For the first time in history, Virginia football is the sole regular season ACC champion.
And the Cavaliers are favored to win the ACC title.
And Virginia could be headed to the College Football Playoff.
All of these highlights have been a University student’s dream. This is especially true considering that, from 2022 to 2024, the Cavaliers won just 11 games. One more victory would bring the 2025 win total to 11 — the most wins in a single season across Virginia history. Not too shabby for a team that was projected to finish 14th in the ACC.
And as the team skyrockets up the standings, the University community has truly loved this team more than ever before.
“This year [school spirit] is 10,000 times stronger,” second-year College student Erin Sinclair said. “It's just so fun to be like ‘yeah I go to U.Va., yeah we’re top of the ACC right now,’ and especially to get our revenge on Virginia Tech.”
The feeling is mutual for players past and present.
“I love it,” former tight end Sackett Wood Jr. said. “You can feel this team. The energy, the hunger, connection. They have it going and I’m just pumped for the guys. It’s made this fall a lot of fun.”
Take the Commonwealth Clash, for example — a tale in which Virginia had long been David and Virginia Tech the mighty Goliath.
These roles were reversed Nov. 29, when the Cavaliers trounced their archrival to the southwest and earned a spot in the ACC Championship game.
For just the third time this century, Virginia beat the Hokies to win the Commonwealth Cup, ending a long drought defined by embarrassing defeats and lackluster performances by the Cavaliers. This win brought joy to the entire University community, not just the team, which Coach Tony Elliott pointed out postgame.
“It's really about everybody else, to be honest with you,” Elliott said. “It was about the players, it was about the students. It was about the band. It was about the fans … And it's about all of the folks. That's really what it was about.”
The cherry on top? A late addition to the evening’s forecast — a storm. That is, a calm and delayed rendition of a field storm. After a chaotic whirlwind against Florida State, the University requested that fans not storm the field, so after a brief delay, they strolled the field. The celebration was fueled by players urging fans to celebrate together one more time to relish a rivalry win.
“I was taking all sorts of pictures with fans,” graduate tight end Sage Ennis said. “One of the fans got my email. Not sure how that happened. Got my email and emailed me the picture [of us] and talked about how much that meant, for that young kid to be able to take the picture.”
The Scott Stadium field stroll — which did not result in a field storm fine — was punctuated by smiles all around and fireworks illuminating the Charlottesville night sky.
“It means the world that we are good at football and that Charlottesville is finally embracing this football culture and the tailgate atmosphere and just the game day experience,” fourth-year College student Hunter Blosser said. “It has been unlike anything I've ever seen through my four years here.”
However, the gameday experience was not perfect. Throughout the year, there have been safety issues with the student section on the Hill, where there is no convenient access to food, water or restrooms. To access those needs, students must leave the Hill, and they face slim chances of reentry due to long lines.
“This is genuinely pathetic,” fourth-year College student Clayton Rice said. “I can’t leave to go to the bathroom and also get back to my place.”
Against Virginia Tech, the Hill was listed at full capacity despite an abundance of open space.
“It was just surprising that for one of our biggest games of the season … the Hill was only half full,” fourth-year College student Macy Lindblom said.
Throughout the 2025 season, University policy allowed all fans on the Hill, but for the Virginia Tech game, only University students could enter.
“My friends and I tried to go on the Hill but were not allowed to because our friends are [from other schools],” third-year Commerce student Jerry Levine said. “We had to find seats elsewhere that weren't really as good.”
Bethanie Glover, deputy spokesperson for University communications, offered a comment on the Hill situation.
“Fan safety is our top priority for athletic events, as University leaders noted in a message to the community in early October,” Glover said in a written statement to The Cavalier Daily. “We will continue to monitor the Hill experience to maintain the appropriate balance of crowd safety and a vibrant gameday experience.”
Hill issues aside, Virginia still recorded the largest student attendance in program history over the course of the year. Thousands of students cheered on a team that finished 10-2, tied for the program’s best regular season record ever. Through it all, the 4th Side showed up like never before.
“U.Va. students didn’t go to games [in years past], and if they did, they left before the second half,” second-year Commerce student Megan Lamberson said. “[Reaching the title game] represents dedication to a goal even when no one else believed. It shows that even when there is little hope, putting the right people and support systems together can truly create something special.”
Not all students followed the team closely over the past few years. But as the Cavaliers became College Football Playoff contenders, football became the talk of Grounds.
“I learned recently the whole concept of cheering really loud [to hinder the opposing offense],” third-year Engineering student Will Conrad said. “And I think that's a nice metaphor for the community rallying behind this team.”
Students said that they will look back fondly on the pair of excursions onto the field. But even on the occasions where storming the field was not part of the game experience, Saturdays were still well spent with friends at Scott Stadium.
“One moment that stands out was in the Washington State game when it was so loud at the end of the game and they got the false start penalties that ended up leading to the safety,” Lamberson said. “It was so awesome to see the crowd be so loud that it was able to actually have an impact.”
Especially for fourth-year students, Virginia’s historic season has been a blessing. The past three seasons were filled with far more losses than wins, and in the minds of some students, 2025 makes up for years of losing.
“What Tony and the coaching staff have done to this program has just invigorated the student body in ways I've never seen before,” Blosser said. "It's something that I'm gonna look back on in 20 years and I can say I was a University of Virginia student in 2025.”
In particular, beating Virginia Tech is a win that the Cavalier faithful will never forget. The significance of being what Elliott called the “state champions,” is something all can take pride in.
“A win tonight [over the Hokies] proves unequivocally that U.Va. is the sports school of Virginia,” fourth-year College student Eli Bardash said. “Kids growing up in Virginia want to root for winners, and the Hoos will prove that they are the face of the state.”
Regardless of how the season ends, 2025 will go down in history as one of the best years Virginia football has ever had.
“U.Va. having a good football team is more than just a few happy hours on Saturdays,” Lamberson said. “It is a representation of a culture shift and the product of years of continued effort even when no one believed.”
This special year, the University community believed. That is something that can be forever cherished.
“The turnout that we've had from the fans in the stadium has been phenomenal this year,” Ennis said. “And honestly, we're not where we're at at this point in the season without them.”
Ryan Weiner contributed reporting.
Read More
Chandler Morris prophesied a championship. Now he’s playing for one
By Ryan Weiner | 9 hours ago“I didn’t come all the way to Virginia as a Texas boy to win five, six games. I want to win the conference championship.”
Gabby White is right at home at Virginia, and it shows
By Sofie Keppler | 15 hours ago“Gabby has been impressive,” Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said.
Virginia blows out Texas on the road in the first statement win of the Odom era
By Thomas Baxter | 16 hours agoThe Cavaliers (7-1, 0-0 ACC) broke a stalemate just five minutes into the game, leading by double digits for the final half hour of play.
