Virginia football went into Charlotte perhaps hoping to avenge the ghosts of the ACC Championship game. For a quarter, it looked like that might have been possible — but only for a quarter, as Virginia (2-1, 1-0 ACC) fell behind during the second quarter and never reclaimed the lead, ultimately falling 38-27.
“[West Virginia] won the game,” Coach Tony Elliott said. “They made the competitive plays when they needed to make the competitive plays.”
Against West Virginia, Virginia looked unlike the team that put a beatdown on NC State. Facing the Mountaineer (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) defense, the Cavalier running game managed only 157 rushing yards, falling well short of their marks against either prior opponent.
Virginia passing wasn’t much better. Fifth-year quarterback Beau Pribula had four incompletions on the season entering the game. He ended the game 21-for-33, more than tripling his total incompletions on the season. Most notable was his passing well beyond the line of scrimmage. For pass attempts of 15 yards or further, Pribula was 1-for-5.
By passing percentage, Pribula was more accurate than his West Virginia counterpart, sophomore quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. However, Hawkins was able to gash the Virginia secondary — and perhaps expectations for the Cavalier’s season — through big plays. On the other hand, Virginia hardly attempted such plays.
In the first half, Hawkins had only four completed passes. However, three of those were for 29 yards or greater. Of his 10 completed passes over the course of the game, six went for 15 yards or more. Granted, only three were in the air for over 15 yards — but that still does not speak well to the Virginia defense’s ability to prevent a Mountaineer onslaught.
West Virginia finished with 437 total yards. Over 300 of those resulted from “big plays” — passing plays of over 15 yards or rushing plays of over 10 yards. Virginia seemed to have no answer to the Mountaineers, and especially to Hawkins, who ran or passed for every West Virginia touchdown in Charlotte.
Four of those Mountaineer big plays — two via the air and two on the ground — resulted in scores. Virginia had a single such play that resulted in points on the board — although it was an impressive, pinballing 47-yard rush from fifth-year running back Xavier Brown that closed a strong Virginia first quarter.
Even taken by a metric simpler than “big plays” in the form of yards per completion, it is undeniable that Hawkins outclassed Pribula, with the Mountaineer averaging 11.2 yards per pass attempt to Pribula’s 6.0.
Furthermore, Pribula played shaken up at times, with tackles on rush attempts early in the game possibly discharging him from a rhythm and second and fourth-quarter sacks — the last one also resulting in a fumble — doing so even further. The Cavalier signal-caller ended with negative rushing yards on the day, largely due to the three sacks he took.
Pribula did not rely on his arm in the previous two games, using his own legs against the Wolfpack and the running backs against Norfolk State. Saturday, he used his arm — but he used it cautiously, only sparingly attempting to push the game down the field.
This is not to say that Pribula never uncorked the ball. As the game perhaps appeared to slowly be slipping out of reach in the third quarter, he lifted a ball deep towards the right sideline — and fourth-year wide receiver Rico Flores Jr. came down with it, setting up a score that tied the game at 21-all. That score was ultimately the last time Virginia was even with the Mountaineers, and that drive was the last time Pribula had a successful long pass in the game.
Part of that struggle may be chalked up to the mid-game injury of sixth-year offensive lineman Noah Josey. The Cavaliers rolled before he left in the second quarter — and proceeded to struggle mightily following him leaving the field.
Additionally, the praised running back room struggled mightily. Third-year running back Peyton Lewis did not play. Although fourth-year running back Jekail Middlebrook notched more yards Saturday than in any other game this season, his 75 yards could only do so much, especially spread across 17 attempts, the most by a Cavalier running back in a game this season.
Fifth-year kicker Will Bettridge also missed his first field goal attempt since the 2025 Gator Bowl midway through the fourth quarter, throwing cold water on any possibility of a comeback.
“I felt like when we were playing from ahead, we could kind of dictate the pace of play,” Elliott said. “And unfortunately, we weren't able to do that, especially late.”
Next, Virginia will face off against Delaware in the U.Va. Strong Game Saturday. As the Cavaliers close out their non-conference slate over the new-to-FBS Fightin’ Blue Hens, it is paramount that the team retool and regain their ability to make big plays.
Drew Dillman is a staff writer and X account manager on the sports desk. He is a fourth-year College student, majoring in history. Drew is from North Little Rock, Ark., and he enjoys writing game recaps. Outside of The Cavalier Daily, Drew is president of Shakespeare on the Lawn, a classical theater group at the University.
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