Cavaliers Pause to Mark Anniversary

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Wednesday marks the second anniversary of the tragedy that took the lives of three members of the University of Virginia football team on Nov. 13, 2022. Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry were shot and killed after returning to Grounds from a class field trip to Washington, D.C., and two others were wounded in the shooting: their teammate Mike Hollins and another UVA student, Marlee Morgan.

The University will commemorate the anniversary with several remembrance events Wednesday in which the football program is invited to take part.

The shooting occurred near the end of Tony Elliott’s first year as the Cavaliers’ head coach, and he said Tuesday that honoring the legacies of Davis, Chandler and Perry will continue to be a priority.

“As long as I’m the head coach, it’s always going to be a part of who we are, kind of the fabric of this staff and this program since the staff took over,” Elliott said during his weekly press conference at the Hardie Center.

Turnover is a constant in college athletics, and about half of the players on UVA’s 2024 roster were elsewhere two years ago. “There’s never going to be a time where we’re not conscious of it, aware of [the shooting],” Elliott said, “but at the same time, too, in order for us to kind of progress forward, we have to kind of create a normal here and being sensitive that not everybody was a part of that.”

Inside the Hardie Center, which opened in early June, jerseys with the numbers Davis, Chandler and Perry wore at UVA—1, 15 and 41, respectively—are displayed prominently on the first floor. Their jerseys are also in display cases in their respective position rooms.

At the memorial service held for the slain players at John Paul Jones Arena in November 2022, Elliott was among the speakers.

“To everyone here I say, we will turn today’s tragedy into tomorrow’s triumph,” Elliott told the audience that day. “Devin, D’Sean and Lavel have displayed the highest form of love by giving their lives. We have a mission going forward, and that mission requires a tremendous amount of responsibility. Amidst the pain and suffering, there is hope … Weeping is going to last for the night, but great joy is coming in the morning. Because of 1, 15, 41, we have the responsibility to rebuild this community and program on the legacy of their stars, and do so in such a way as to bring light unto the world.”

Wednesday will be a difficult day for many people, Elliott acknowledged, especially the families of the slain players. “So we’ll definitely have the families in our thoughts and prayers, and not just them. It’s going to be a hard day for Mike, because Mike’s still here [as a graduate assistant in the football program]. It’s going to be a hard day for Marlee, all of the students that were on the bus, this community.

“It’s going to be a hard day. But what I will say is we can have confidence knowing that we’ve endured. We’ve shown what our character is all about, and now back when I said we were going to turn tragedy into triumph, we’re kind of coming out of that stage to where now we can walk with some confidence and go bring about the triumph and the beauty that was intended to come out of such a hard and difficult situation.”

SAME MISSION: Virginia is coming off a 24-19 upset of then-No. 23 Pitt at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

The Wahoos entered that game “with the mindset that Pitt would be a tough opponent,” sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Britton said Tuesday, “just because of who they were, what they put on film, and what they represent. Their whole motto was that they were tough, and we were talking about that for two weeks straight, to the point that it got annoying. But it was definitely fun to go in there and show them that we were tough.”

Next up for Virginia (5-4) is a non-conference game with No. 8 Notre Dame (8-1) in South Bend, Ind. The 3:30 p.m. game will air on NBC.

“This is again another tough team that we have to play, another ranked team,” Britton said. “It’s almost the same situation, and [Elliott] says do the same thing again. Be ready for the same situation, the same environment and do it again.”

The Hoos had won only once at Acrisure Stadium (formerly known as Heinz Field) before last weekend. They’re 0-4 all-time against the Fighting Irish.

“The message is the same” as it was ahead of the Pitt game, Elliott said. “The process is the same from a preparation standpoint. Hopefully the guys have confidence after last week that they know what they need to do to prepare, but just excited about the opportunity … I told the guys today we haven’t won against Notre Dame. We’ve set out all season to be a different team doing different things, and to be different, you have to do different. So all we can ask for is an opportunity, but it’s going to take our best game and it’s going to take just a commitment to the process.”

