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By Jeff White
jwhite@virginia.edu
CHARLOTTESVILLE– More than 60 hours after the stunning conclusion to their final regular-season game, an overtime loss to arch-rival Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, the pain persisted for Virginia’s players and coaches.
When the team met at the McCue Center at 8 a.m. last Monday, “I had not bounced back, nor had [the players], which I think is a good thing,” head coach Bronco Mendenhall recalled.
“It was as disappointed as maybe I’ve been in my coaching career, and certainly they felt the same way, which I viewed as a positive, because we did put a lot into that game, we did realize its importance, we tried very, very hard, and we were one or two plays short.”
Virginia players with eligibility remaining – a large percentage of the depth chart — can look forward to another match-up with the Hokies, who rallied to win Nov. 23 at Lane Stadium. That’s not the case for the seniors, a group that includes the Cavaliers’ captains: running back Jordan Ellis, linebacker Chris Peace and wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus.
“For me, knowing that I’m not going to get to play against them again, that’s probably going to stick with me for the rest of my life,” Ellis said at the McCue Center. “But the only way you can kind of get over it is by winning another game, and that’s our focus.”
The Wahoos, who became bowl-eligible with a victory over North Carolina on Oct. 27, finally learned their postseason destination on Sunday afternoon.
UVA (7-5) will meet South Carolina (7-5) in the Belk Bowl, Dec. 29 at noon at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The match-up pleased the ‘Hoos, who rarely get to test themselves against Southeastern Conference teams.
“That’s a powerhouse conference they talk about all the time,” Peace said. “It’s just another great opportunity.”
Charlotte is about 275 miles from Charlottesville. The Queen City is about 240 miles from Atlanta, whose metropolitan area is home to several UVA players, including Ellis.
“I’m not going to lie, I kind of did want to go to the Belk, because it’s close to home for my last college game,” said Ellis, who’s from Suwanee, Ga.
“I’ve got a good number of family members coming. And I was hoping for the Belk game, not only location-wise, but knowing we’d get to go against an SEC team. I grew up in SEC country.”
The Belk Bowl will wrap up Mendenhall’s third season with the Cavaliers, who finished 2-10 in 2016 and 6-7 last year.
“I don’t think it could be a better match-up,” Mendenhall said. “I don’t think it could be a better game. We’re at the same location where our [ACC] championship game is played, which is our goal. We’re playing an SEC opponent, which is a great way for us to finish the season and measure our program and compete fiercely, and [it’s] an opportunity to win eight games … The location, in terms of proximity to Charlottesville, is also a plus, so it’s really a win in every possible way.”
The Cavaliers haven’t faced an SEC opponent since Dec. 31, 2011, when they lost 43-24 to Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. UVA had a two-game series with South Carolina in the early 2000s, but the teams haven’t met since.
In 2002, Virginia upset 22nd-ranked South Carolina 34-21 at Scott Stadium. A year later, in Columbia, S.C., the Gamecocks avenged that loss with a 31-7 win.
UVA ended each of those seasons in Charlotte, at what was then called the Continental Tire Bowl. Virginia upended No. 15 West Virginia 48-22 in 2002, in the inaugural Tire Bowl, and then defeated Pittsburgh 23-16 in 2003.
Since that win over Pitt, the Cavaliers are 1-3 in bowl games. Their lone postseason victory during that span came in 2005, when the ‘Hoos rallied to edge Minnesota 34-31 in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn.
A victory over South Carolina would give the Cavaliers only their second eight-win season in a decade. It would also provide “momentum for this program leading into next season,” Peace said.
“Eight wins is something that hasn’t been done for a while here. It’s just another big goal for this team, and I would definitely love to help send this team out with eight.”
Ellis said: “That would elevate our program to new heights. This is a big game to test our program and show far we’ve come in these three years with Coach Mendenhall. It’s just a springboard into next year [and a chance to] leave this program better than when I found it.”
Starting in 2002, the Cavaliers appeared in four straight bowl games. This marks the first time since then that Virginia will make back-to-back postseason appearances.
After finishing 8-5 in 2011, the Cavaliers won five or fewer regular-season games in each of the next five seasons. That streak ended in 2017, when Virginia posted a 6-6 regular-season record.
A disastrous appearance in the Military Bowl followed. On a frigid afternoon in Annapolis, Md., Joe Reed returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but that was about the only highlight for UVA in a 49-7 loss to Navy.
“That point of reference is certainly helpful,” Mendenhall said. “I know it has the team’s attention. Some of the mystery and awe of what a bowl game looks like and feels like and how to prepare will be gone.”
The Military Bowl experience “was different for us,” Ellis said. “It was our first time preparing for a bowl game. That kind of humbled us and brought us to a place where we know how we have to work preparing for a bowl game and the focus that it takes.”
Final exams start next Monday at the University and run through Dec. 18. That will pose some logistical challenges for the Cavaliers as they prepare for South Carolina, but Peace said they’ll benefit from lessons learned last December.
“We’re locked-in and dialed-in,” Peace said.
The events leading up to a bowl game can be a distraction, Ellis said. “With that experience, we kind of know now what it takes to play our best when we get to game day.”
The key, Ellis said, is to “keep doing what we’ve been doing all year. I feel like the way we’ve prepared in practice all year has given us great chances in the games to play our best football. We’ve got a little bit more time now to get as healthy and prepared as possible.”
Had a handful of plays gone their way late in the regular season, the Cavaliers might well be 9-3 instead of 7-5. After defeating Liberty 45-24 in Charlottesville, Virginia lost 30-27 at Georgia Tech and 34-31 at Virginia Tech.
In each of those losses, UVA failed to score after holding its opponent to a field goal on the first possession of overtime.
As proud as he is of the progress his program has made, Mendenhall said, “I’m certainly not satisfied that we’ve had a couple overtime losses and had a chance to legitimately contend and win the Coastal [Division] and just didn’t quite finish well enough to make that happen.
“So this game’s important for us, not only for players to have success, but for the program to take another step.”