Robinson’s Late Pick-Six Lifts No. 15 Virginia to Seventh Straight Win

BERKELEY, Calif. — For long stretches Saturday, it looked like the Virginia Cavaliers might win comfortably for the first time since Sept. 20, when they hammered Stanford 48-20 at Scott Stadium. But with 45 seconds to play, UVA’s lead was only three in this ACC game, and the California Golden Bears had the ball at their 14-yard line.

Enter Kam Robinson, Virginia’s dynamic junior linebacker. Robinson picked off Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s first-down pass and returned the interception 35 yards for a touchdown that sealed a 31-21 victory for No. 15 UVA. The pick-6 was his second of the season to match a single-season school record held by Randy Neal (1992 & 1994) and was the third of his career.

At 8-1 overall, the Wahoos are off to their best start since 1990, and they’re 5-0 in conference play after winning on the West Coast for the first time. This also marks the first time in program history that the Hoos have won five straight ACC games in the same season.

UVA has a large alumni base on the West Coast, and many of those graduates turned out for the first-ever football game between two of the nation’s top public universities. The game at 51,892-seat California Memorial Stadium drew an announced crowd of 30,893, and many of those fans were clad in Virginia blue and orange.

As is usually the case with these Hoos, who are 3-0 in overtime games this season, fans were treated to considerable drama. Virginia scored a touchdown on the opening possession of the game and never trailed, but Cal (5-4, 2-3) twice cut its deficit to three in the second half: first at 17-14 and then at 24-21.

Breakdowns on special teams kept the Cavaliers from separating Saturday, but head coach Tony Elliott said his players never lost faith.

“They just continue to believe that they’re going to find a way to win the game,” Elliott said.

The Hoos, who are in their fourth season under Elliott, have won seven consecutive games for the first time since 2007.

UVA’s offense, which had struggled in recent games, was more productive Saturday. The Cavaliers totaled 456 yards and picked up 23 first downs. Quarterback Chandler Morris completed 24 of 36 passes for 262 yards and wasn’t intercepted, and tailback J’Mari Taylor rushed 21 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Trell Harris and Cam Ross each had five receptions for Virginia, and another wide receiver, Eli Wood, played an unexpected starring role. Wood, who joined the program as a walk-on in 2022, caught two passes Saturday, one of them for a career-long 38 yards, and scored the first of UVA’s two second-half touchdowns.

On second-and-goal from the Cal 3, Morris threw a lateral pass to Wood, who muscled his way forward and stretched out his right arm, crossing the plane of the goal line with the ball.

On defense, Virginia came up with two takeaways: interceptions by Robinson and freshman defensive back Corey Costner. Robinson, defensive tackle Jacob Holmes and defensive ends Mitchell Melton and Cazeem Moore recorded sacks for the Hoos, who allowed only 263 yards.

Robinson and safety Christian Charles led UVA with six tackles each, and safety Devin Neal added five. Holmes, a transfer from Fresno State, had a team-high two tackles for loss.

UP NEXT: The Cavaliers have three regular-season games remaining, two of them at home, where they’re unbeaten this year.

The first is next Saturday against Wake Forest. In a game to air on ESPN, the longtime ACC rivals will meet at 7 p.m. at Scott Stadium.

The Demon Deacons fell to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in ACC play following a crushing 42-7 defeat at the hands of Florida State (4-4, 1-4) Saturday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

Wake is in its first season under Jake Dickert, who previously was head coach at Washington State.

The Cavaliers had dropped five in a row to the Deacons before rallying for a 31-30 win in Winston-Salem, N.C., last year. Virginia leads the series 35-17.

