By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The bus ride from Kenan Stadium to the McCue Center takes three-plus hours, even in the middle of the night, and 3 a.m. was approaching by the time the University of Virginia football team made it home Sunday.
If the Cavaliers were exhausted when they arrived in Charlottesville, that was a small price to pay for the joy they’d experienced a few hours earlier in Chapel Hill.
“It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had, honestly,” cornerback Coen King, a sixth-year senior, said late Saturday night of the defensive stand that sealed Virginia’s 31-27 victory over No. 10 North Carolina at Kenan Stadium.
With 26 seconds left, defensive end Paul Akere, who’d missed the previous two games with a knee injury, forced UNC quarterback Drake Maye into a rushed pass that linebacker James Jackson picked off. That takeaway ignited a celebration that lasted long after the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock. The festivities started on the field, continued in the front of the UVA cheering section in the stands, and then hit their peak in the locker room.
Before Saturday, the Wahoos’ all-time record in road games against top-10 opponents had been 0-30.
“This is a program win,” second-year head coach Tony Elliott told his team in the locker room, “and not only is it a program win, it’s a catalyst to where we’re going.”
Now comes a new challenge for the Cavaliers (2-5 overall, 1-2 ACC). For their upset of UNC (6-1, 3-1) to be more than a one-off, the Hoos must show they can handle success.
An avalanche of congratulatory text messages greeted UVA’s players when they looked at their phones after the game. “Hopefully they won’t get too caught up in that,” Elliott said, “and just understand that this is what [they’re] capable of. And so then there’s no turning back. Let this be the fuel to the fire that [drives] them to get back on the practice field and say, ‘Let’s go see what more can we do.’ ”
Virginia went 1-5 overall during the first half of the regular season, with no wins over FBS opponents. But three of those losses were by a combined seven points, and the Cavaliers came out of their bye week intent on writing a different script in their final six regular-season games.
“They recognize the opportunities that we let slip away,” Elliott said. “We don’t have room for error, and they’ve got the mindset to go and attack.”
That was apparent from the start Saturday night. After forcing an UNC punt, the Hoos scored on their first possession, a drive highlighted by quarterback Tony Muskett’s 22-yard completion to tight end Sackett Wood on fourth-and-2 and tailback Mike Hollins’ 11-yard touchdown.
The Tar Heels tied the game on their next drive, but Hollins’ second TD, on a 3-yard run, put Virginia back on top late in the first quarter, and Will Bettridge’s extra point made it 14-7.
Late in the first half, with the score 14-14, an 11-yard completion from Muskett to wide receiver Malik Washington moved the Cavaliers the UNC 3. On first down, though, offensive guard Ugonna Nnanna was called for holding, and two plays later, on second-and-goal from the 10, UNC intercepted a Muskett pass intended for wideout Malachi Fields.
The Heels, who entered the game as heavy favorites, were looking to start 7-0 for the first time since 1997, when they finished 11-1 after routing Virginia Tech 42-3 in the Gator Bowl. UNC went into the half ahead 17-14 and stretched its lead to 24-14 with 9:35 left in the third quarter.
The Cavaliers refused to capitulate.
“This team is full of fighters,” Hollins said. “There’s no quit anywhere in the program.”
UVA held UNC, which came in averaging 37.5 points per game, to three points in the final 24 minutes and twice rallied to take the lead, the second time on an 11-yard TD pass from Muskett to Washington, who broke four tackles en route to the end zone.
“That’s what No. 4 does,” Muskett said.
Elliott said: “That was a big-boy play. That’s what I told Malik, and that’s what you’ve seen out of this team. They fight. They’re not going to back down. Now, we’ve got to play smarter at times and play more complementary football at times. But one thing that you can’t question about this team is their resilience and their willingness to fight. And so that’s just a testament to this group of individuals. I think it’s a testament to where our football program is. Since November 13th of last year”—when three UVA players were shot and killed on Grounds—”we’ve had to fight every single day for everything. We’ve had to fight on the field, we’ve had to fight in the classroom, and we’ve had to fight mental health.”