Cavaliers Fall at Virginia Tech in Commonwealth Clash

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

BLACKSBURG, Va. — On a bitterly cold night at Lane Stadium, UVA’s football season ended on a bitter note.

Virginia Tech has relinquished the Commonwealth Cup to UVA only twice this century—in 2003 and 2019—and the Hokies will retain possession for at least another year. Tech capped the opening drive of this ACC game with a touchdown and never was seriously threatened thereafter in its 37-17 victory late Saturday night.

The Cavaliers, who won three games in each of their first two seasons under head coach Tony Elliott, needed a victory Saturday night to become bowl-eligible. The loss dropped them to 5-7 overall and 3-5 in ACC.

Virginia was seeking its first win at Lane Stadium since 1998.

“We wanted this one bad,” Virginia quarterback Tony Muskett said. “Coach E focused on it pretty heavily, what this means to the program and to the state, so we wanted this one bad.”

So did Tech (6-6, 4-4), which became bowl-eligible on the final day of the regular season. No matter how much the Hokies might struggle against other teams, they always seem to raise their level of play against the Cavaliers, and so it was again Saturday night.

Tech’s top two quarterbacks were unavailable because of injuries, but redshirt freshman Pop Watson proved more than capable Saturday night. He completed 14 of 21 passes for 254 yards and one touchdown, with no interceptions, and carried 11 times for 48 yards.

“I think early on we had some opportunities maybe to get him to get him stopped before he started, but we weren’t able to get him on the ground,” Elliott said. “And then his confidence and the momentum builds throughout the course of the game. I thought they did a good job of moving the pocket on him and giving him some run-pass options. And I thought he did a good job of taking advantage of some of the things that we didn’t do well.”

Sophomore Anthony Colandrea started the first 11 games at quarterback for Virginia this season. After UVA’s loss to SMU last weekend, however, Elliott decided a change was needed to try to ignite a sluggish offense, and he turned to Muskett, his most experienced quarterback.

Muskett transferred to UVA from Monmouth, an FCS program, in January 2023. He went into last season as the Cavaliers’ starter but battled injuries that limited him to six games. In training camp this year, Colandrea won the starting job, but Muskett stayed ready and impressed in his relief appearances this fall.

“We’ve been struggling [offensively] for the last four games or so,” Elliott said, “and it wasn’t all AC’s fault, and that’s why I told him, ‘This is not necessarily anything that you did.’ In particular, in the last game, he didn’t have a ton of protection around him, all right? But I just felt like I needed to do something to help the offense.”

Muskett finished 19-for-36 passing for 178 yards, with two interceptions. He rushed 18 times for 62 yards and scored both of the Wahoos’ touchdowns. Late in the third quarter, Muskett capped a 75-yard drive with a two-yard TD run and then passed to tight end Tyler Neville for a two-point conversion that made it 27-11.

UVA drove 75 yards for another TD on its next possession, too, with Muskett picking up the final five on a second-and-goal quarterback draw.

“I thought he left it all on the field,” Elliott said. “I thought the guy was scrapping, he ran the ball, converted some first downs for us. I think he wants those two throws back for sure. He had a couple balls that I thought should have been caught to help him out, with the exception of the two balls that sailed on him, the interceptions. I thought he battled. He had a good look in his eye and put his body on the line, so he gave us everything that he had.”

The Hokies came into Scott Stadium last year and rolled to a 55-17 victory.  The Cavaliers offered more resistance Saturday night, but by the time their offense finally started clicking, Tech led 27-3.

“We just came to life offensively too late,” Elliott said.

It was 30-17 when Virginia’s defense forced a punt with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. But the Hoos went three-and-out on the drive that followed, and Tuten ran 58 yards for a touchdown that effectively sealed the Hokies’ victory with 6:12 to play.

In the locker room afterward, Elliott said, he told his team “that I felt like where I let them down was I didn’t have them ready to play with the right level of discipline and execution. I thought emotionally they got a better understanding of what rivalry means. So I think emotionally they were ready to play, because last year we didn’t have much emotion when we played in this game. So I thought that was there, but just execution … We didn’t have the right discipline on certain plays, and that’s on me. I’ve got to go get that fixed.”

Virginia’s defense came up with no takeaways and allowed 456 yards. Bhaysul Tuten, one of the ACC’s top tailbacks, rushed 18 times for 124 yards and two TDs. Three Tech wideouts totaled at least 50 yards receiving each.

“We’ve got to play better,” said Virginia senior Jonas Sanker, an All-ACC safety. “I don’t really know how else to say it. We’ve got to take more pride in what we do.”

Sanker added: “I don’t want the team to be discouraged. I really believe in Coach E’s plan, what he’s building going forward. I know we’re going to attack it in the offseason. We’re going to learn from this and UVA is going to grow.”

After rallying to defeat Boston College on Oct. 5, Virginia was 4-1 overall and 2-0 in ACC play. The Cavaliers’ schedule grew tougher, however, and they won only one of their final seven games: an upset of then-No. 23 Pitt at Acrisure Stadium.

