Virginia gets a chance to steady itself this Saturday, and the setting is a lot different than the one it left behind in Charlotte.
A week after the Cavaliers were handled 38-27 by West Virginia, they’re back home for a 6 p.m. date with Delaware, a team that has already shown it can make life uncomfortable for a higher-profile opponent. The Blue Hens are 2-1, pushed unbeaten Vanderbilt two weeks ago and then beat Coastal Carolina 22-14 last Saturday. For Virginia, this is the kind of game that can say plenty about how a team responds after a rough night.
The biggest question hanging over the Cavaliers is simple: what happens after disappointment? A year ago, Virginia answered a September setback to NC State by ripping off seven straight wins and seizing control of the ACC race.
This time, the bounce-back starts after a loss that knocked the Cavaliers from 25th in both major national polls to receiving no votes at all. That swing brought the doubters back fast, and now Virginia has to prove it can shake off the setback instead of carrying it with them.
Tony Elliott’s team has already shown it can avoid letting one bad result turn into a second one. The Cavaliers didn’t suffer back-to-back losses last season, and with the nation’s most experienced roster, the expectation is that they understand the danger of sitting in the frustration for too long. If anything, the way West Virginia controlled the game should sharpen the focus, not loosen it.
Delaware won’t be a soft landing spot. Senior quarterback Nick Minicucci has put up 814 passing yards through three games, which puts him among the nation’s top 30 quarterbacks.
His best weapon is Sean Wilson, who exploded for nine catches, 185 yards and two touchdowns against Coastal Carolina and now has three scoring grabs on the season. That’s the kind of passing attack that can test a defense if it’s not locked in from the start.
Virginia’s defense entered the WVU game with five interceptions, good for fourth in the nation, but that outing didn’t go nearly as cleanly. The Cavaliers gave up their first two passing touchdowns of the year and came away with just one sack and no takeaways. Against Delaware, they’ll face a quarterback who is much less of a run threat than West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins Jr., which should let safeties Brandyn Hillman and Ethan Minter stay more focused on coverage than on crashing down to help against the run.
There’s also a clear path for Virginia to lean on its own ground game. The Cavaliers’ final numbers against West Virginia weren’t disastrous - 197 passing yards and 157 rushing yards - but the offense stalled too often, and Beau Pribula took three sacks and absorbed four hurries.
Virginia had only three combined three-and-out possessions in its first two games, then matched that total with four against the Mountaineers. That gave West Virginia control of the second half and left the Cavaliers’ defense with too little rest.
So Saturday points back to a familiar Virginia priority: get the run game moving again. That was a key part of the win over NC State, and it may be the cleanest way to settle things down against a Delaware defense that has been stingy against the run, allowing just 2.9 yards per carry.
In Other News...
Virginia Faces An Early Test After Another Brutal North Carolina Loss
Tony Elliott met the media after Virginias surprising loss at Bank of America Stadium, another frustrating trip through North Carolina for a Cavaliers team that has been trying to steady itself early in the season. The setback came with a reminder of how quickly things can tilt on the road, especially for a program still focused on keeping its bigger goals intact after a run of recent struggles in the state.
Virginia has bigger ambitions than one rough afternoon, with the ACC Championship game in December still the target Elliott and his players are working toward. For now, the response starts with a return home to Scott Stadium for Delaware, an early chance to clean up the issues that surfaced in Charlotte and show that this is a team capable of moving past another painful result. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Has Something To Prove After Its West Virginia Letdown
Virginias trip to West Virginia left the Cavaliers with a familiar kind of problem after a game they were expected to handle. Instead of extending early momentum, Tony Elliotts team came away with a loss and a fresh reminder that being favored does not make the margin for error any smaller, especially when the game starts to turn in the wrong direction.
Now the focus shifts to Delaware next Saturday, with the matchup set for the ACC Network and a chance for Virginia to reset in front of a wider audience. Elliott pointed to the need for his group to learn from those tense stretches and manage adversity better, which makes this week less about the opponent and more about how quickly the Cavaliers can show they absorbed the lesson. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Suddenly Has A Bigger Problem Than One Loss
Virginias first loss of the season came with some sobering context in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the Cavaliers were outplayed by West Virginia in a 38-27 defeat. It was the kind of afternoon that exposed issues on both sides of the ball, with the offense never finding much rhythm and the defense struggling to handle the pressure the Mountaineers brought from start to finish.
Even with ACC play still intact, the margin for error has shrunk fast for a Virginia team that had been building toward bigger goals. The College Football Playoff path is still technically there, and the ACC Championship remains a live route, but the Cavaliers now need to respond in a hurry if they want either conversation to stay realistic. [Read more 🡒]