While rivalry games always have outsized meaning for the teams and fans involved, the 106th Commonwealth Clash had added stakes for the Virginia football program. With a win, the Cavaliers would clinch a trip to the ACC Championship game, maintaining their hopes for a College Football Playoff bid.
Additionally, the history of the Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry has been dominated by the Hokies for the last two decades, a fact that contributed to years of fan malaise before the start of this season.
Virginia rose to the occasion, stifling VT’s offense for four quarters to secure a 27-7 victory.
“That’s what can happen when people get out of their own way, and they believe in something bigger than themselves,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said after the win.
Coming into the day, Virginia had lost 19 of its previous 20 games against its rivals from Blacksburg. Playing in front of a raucous crowd of 58,832, the most fans to watch a home football game at Scott Stadium since 2011, the Cavaliers did not look like a team burdened by history.
“I think it’s our maturity,” Cavalier quarterback Chandler Morris said about his team’s demeanor. “We’ve got an old squad, very mature.”
This was the first victory over Virginia Tech in Elliott’s four-year tenure. Coming into the season, there were significant questions about whether Elliott could turn UVA into a winning football program and compete against the Hoos’ primary rival. During a preseason media poll, Virginia was picked to finish 14th in the conference. Now, the Cavaliers sit alone in first place with a 7-1 regular season conference record. That ties the 1995 Virginia team for the best record in ACC play in school history.
“I think it gives us confirmation, it gives us motivation, it gives us encouragement, a little bit of validation that we’re definitely headed in the right direction to make this a competitive rivalry and make Virginia a program of relevance,” Elliott said.
With the victory, Virginia finished the regular season at 10-2, the first 10-win season since 1989. The Hoos must now face off against a familiar foe in the ACC Championship: the Duke Blue Devils. UVA won convincingly in Durham two weeks ago, 34-17. The game will take place at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m.
Before attention turns to that game, here are three takeaways from Virginia’s dominant win over Virginia Tech.
A Dominant Defensive Performance
Despite a losing record on the season, Virginia Tech presented a difficult challenge with its ground game. Coming into the game, the Hokies ranked 11th in the FBS in success rate on rushing plays and first in missed tackle rate on designed runs. Virginia Tech was able to move the ball on its first two drives, gaining 40 yards on 8 plays on the game’s opening possession, and 52 yards on 11 plays later in the first quarter.
However, Virginia’s defense stiffened and both drives ended without points. With 10:38 left in the first quarter, Hokies’ quarterback Kyron Drones had a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage by lineman Fisher Camac and intercepted by linebacker Maddox Marcellus. The turnover gave the Cavaliers the ball on a short field, resulting in a 6-play, 46-yard touchdown drive.
When Virginia Tech got the ball back, Drones was able to lead his team into field goal range thanks to a 31-yard run from Jeffrey Overton. However, a missed 45-yard field goal by kicker John Love resulted in another empty possession for the Hokies.
If those two possessions represented a defensive philosophy of “bend but don’t break,” the rest of the game for Virginia can only be described as “break their will.” The next seven drives for the Hokies ended with punts after the Cavaliers forced three-and-outs. It was a streak that lasted from early in the second quarter until the 9:16 mark of the final frame.
The streak of punts was only stopped because of another Drones’ interception. This time, it was safety Antonio Clary on the other end of the pass. Clary, a seventh-year player who was on the roster for UVA’s last win over Virginia Tech in 2019, effectively ended any hopes of a Hokies’ comeback.
“I beat them my first year and then being able to beat them my last year was special,” Clary said. “I’m going to hold this moment forever.”
Saturday marked the first time that the Cavaliers kept the Hokies off the scoreboard in the first half since 2004. That game, which was 0-0 at halftime, finished as a 24-10 Virginia Tech victory.
For the game, Virginia Tech was held to six first downs and 197 total yards. The passing game was particularly ineffective. Drones finished the game with only 78 yards on 4-of-16 passing, with two interceptions. Most of those yards came on a 57-yard late-game touchdown strike to Shamarius Peterkin with 4:20 left to play, the Hokies only points of the game. The score maintained Virginia Tech’s 395-game streak of not being shutout.
