Cavaliers Edged by NC State, 35-31

RALEIGH, N.C. — In a game that featured two prolific offenses, a defensive play sealed the victory for NC State on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.

On a hot, humid afternoon, Virginia’s offense totaled 514 yards and 24 first downs in a rare non-conference clash between longtime ACC members. But after playing turnover-free football for the first 118 minutes and 58 seconds of the season, the Cavaliers, with a chance to pull out a dramatic comeback win, finally gave the ball away.

With NC State leading 35-31, a 20-yard completion from quarterback Chandler Morris to wide receiver Cam Ross gave Virginia a first down at the Wolfpack 12. On the next play, however, Morris tried to hit tailback J’Mari Taylor on a wheel route, and defensive end Cian Slone picked off the pass in the end zone.

NCSU ran out the clock to improve to 2-0, and UVA fell to 1-1.

“Super proud of the guys,” Virginia head coach Tony Elliott said. “Thought they battled their tails off, thought we grew up a little bit as a football team. But still, no moral victories. Non-conference or not, we came down here to win and we came up short … We’re gonna own it, we’re gonna get better, and we gotta go 1-0 next week.”

UVA’s defense gave up 416 yards and five touchdowns. The Wahoos recorded no sacks and had no takeaways. In the fourth quarter, though, the defense held the Wolfpack scoreless, giving the offense multiple opportunities to produce a go-ahead touchdown.

On Virginia’s penultimate drive, Taylor was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 run from the NCSU 8. The Cavaliers’ final possession started on their 19, and five completions from Morris—two to Jahmal Edrine, and one each to Kam Courtney, Taylor and Ross—quickly moved them to the State 12. Then came a pass Morris would like to have back.

“Receivers were making great plays, the line was fighting their butts off,” Morris said. “Just unfortunate to not finish it.”

Taylor rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns, and Morris completed 30 of 43 passes for 257 yards and one TD. Wideouts Trell Harris, Edrine and Ross combined for 18 catches, and UVA’s offensive line didn’t give up a sack for the second-straight game.

Still, Morris said, the offense’s performance “just wasn’t good enough. It’s that’s simple. We gotta get back to work. Yeah, we had some good stuff, some good things happen, but at the end of the day, we gotta go score more points than they do, and we didn’t do that today. I feel like that’s on us. We left a lot out there.”

For the Wolfpack, tailback Hollywood Smother rushed for 140 yards and two TDs, and quarterback CJ Bailey completed 16 of 23 passes for 200 yards and one score.

After getting sizable second-quarter contributions from its defense and special teams, Virginia led 24-14 at the half. Will Bettridge’s 29-yard field made it 17-14 with 4:08 left in the second quarter, after which the Cavaliers forced a three-and-out. A 48-yard punt return by Ross, who ran a kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown in the season opener, gave UVA excellent field position, and the drive that followed ended with Morris’ 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sage Ennis.

For the game, Virginia converted 10 of 13 third-down opportunities.

NC State scored the first 14 points of the second half to take its first lead, at 28-24, but Taylor’s third TD, on a 66-yard run, put the Hoos back on top with 5:11 left in the third quarter.

“We’re going to stay encouraged,” Elliott said. “We’re going to stay positive. My challenge to the team is we either get bitter or we get better. We either get defined by this game or we get developed, and I’m choosing to get better. I’m choosing to get developed. And I believe those guys in the locker room would say the same thing.”

UP NEXT: Virginia (1-1) opens a three-game homestand next Saturday against William & Mary at Scott Stadium. The noon game will air on ACC Network.

The Tribe took an 0-1 record into its Saturday night game against Maine in Williamsburg, Va.

UVA has won six straight over W&M and leads the series 32-6-1. The Tribe, which is looking to finish with a winning record for the fifth straight season, is in its seventh year under Mike London, a former head coach at Virginia.

