Virginia’s night at Wake Forest turned into a full-blown collapse, and Tony Elliott spent much of his postgame press conference trying to sort through the wreckage after a 51-7 loss.
The Cavaliers had already been through tough public questioning this season after a 38-7 loss at Florida State and a 19-16 defeat against Duke. This one landed even harder. Wake Forest piled up points at will, scoring on every possession until late in the fourth quarter and handing Virginia its first game with 50 points allowed since the 2023 finale.
Elliott said he believed both Pribula and Holstein handled their work well. “I think they were prepared and they did their job for the most part,” Elliott said. “Where we got to do is we got to coach better to help the supporting cast, be able to bring it all together from that standpoint so it's not all on the shoulders of one man.”
He also said the next stretch will be a full evaluation period for the program. “Everything is going to be evaluated these next two weeks, as we go forward to try and put together the best opportunity to be able to win a football game down the stretch,” Elliott said.
On the defensive side, Elliott pointed to Wake Forest’s ability to keep plays alive as a major problem. He said some of the breakdowns came down to execution and coaching.
“We got to coach better on some calls, because I thought we had some good calls in certain situations,” Elliott said. “We got to coach the the young men to play those calls a little bit better than I think could have helped us in certain situations.”
Elliott also pushed back on the idea that the record tells the whole story. “At the end of the day, we acknowledge that we're a better football team than what our [4-5] record reflects,” Elliott said."
I don't think anybody in that locker room at the beginning of the season thought that we'd be in this situation, right? But we are, right?
Virginia now heads into a bye week before finishing with California and North Carolina at home and then Virginia Tech on the road. The Cavaliers need to win two of those last three to become bowl eligible.
“These choices that we made have gotten us to where we are, and so then, what's going to get us out are the choices we [make], going forward,” Elliott said. “And it starts with how we clean that locker room up.”
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Virginia's Defense Is Unraveling In A Brutal First Half Hole
Wake Forest spent the first half putting Virginia on its heels, piling up more than 250 yards of offense and turning that production into a steady stream of points. The Cavaliers did manage a few defensive bright spots, including an interception and some resistance on fourth down, but the overall picture was bleak as the game moved through the opening 30 minutes.
Gio Lopez helped keep the pressure on, and Ty Clark III was especially effective on the ground, finishing drives and giving Wake Forest a cushion Virginia never seemed close to erasing. Even with the defense getting a couple of key stops, the Cavaliers were left trying to dig out of a hole that kept getting deeper, and the question became whether they could finally slow Wake Forest long enough to change the tone. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Faces One Big Fear Against Surging Wake Forest
Virginia heads into a difficult ACC matchup with No. 14 Wake Forest carrying plenty of concern on the offensive side. The Cavaliers have been dealing with injuries and recent struggles that have made it hard to find any rhythm, while Wake Forest arrives on a strong run in conference play and with the kind of momentum that can expose a team still searching for answers.
The matchup leaves Virginia needing a cleaner, more productive showing than it has managed lately, especially against a Demon Deacons defense that has been part of the reason for the win streak. Wake Forest is favored, and the broader question for the Cavaliers is whether they can keep the game competitive long enough to give themselves a chance, or whether the gap between the two teams shows up early and often. [Read more 🡒]