The play clock ticked down. Ten, nine, eight. Virginia’s defensive linemen — their blue and orange jerseys glistening under the stadium lighting — readied for the single-most consequential snap in the history of their 100-plus year-old program. Seven. That defensive line, and the defenders behind it, stared down the barrel at an opportunity to do something done just twice before in those 100-plus years.
Six. Opposite the Cavalier front was a Duke team that stood still, save for the cross-field trek of a receiver in motion from left to right. Five. The Blue Devils stood just one yard away from the Cavalier endzone — 49 from the ACC Championship logo adorning the midfield of Charlotte, N.C.’s Bank of America Stadium. Four. With Duke lining up for a fourth-and-goal on the opening drive of the overtime period, the play’s result would spell either relief or ruin for Virginia.
Three. The snap.
The trio of ensuing plays will live in the minds of Cavalier fans for years to come. A Blue Devil touchdown pass. The subsequent extra point. And on Virginia’s first offensive play of the overtime period — a flea-flicker gone awry leading to an interception.
As the ill-fated throw — a bullet pass intended for then-senior Eli Wood — drifted into the hands of a soaring Duke defender, so too did the ACC Championship trophy. And as the roars of Blue Devil fans echoed through the confines of Bank of America Stadium, so too did the death knell for the Cavaliers’ College Football Playoff hopes.
Saturday, Virginia football returns to Charlotte — to that very stadium — for the first time in 287 days. This time, however, it is not for a conference title game.
Instead, the Cavaliers (2-0, 1-0 ACC) will take on West Virginia in a neutral site, out-of-conference showdown. Kickoff with the Mountaineers (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) is set for 7:30 that evening.
When both programs announced the contest in November of 2024 — 13 months before Virginia's matchup with Duke — nobody within the program understood what the Cavalier return to Charlotte would eventually mean.
Coach Tony Elliott and company have to confront it nonetheless.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to get the bad taste out of our mouth from the last time that we were down there,” Elliott said. “We came up a little bit short.”
Virginia does not want to come up short again.
Much of the onus in avoiding that result falls on the Cavaliers’ most productive approach thus far — the rushing attack. Referring to the unit as a running back room does not give enough credit to its depth. Running back “warehouse” may be more apt, as West Virginia will have to gameplan for all of six Virginia rushers that will regularly carry the ball.
No, that was not a typo. Second-year running back Xay Davis, fourth-year running back Noah Vaughn, fifth-year quarterback Beau Pribula, fourth-year running back Jekail Middlebrook, fifth-year running back Xavier Brown and third-year running back Peyton Lewis all have 10-plus carries through just two games. Per Elliott, all six are eligible for more.
“It all depends on the flow of the game, the practice week — cause it’s competition, they’re all competing to get on the field,” Elliott said at his Tuesday press conference. “So far it’s been ‘hey, all of them have earned the right to play. Let’s just figure it out as we get into the game.’”
How will any one running back get into a groove when constantly subbing in and out of the game? The Cavaliers have that covered, too.
“We try to rotate them that way in practice, so that they have the ability to try and find their rhythm as quickly as they can,” Elliott said.
One rusher had no problem finding his rhythm just a week ago. It was the lone underclassman among the aforementioned six — Davis.
The Richmond native ran for 107 yards on 11 carries against Norfolk State. He epitomized Virginia’s dominance en route to the program’s 59-3 victory.
Davis played for the Cavaliers in 2025 but saw action in just four games. Only once, in Virginia’s Gator Bowl affair with Missouri, did he finish with more than four carries. But Davis, with a team-co-leading 18 rushes thus far, has seen more opportunity this year — maybe in part because of his growth this offseason.
“They were really looking for me to get bigger and be more explosive, and I tried to do that over the summer,” Davis said. “I’ve gained about 10 pounds.”
But even if a bigger, stronger Davis and his peers turn Saturday’s football game into a track meet, the Cavaliers are not home free. West Virginia’s rushing attack is just as lethal.
Though not quite as deep, the Mountaineer ground threats come in the form of sophomore quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. and senior running back Cam Cook.
Hawkins Jr., like so many other dangerous college quarterbacks, is a dual threat. Transferring to West Virginia after two seasons at Oklahoma, this is the junior’s first campaign opening as the starter — though he did start four games later in the year as a true freshman with the Sooners. Through two contests, Hawkins Jr. has thrown for 287 yards and three touchdowns. In those same two games, he has also run for 199 yards and three scores.
Virginia is well aware of his capabilities.
“[Hawkins Jr.] is a threat at any second to change the game and score,” Elliott said. “You’ve got to do a great job of being assignment sound … and if you misfit something, it’s not like he’s going to go for five or seven. He’s going to go for 70.”
If Hawkins Jr. weren’t enough to handle on his own, he is paired with Cook, FBS football’s 2025 leading rusher and reigning Conference USA Player of the Year. The senior tallied a video game-esque 1,659 ground yards last season for Jacksonville State. He’s already shown flashes this year, too — rushing for 142 yards and two touchdowns in his Mountaineer debut against Coastal Carolina.
Lucky for the Cavaliers, if there is one man capable of handling Hawkins Jr. and Cook — maybe two, if you count fourth year safety Brandyn Hillman — it is the one suiting up in his recognizable No. 5 jersey for the second contest in a row. That man made five tackles against the Spartans last week, and he is — in his own words — “very close” to 100 percent after suffering a torn ACL last fall. That man is fourth-year linebacker and Preseason All-ACC honoree Kam Robinson.
“I just couldn’t wait to get back out there, it being my first game in a long time,” Robinson said after the matchup last week. “Being back at Scott, I think I was definitely anxious at first, but as the game got on, I got more comfortable.”
Virginia’s contest Saturday is, of course, not at Scott Stadium. Instead, it is over 200 miles south. The Cavaliers will once again occupy the confines of a stadium unkind to the program mere months ago. But as this team travels from Charlottesville — just as its predecessor did last December — it has an opportunity to do something special.
Saturday, for the first time in months, Virginia can get the bad taste out of its mouth.
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