Virginia Team Notes 

• Virginia dropped to 22-38-1 all-time against NC State. The Wolfpack have won four-straight against UVA and six of the last seven. The Cavaliers are 9-18 against NC State in Raleigh, N.C. 
• Saturday marked the first non-conference game between the two schools since 1948. 
• The Cavaliers’ 31 points are the most in the series since the 2012 contest in Raleigh, which is also the Hoos’ most recent win (33-6) of the series.
• Virginia amassed 514 yards of total offense, the most in a game since compiling 525 at Coastal Carolina last season. Today’s performance marks the third time under head coach Tony Elliott in which the UVA offense produced at least 500 yards (at NC State – 2025; at Coastal Carolina – 2024; vs. Richmond – 2022). 
• The last time UVA had 500 yards of total offense and lost was at Pittsburgh in 2021, when the Cavaliers recorded 514 yards of total offense and fell 48-38.
• Virginia rushed for 257 yards, the third time under Elliott that UVA has accumulated 250 or more rushing yards (at NC State – 2025; at Coastal Carolina – 2024; vs. Richmond – 2022;). It was the first 250+ yard rushing performance against an ACC school under Elliott and since recording 262 against Boston College in 2020.
• The Virginia offensive line did not allow a sack for the second-straight game. It marks the first time UVA has had two games in the same season without allowing a sack since 2018. The last time UVA did not allow a sack in back-to-back games was in 2014. 
• UVA converted 13 of its 19 third down attempts (68%) while NC State was 1-for-7. The only Wolfpack third down conversion came on their penultimate possession of the game.
• UVA committed its first turnover of the season with an interception in the end zone with 1:07 to play.
• Virginia started the game with back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives. The Cavaliers had the ball for 20:04 in the first half compared to 9:56 by the Wolfpack. 
• With a 9-yard TD rush by Taylor and a 3-yard TD reception by Sage Ennis, UVA now has six touchdowns in goal-to-go situations in as many opportunities this season
• NC State has now won 28 of its last 29 non-conference games at home and improved to 32-2 in non-ACC home games in 13 seasons under its current head coach Dave Doren.

Virginia Individual Player Notes 

• J’Mari Taylor broke for a 39-yard rushing touchdown on the very first drive of the game. It marked his 13th straight game with a rushing touchdown, dating back to his tenure at NC Central. He now has 28 career touchdowns, five of which have been while at UVA.
• Taylor now has seven career multi-rushing TD performances. He had two rushing TDs in his Cavalier debut against Coastal Carolina (8/30). Taylor is the first Cavalier with multiple rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games since Mike Hollins did so in 2023.
• Taylor’s five rushing TDs on the season are more than any UVA rusher finished with last season, and the most since Hollins finished with seven in 2023.
• Taylor is also the first Cavalier tailback with three rushing touchdowns in a game since 2023 when Mike Hollins had three against then-No. 10 North Carolina.
• Taylor is the first UVA player with four rushing TDs in the first two games of the season since Kevin Parks (5) in 2011.
• For the second consecutive game, Cam Ross had at least 140 all-purpose yards. Against NC State, he had 40 yards receiving, 19 on kick returns, and 81 on punt returns, including a 48-yard punt return at Carter-Finley Stadium.
• Noah Vaughn’s 20-yard rush in the first quarter was the longest of his career.
• Sage Ennis’ 3-yard touchdown reception with 17 seconds left in the first half was the first of his career. Prior to the TD, Ennis briefly exited the game due to an apparent injury.

 Offensive Starters: QB #4 Chandler Morris, RB #3 J’Mari Taylor, WR #7 Jahmal Edrine, WR #6 Cam Ross, WR #11 Trell Harris, TE #9 Dakota Twitty, LT #52 McKale Boley, LG #77 Noah Josey, C #76 Brady Wilson, RG #60 Drake Metcalf, RT #68 Jack Witmer 

Defensive Starters: DE #14 Fisher Camac, NT #90 Jahmeer Carter, DT #91 Jason Hammond, DE #17 Mitchell Melton, LB #1 James Jackson, LB #32 Landon Danley, CB #9 Jordan Robinson, CB #28 Donavon Platt, NB #10 Ja’Son Prevard, S #30 Ethan Minter, S #27 Devin Neal. 

Game Captains: #1 James Jackson, #3 J’Mari Taylor, #6 Cazeem Moore, #16 Trey McDonald.