Virginia Team Notes

• Virginia is 8-1 to start the season for only the second time in program history and first time since 1990. UVA’s eight wins are its most since the 2019 season (9-5).
• The Cavaliers have won seven straight games, a first under head coach Tony Elliott and UVA’s first seven-game win streak since 2007, when it also won seven in a row.
• For the first time in program history, UVA is 5-0 in ACC play.
• The five-game, in-season win streak in ACC play is a program first. The Cavaliers’ five wins in conference play assures them of a winning record in ACC action for the first time since 2019, when the Cavaliers finished 6-2. UVA went on to face Clemson and Elliott, who served as the Tigers’ offense coordinator, in the ACC Championship game.
• Saturday was the first-ever meeting between Virginia and Cal. The Cavaliers are now 3-0 against each of its first-time opponents on their 2025 schedule (Stanford, Washington State & Cal) and have won nine of the last 10 against first-time foes dating back to 2018.
• The victory was the program’s first-ever in the Pacific Time Zone. UVA entered the contest winless in its previous four attempts.
• The win is the first while ranked as high as No. 15 in the AP top-25 and since Nov. 6, 2004, when the 12th-ranked Cavaliers shut out Maryland, 12-0.
• Virginia has won three consecutive ACC road games for the first time since 2011. It has now also won three road games overall in back-to-back seasons, a first since 1998-99.
• UVA scored on its opening drive touchdown, a first since the Stanford game on Sept. 20. Virginia improved to 3-1 when scoring on its opening drive.
• Virginia forced two turnovers (two INTs) in the contest. The Cavaliers have forced a turnover in six-straight games and are 6-0 in those contests. Corey Costner’s interception in the third quarter was the first turnover by Cal in 10 quarters and first since playing Duke on Oct. 4.
• The Cavaliers did not turn the ball over for the fifth time this season and have yet to lose a fumble through nine games. UVA entered the contest as one of three FBS yet to lose a fumble this season.
• UVA finished with 10 third-down conversions on offense. The Cavaliers have now recorded seven games with at least seven third-down conversions, the most of any FBS team this season.

Virginia Individual Player Notes

• Running back J’Mari Taylor rushed 21 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns. It marked his second, 100-yard rushing performance of the season and sixth of his career. Three Cavaliers (Taylor, Waylee and Vaughn) have rushed for over 100 yards in a game this season.
• Taylor has 11 rushing touchdowns this season and 34 for his career. It marks the third multi-score game of the season for Taylor and eighth of his career (3 at UVA, 5 at NCCU).
• The 11 rushing touchdowns are the most in a single season by a UVA running back since the 11 scored by Wayne Taulapapa in 2019.
• Kam Robinson returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown with 34 seconds remaining in the game to seal the victory. It was his second pick-six of the season and third of his career. Robinson is the second player in program history with two interception returns for a touchdown in a single season, joining Randy Neal who did so twice in 1992 and 1994.
• True freshman Corey Costner was credited with his first career interception, wrestling for a 50-50 ball out of the hands of Cal wideout Jacob De Jesus at the 13-yard line on the final play of the third quarter.
• Devin Neal finished with five tackles (1 solo) to go over the 200-tackle mark for his career. He has 201 career tackles, 30 of which have come at UVA.
• With seven points, placekicker Will Bettridge (56-69 FG, 106-108 PAT) moved into sole possession of No. 4 on UVA’s all-time points list with 274 career points. He passed former UVA placekicker Rafael Garcia (1993-96).
• Eli Wood had a career-high 46 yards receiving on two catches. He was credited with a rushing touchdown on a swing pass in the backfield, his first career rushing touchdown and second score of his career.

Offensive Starters: QB #4 Chandler Morris, RB #3 J’Mari Taylor, WR #7 Jahmal Edrine, WR #11 Trell Harris, TE #0 Sage Ennis, WR #6 Cam Ross, LT #52 McKale Boley, LG #77 Noah Josey, C #76 Brady Wilson, RB #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 #5 Kam Robinson, CB #19 Emmanuel Karnley, CB #9 Jordan Robinson, NB #10 Ja’son Prevard, S #30 Ethan Minter, S #27 Devin Neal.

Game Captains: #0 Sage Ennis, #1 James Jackson, #4 Chandler Morris, #90 Jahmeer Carter.