For the Cavaliers, it was another stellar performance from a unit that has turned into one of the most formidable in the conference in the second half of the season.
“We’ve got a ton of confidence in those guys,” Morris said of his defense. “They’ve got a ton of confidence in us. We know they’re going to go out there and make plays for us, and we’re just trying to play complementary ball.”
Depth Pays Dividends
Going into last season’s Commonwealth Clash, Virginia’s roster was ravaged with injuries. It showed, as the Cavaliers lost 37-17 in Blacksburg in a game that never felt close. The coaching staff worked diligently in the offseason to prevent a similar result at the end of this season.
Despite critical injuries to key contributors, the depth that Elliott worked so hard to cultivate shined through in this game. With linebacker Kam Robinson out for the season with an ACL injury, his replacement, Maddox Marcellus, made an instant impact. In addition to the first quarter interception, Marcellus led the team with 9 tackles, including a half sack.
“This win was for Kam,” Marcellus said. “I knew I had to at least try to play half of what Kam means.”
Elliott praised Marcellus’ preparation and commitment to helping the team despite not being a starter throughout the season.
“All you can ask for is an opportunity and you just got to be prepared and ready,” Elliot said.
On the other side of the ball, Virginia received a lift from wideout Kameron Courtney, who filled in for Cam Ross after he left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury. Courtney led all receivers with 6 catches for 50 yards, including a 31-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass that set up Virginia’s second touchdown drive.
“Coach Mims, he always tells me, ‘Prepare like a starter because you never know what could happen,’” Courtney said.
Virginia also got 46 rushing yards from running back Harrison Waylee on offense. Defensively, Corey Costner, Devin Neal, and Christian Charles all posted 4 tackles from the safety spot in addition to Clary’s INT. Linebacker Caleb Hardy chipped in 3 tackles and hit Drones as he threw on Clary’s pick.
Taylor Does It All, Morris Guides The Way
Virginia fans have grown fond of offensive coordinator Des Kitchings’s favorite short-yardage play: a direct snap to running back J’Mari Taylor. It has been an effective play at key moments throughout the season, including in Saturday’s first quarter when Taylor used it to punch in UVA’s first touchdown.
However, in the second quarter, Kitchings added a wrinkle from his playbook to keep opposing defenses off kilter. With 4:33 left in the second quarter, Taylor received another snap directly from center Brady Wilson. Instead of powering into the end zone, though, he used a “jump pass” to complete a touchdown to tight end Sage Ennis to make the score 14-0.
With those 2 touchdowns under his belt, Taylor became the first ACC running back to score a rushing and passing touchdown in the same game since Clemson back Will Shipley accomplished the feat in 2021. Elliott was the offensive coordinator at Clemson at the time.
Taylor finished the day with a workman like 20 carries for 80 yards on the ground. He also caught 4 passes for 34 yards. Elliott credited Taylor’s pass-catching ability to help UVA move the sticks in crucial game situations.
“When you can use your back as an additional guy out of the backfield, to just kind of create angles, create numbers, it helps you stay efficient,” Elliott said.
Chandler Morris, the Cavaliers’ quarterback responsible for the other 35 passing attempts in the game, delivered a solid performance. He completed 21 passes for 182 yards and ran the ball 4 times for 25 yards, including a touchdown on an 8-yard quarterback keeper that pushed the score to 24-0 in the third quarter.
While it may not have been Morris’ most dazzling showing, he managed to avoid mistakes unlike his rival counterpart and only took 1 sack. After the game, Elliott praised his quarterback’s ability to get the ball out of the pocket quickly to his playmakers.
“He distributed the ball like a point guard,” Elliott said.
On the game, Virginia managed 380 total yards, with 183 coming on the ground and 197 coming through the air.
Morris was substituted out in the fourth quarter with the game in hand for backup Daniel Kaelin. When Morris was shown on the Scott Stadium jumbotron, it received loud cheers from the Virginia faithful.
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