week or next season.
No one cares if some pundit thinks Virginia would be road kill in the first round of the College Football Playoff, nor if they can’t reach these heights next season.
Saturday night in Charlotte is all about living in the moment, knowing that by midnight, the locker room could be celebrating the continuation of something special.
