This coaching staff has reiterated their view of football as a game of inches, especially in conference play. If there was ever a game to serve as stand-alone evidence of this outlook, it was the one played Saturday in Charlottesville between the Cavaliers and the Demon Deacons.
It was a brutal day for Virginia, but they only lost by one score. The Cavaliers outgained Wake Forest by over 100 yards and had three more redzone trips. If a handful of plays had gone another way, fans would have been exiting Scott Stadium in much lighter spirits on Family Weekend.
“We played with fire, right? And we got burned,” Coach Tony Elliott said. “We kept it close when we didn’t necessarily have to, right? And we turned the ball over in critical situations.”
The reality is, this team has been playing with fire for weeks. In their first game after their bye week, they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Washington State, overcoming initially subpar performance.
Including the Cougars, Virginia’s last four games have been against teams with .500 records — or worse — either in total or in conference play. Their three victories in these games came with point differentials of two, one and 10.
Saturday night, the lackluster play they’ve been demonstrating, which previously only tightened their margin of victory, finally came back to bite them for a loss.
The Cavaliers were not underestimating the Demon Deacons — Elliott made that clear in his comments leading up to the game. Even so, they were outplayed on the margins, losing the plays that mattered the most. Everything went wrong — in the red zone, on third down and in the fourth quarter — and now the Cavaliers are 8-2.
The downward spiral began early, when graduate quarterback Chandler Morris exited and did not return after a helmet-to-helmet late hit in the second quarter. The loss of the North Texas transfer puts the rest of Virginia’s season in doubt, but against Wake Forest, a missing Morris was no excuse for the disastrous offensive display.
With and without Morris, the offense fell flat. Struggles with pass blocking and awkward play sequencing prevented the Cavaliers from building any sort of rhythm. Courtesy of some big plays from graduate running back J’Mari Taylor and sophomore receiver Kameron Courtney, they still managed to reach the red zone four times, but they still failed to score a touchdown each time.
Wherever they found themselves on the field, Virginia’s offense failed to execute on the margins, converting just three of 14 third downs. Virginia had not lost a fumble on the year up to this point but coughed up three Saturday. Two of those turnovers came from blindside strip sacks on sophomore quarterback Daniel Kaelin, playing in relief of Morris.
“Didn’t really feel the pocket the right way and kind of put the ball in jeopardy,” Kaelin said, “I got to watch that and learn from it and not make that mistake again.”
Kaelin’s remarks reflect his teammates’ perspectives — around the locker room, there’s an awareness that on-field results have not been up to par. However, there’s also a refusal, expressed by team leaders, to dwell on these shortcomings.
“I’m not playing to a situation, I’m playing to a standard,” Graduate linebacker James Jackson said, “And that’s the mindset across the board, at every position on defense no matter where we’re at on the field.”
The defense, like the offense, failed on the margins. While they played lights-out most of the game, disadvantages in field position and turnover margin proved insurmountable. They forced zero turnovers and allowed a nearly 10 minute long drive in the fourth quarter where Wake Forest converted three back-to-back third and longs. Special teams struggled as well, allowing the only touchdown of the day.
“Unfortunately, we didn't play complimentary football,” Elliott said.
Their next contest is a date with Duke in Durham, N.C. A loss would effectively end their postseason hopes, and while Elliott has expressed optimism on Morris’ health, they could find themselves without their starting quarterback.
The Blue Devils are coming off a surprising loss to Connecticut, but then again, Wake Forest’s last result before their Charlottesville trip was a 42-7 trouncing at the hands of Florida State. With or without Morris, Virginia will need to bring their best — playing as they have over the past month will not get it done. The fate of the season depends on the team leaving these struggles in the past.
“We gotta be road warriors, down at Duke,” Elliott said.
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