Virginia walked into Saturday expecting a chance to handle Florida State, and instead left with a mess. The Cavaliers grabbed the early lead, but the game flipped hard from there. FSU ripped off 38 straight points and handed UVA a loss that raises a long list of questions on both sides of the ball.
Afterward, Tony Elliott didn’t try to dress it up. He pointed to missed chances, missed tackles, and missed plays on offense as the turning points.
"Yeah, we we knew it was going to be a a hard-fought battle and um I thought that uh you know, we uh missed some opportunities and when we needed to fully flip the momentum, uh we couldn't. Uh we missed uh missed some tackles, missed some plays on offense, a couple of drop balls, and uh before you know it, uh the momentum had had fully changed and we couldn't we couldn't get it flipped."
That offensive stall was ugly enough on its own, and Elliott acknowledged that the loss puts the burden on everybody in the program, starting with him. He said the staff has to get the team better prepared and ready to execute, then get back to work quickly with Syracuse coming next.
"I mean, everybody's got ownership in it. Starting with me.
Uh, it starts with me I got to do a better job of making sure they're prepared and ready to play. You make sure that they they fully understand the plan and are ready to go execute it.
So, and I love my guys. We going to go back to work.
I mean, it's it's it's a great group of young men. It was a tough day at the office.
We're going to own it, take accountability for it, and uh we don't have a long time to uh to hang our head about it.
We got to go back to work uh on Monday because we got a good Syracuse team coming into uh into the house. we'll fix the problems that we got, but everybody's got ownership and you know that the challenge is just for all of us to to take the accountability necessary so that we can go work on it and fix it and uh um there's also a lot of pictures of them doing good too. So we got to we got to make sure that that we don't throw the baby out with the bath water and think that everything is lost."
Virginia’s defense also took a hit in a way that looked familiar. In both losses this season, the Cavaliers have been beaten by explosive plays and struggled to deal with a mobile quarterback. Elliott said the answer starts with tackling and finishing plays better.
"Yeah, I think u you know a lot of it is is we got to do a better job of wrapping when we tackle to get ball carriers on the ground. Like there were some several explosive plays that came after we had contact on the on the ball carriers.
And so we got to do a good job. Um we all we all got to strain a little bit harder uh to make sure that we uh that we prepare them better, coach them better, and then challenge them to go out and execute to the best of their ability."
The offense has its own problems, but the issues on defense can’t get lost in the shuffle. Virginia now turns to Syracuse next Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
In Other News...
Virginia Just Saw A Florida State Team That Looks Very Different
Florida States 38-7 win over Virginia looked like a program taking a sharp step forward, and it came at a time when the Seminoles badly needed a statement. The defense smothered the Cavaliers, the pass rush piled up 10 sacks, and the ground game offered a physical edge that Virginia could not match. Tre Wisner helped steady the offense on the ground, giving the Seminoles a more balanced look than they had shown earlier in the season.
For Virginia, the frustrating part was how complete Florida State looked from start to finish. Quarterback Ashton Daniels was at the center of it, and Mike Norvell had every reason to sound encouraged afterward, because this was the Seminoles' best performance of the year by a wide margin. If Florida State can bring that level of disruption and efficiency going forward, this game may end up looking less like an outlier and more like the point where the season changed direction. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Got The Senior Night Boost It Needed Before A Brutal ACC Stretch
No. 15 Virginia got the kind of Senior Night lift it was looking for at Klckner Stadium, rolling past Syracuse 4-0 in a result that gave the Cavaliers a clean, convincing finish to a meaningful evening. Gio Canali, Aniyah Collier and Jordyn Hardeman all found the net as Virginia stayed sharp from the start and gave head coach Steve Swanson plenty to like from a group that has carried the program through another strong season.
Swanson was quick to praise the senior class after the match, and he also singled out Canali after her return from the U20 FIFA Womens World Cup. With a brutal ACC stretch ahead, Virginia could use this as more than just a celebratory win, because the Cavaliers will need that same mix of composure and punch when the schedule tightens and the margins get smaller. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Has A Chance To Reclaim Control At Scott Stadium
Virginia is trying to steady itself at Scott Stadium on Saturday night after a rough loss to Florida State, with a home game against Syracuse offering a chance to get back on track. At 3-2, the Cavaliers still have a solid early-season footing, and the matchup sets up well on paper for a team looking to reassert itself in front of its own crowd.
Syracuse comes in at 2-2 and has had trouble getting much going offensively, which has already forced some changes under center. Virginia should see a familiar ACC opponent still searching for rhythm, but the Oranges quarterback situation adds a layer of uncertainty that could make this feel less straightforward than the records suggest. [Read more 🡒]