Virginia has three regular-season games remaining. In the Hoos’ home finale, they’ll take on SMU at Scott Stadium on Nov. 23, and then they’ll battle Virginia Tech for the Commonwealth Cup in Blacksburg on Nov. 30.

FAMILIAR FACE: Notre Dame’s starting quarterback is Riley Leonard, who began his college career at Duke. For the season, Leonard has passed for 1,575 yards and nine touchdowns, with three interceptions, and he’s also the Fighting Irish’s leading rusher.

The 6-foot-4, 216-pound Leonard has carried 96 times for 609 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“He’s big,” Elliott said. “He’s a big guy … and he’s very confident as a runner, decisive. He’s not afraid of contact, and he likes to fall forward, and that’s what makes him a good runner.”

HOMECOMING: UVA’s wide receivers include Chris Tyree, a graduate transfer from Notre Dame. In 49 games with the Irish, Tyree totaled 3,284 all-purpose yards (1,161 rushing, 945 receiving, 119 on punt returns, 1,059 on kickoff returns).“I really respect Chris as a person, as a football player,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman told reporters Monday. “I’m just glad he’s got his Notre Dame degree. He’s a talented football player that we’ll have to account for in the special teams battle and also the offensive phase.”

Tyree hasn’t put up big numbers as a Cavalier, in part because nagging injuries have slowed him, but he made a significant contribution against Pitt, and “I anticipate that going forward you’ll see him involved in the game plan more,” Elliott said Tuesday.

VALIANT EFFORT: With a partially torn ACL, safety Antonio Clary could have opted out of the rest of the season. But he wanted to try to help the Cavaliers’ defense, and the team’s medical staff “felt like if he could rehab and get his knee to a position where the swelling was gone, we could give it a shot,” Ellliott said.

Clary, who has two degrees from UVA, hurt his knee Oct. 5 against Boston College and missed the next three games. He returned to practice on a limited basis during the Hoos’ second bye week and targeted the Pitt game for his return.

“He’s been asking and champing at the bit for an opportunity to do it,” Elliott said. “Then we had a conversation, and I said, ‘Man, this is tough on me, because I value, I appreciate you. I don’t want you to have to deal with anything more than what you’re dealing with this injury.’ He was like, ‘No, Coach, I have to go this way.’ He was going to play as long as he could play.”

Clary entered the Pitt game early in the third quarter. He was in for two plays before re-injuring his knee. He had to be helped to the sideline and will have season-ending surgery.

Even with all the time he’s missed this season, Clary ranks third on the team in tackles, with 48. Only linebacker Kam Robinson (49) and safety Jonas Sanker (69) have more for the Cavaliers.

“He did what he felt was the right thing to do for the team, knowing that in the end he was going to have to get it fixed,” Elliott said. “He wanted to try and go. I love that kid. I love everything he stands for.”

NEXT GENERATION: UVA tight end Tyler Neville’s father, Tommy, was a defensive tackle at the U.S. Naval Academy. The elder Neville lettered for Navy in 1993 and ’94. As a senior, he played at Notre Dame Stadium, where the Irish defeated the Midshipmen 58-21.

Tyler Neville joined the Cavaliers this year as a graduate transfer from Harvard. During his first season in FBS, “I’ve played in so many great venues, Scott Stadium being one of them,” Neville said. “It’s cool. It’s a different level of football, and it’s exactly what I wanted when I transferred.”

ON THE RUN: Notre Dame is allowing an average of 148.6 yards passing per game, the second-fewest among FBS teams. For the Cavaliers’ offense to be productive Saturday, they’ll probably need to have success on the ground for the second straight week.

Against Pitt, the Hoos rushed for 170 yards, with tailbacks Kobe Pace and Xavier Brown each having a strong game.

“I like the way they complement each other,” Elliott said. “I think X is capable of taking it the distance at any time with his explosiveness, but I think what it’s also done is, it’s kind of helped Kobe’s confidence, too, and Kobe’s running hard, running tough and kind of doing the dirty work, so to speak. So I think we’ve got a good complement there.”

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.