Cavaliers Seek Historic Finish Against Missouri in Gator BowlCavaliers Seek Historic Finish Against Missouri in Gator Bowl
Jamie Holt/Virginia Athletics

Cavaliers Seek Historic Finish Against Missouri in Gator Bowl

Saturday's kickoff from EverBank Stadium (Jacksonville, Fla.) is set for 7:30 p.m. on ABC and the Virginia Sports Radio Network

2025 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, Fla. (EverBank Stadium)

2025 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

Virginia
Virginia
vs.
Missouri
Missouri

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With a chance to set the program's single-season wins record, No. 20/19 Virginia (10-3) meets No. 25 Missouri (8-4) in the 2025 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Saturday (Dec. 27) at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on ABC and the Virginia Sports Radio Network. Full Game Preview →

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
#20
vs.
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl#25 Missouri
Jacksonville, Fla.neutral
Win 13-7
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
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Virginia Football's Historic Season

Single-Season Wins Record

91%
10 Wins11 Wins
We have a tremendous opportunity. We’re playing an outstanding football team. We’re in a great venue, and we have an opportunity still to do something that hasn’t been done within this program ever.
Tony Elliott

Tony Elliott

Fralin Family Head Football Coach

INSIDE SATURDAY’S MATCHUP

  • Virginia will play in its first bowl game since the 2019 Orange Bowl against Florida. The Cavaliers were most recently bowl eligible in 2021, but the Fenway Bowl against future ACC foe SMU was canceled due to COVID issues. 
  • Saturday will be Virginia’s 22nd bowl game appearance and the third time UVA has been a participant in the Gator Bowl (1991, 2008, 2025). 
  • Missouri is Virginia’s first SEC opponent since squaring off against Tennessee at Nissan Stadium in Nashville for the 2023 season opener.  
  • Virginia and Missouri will meet for only the second time ever. The only other meeting was a 31-7 Tiger victory in Columbia, Mo., back in 1973. 
  • Virginia’s last win against an SEC foe game in the 2018 Belk Bowl, a 28-0 shutout of South Carolina in Charlotte. The Cavaliers are 33-54-6 all-time against SEC opponents and have defeated seven of the 16 current SEC teams. 
  • The matchup of Virginia (No. 20) and Missouri (No. 25) is one of three bowl games outside the College Football Playoff that feature both teams ranked in the AP Top 25. BYU (No. 12) and Georgia Tech (No. 24) in the Pop Tarts Bowl and Texas (No. 14) and Michigan (No. 18) in the Cheez It Citrus Bowl are the others. 
  • Virginia finished No. 19 in the final CFP Rankings and is currently No. 20 in the lastest AP poll. The Cavaliers were included in all six CFP rankings for the first time ever and have been inside the AP Top 25 for 11-consecutive weeks, its longest stay since the 2004 season. 
  • UVA is amid its second-ever 10-win season, matching the 1989 team for the most in school history. 
  • At 7-1 in the ACC, Virginia matched its best record in league play and marked the first time ever UVA has finished alone atop the league standings. The Cavaliers have never won the league outright, winning shares in 1989 (6-1) and 1995 (7-1) before the ACC championship game began determining the league champion in 2005. 
  • For the second-straight game, Virginia will play in an NFL Stadium following the 2025 ACC Championship game, which took place in Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, N.C) on Dec. 6. The Cavaliers have played in an NFL stadium in seven of the last eight years and return to EverBank for the first time since the 2008 Gator Bowl. 

Tony Elliott: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Fireside Chat

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TOP STORYLINES

  • With a 10-3 overall record, the Cavaliers are seeking an 11th win, which would be the most in a single season in the 136-year history of the program. Virginia and Miami are the only two ACC teams to finish the regular season with double-digit victories.  
  • Virginia head coach Tony Elliott was a member of the 2000 Clemson team that played in the Gator Bowl. Originally a walk-on, Elliott was a four-time letterwinner as a wide receiver for the Tigers and Dabo Swinney was his position coach as a senior in 2003. UVA defensive end coach Chris Slade was on the UVA team that squared off against Oklahoma in the 1991 Gator Bowl.  
  • Virginia offensive coordinator Des Kitchings was on staff with current Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz at NC State for three seasons (2016-18). Kitchings spent a total of eight years at NC State coaching running backs (2012 – and worked with Drinkwitz from 2016-18 when he was the Wolfpack offensive coordinator. The duo has combined to coach the top rusher in the SEC (Ahmad Hardy) and the ACC (J’Mari Taylor) this season. While co-offensive coordinator at Clemson, Tony Elliott got the best of three matchups against the duo of Drinkwitz and Kitchings at NC State (2016 - 24-17 OT; 2017 - 38-31; 2018 - 41-7). 
  • A total of 13 Cavaliers hail from the state of Florida, the most of any other state besides Virginia. UVA’s seventh-year safety, Antonio Clary, is the lone Jacksonville native from either team participating in the bowl, having played his prep football at Sandalwood High School on the east side of town. He is UVA’s lone holdover from the 2019 Orange Bowl squad, and with the 27-7 win over Virginia Tech in the regular season finale is the first Cavalier to beat the Hokies twice since 1998. 

Numbers to Know

2

Field goals Will Bettridge needs to break the UVA single-season record. He also needs 3 extra points to eclipse the UVA season mark.

6

UVA has lost three fumbles all season, the fewest in school history. All three came in a loss against Wake Forest.

11

Total number of players on the UVA roster who have played in a bowl game. All have been with different schools.

28

Virginia is ranked third in the country and first in the ACC in third-down defense (28%).

Player Watch: Antonio Clary

Player Watch: Antonio Clary

» Jacksonville native

» The only player on this year's UVA roster who was also a member of the 2019 Cavalier squad, the last to play in a postseason contest

» Coming off a season high in total tackles (5) against Duke (Dec. 6) in the ACC Championship game

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