“I think the biggest thing is we’ve got to continue to grow our depth, improve our depth,” Elliott said. “Injuries take a toll, and so we’ve got to improve the quality of our depth. And then we got to make sure we don’t beat ourselves. When you look at [UVA’s play] down the stretch … if it’s not turnovers, then it’s getting the quarterback sacked. If it’s not sacks, then it’s turnovers. Or it’s critical penalties in certain situations that don’t allow you to establish rhythm. Or it’s not having your eyes disciplined where they need to be on defense or not wrapping up the ball-carrier when you got him stopped for a minimal gain. If you’ve got a guy wrapped up for a two-yard gain and it turns into an eight-yard gain, then that’s very difficult to overcome because now you’re in a short-yardage situation. So a lot of it is things that we can control, that we got to go to work and I got to coach better, the staff has to coach better, and we got to continue to improve our football team.”

Five wins is not what the Hoos envisioned heading into the season, Muskett said, but “hopefully it’ll be a building block going into this offseason for these guys coming back just to continue to build and become a championship program.”

Muskett was one of four UVA seniors who fielded questions from reporters after the game, along with Sanker, defensive end Kam Butler and tight end Tyler Neville.

Neville, a graduate transfer from Harvard, said he “just spent 15 minutes in the locker room crying. It’s tough. This is not the way I envisioned my college career ending. But I really did enjoy every second. I can’t say I don’t have any regrets. I certainly have regrets. There’s a lot of things I could have done better. But I don’t regret coming to UVA. And I don’t regret playing for a man like Coach Elliott. I don’t regret pouring my all into my teammates. I think there’s a surplus of great teammates at the University of Virginia, great men, great people, Coach Elliott included. But it trickles down. I’ve had some of the best teammates I’ve ever had in my life. Some guys who go to war for you.”

For Butler, who transferred to UVA after graduating from Miami University in Ohio, this was his seventh season of college football.

“It’s been a lot,” Butler said. “I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences or past seven years for anything. I’m just grateful for both programs taking me in and just let me chase my dreams and play football.”

Sanker, who’s from Charlottesville, echoed those comments.

“I wouldn’t change anything about the way my journey went,” Sanker said. “I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed being able to grow and learn and create good relationships with all those people along the way. It didn’t end the way I want, but I really enjoyed it.”

Virginia Team Notes 

• Virginia Tech improved to 62-38-5 in the all-time series against Virginia, first played in 1895. The Hokies extended their home win streak in the series to 12 games.
• Virginia dropped to 0-4 (2006, 2008, 2014, 2024) in games against Virginia Tech in which the game determined bowl eligibility for the Cavaliers.
• Virginia finished 3-3 on the road this season. The three road wins are the most since 2011.
• The Cavaliers fell to 3-2 in night games this season.
• Eight different Cavaliers recorded a reception in the contest. 
• Virginia Tech opened the game with an 11-play, 90-yard scoring drive that ended with a touchdown, tied for the longest by an opponent this season – Coastal Carolina (8-for-90), Clemson (11-for-90).

 Virginia Individual Player Notes 

• Quarterback Tony Muskett made his first start under center this season and first since Nov. 4 against Georgia Tech (game eight). For the second straight game in which he appeared, Muskett matched a career-best with two rushing touchdowns and was 19-for-36 with 178 yards passing.
• Muskett is the third UVA quarterback in the last five meetings with two rushing touchdowns against Virginia Tech, joining Brennan Armstrong (2 in 2021) and Bryce Perkins (2 in 2019). 
• Malachi Fields caught two passes for 20 yards and extended his streak with at least one reception to 27 consecutive games.
• Fields now has 129 career receptions, which is tied for 10th on UVA’s all-time list with Perry Jones (2009-12) and Joe Reed (2016-19). Fields’ 1,849 career receiving yards are the ninth most in UVA history.
• Suderian Harrison led the Cavaliers with career-highs in receptions (5) and receiving yards (54). He came into the contest with six catches for 45 yards.
• Jonas Sanker co-led the team in tackles with nine (five solo). It marked the fourth time he’s led or co-led the team in tackles and the seventh time he’s recorded eight or more tackles in a game this season. He finished the year with a team-high, 98 tackles (65 solo). 
• Kempton Shine made his 37th consecutive starts dating back to his tenure at Eastern Michigan, the sixth most amongst active FBS secondary players.
• Will Bettridge moved into sole possession of 13th on UVA’s career scoring list with a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter. Bettridge has 196 career points with 67 PATs and 42 field goals made.
• Noah Vaughn made his first career start at running back.
• Trell Harris started at wide receiver and made his first appearance since Sept 14 (vs. Maryland). Harris missed eight consecutive games due to injury.

Offensive Starters: QB #7 Tony Muskett, #28 RB Noah Vaughn, WR #8 Malachi Fields, WR #11 Trell Harris, TE #44 Sackett Wood, TE #16 Tyler Neville, LT #52 McKale Boley, LG #77 Noah Josey, C #55 Brian Stevens, RG #51 Ty Furnish, RT #54 Blake Steen. 

Defensive Starters: DE #82 Kam Butler, NT #55 Anthony Britton, DT #90 Jahmeer Carter, DE #15 Chico Bennett Jr., LB #5 Kam Robinson, LB #8 Trey McDonald, CB #29 Kempton Shine, CB #9 Jam Jackson, NB #4 Kendren Smith, S #20 Jonas Sanker, S #3 Corey Thomas Jr. 

Game Captains: #15 Chico Bennett, #41 Will Bettridge, #1 Suderian Harrison, #7 Tony Muskett