Virginia is still drawing national attention, and the AP voters rewarded that with another week in the rankings.
After Friday night’s 59-3 rout of Norfolk State, the Cavaliers stayed at No. 25 in the latest AP Top 25. The win only strengthened Virginia’s case after a fast start to the season, and the support from voters ticked up following another one-sided performance.
Tony Elliott’s team is now one of four ACC programs in the poll, alongside No. 5 Miami, No.
16 SMU and No. 23 Louisville.
The Cavaliers have spent the opening stretch of the season building a pretty clear resume. They began with a 34-8 win over NC State at Scott Stadium, a result that pushed Virginia into the AP Top 25 after it had received just one vote in the preseason. Then came another emphatic showing against Norfolk State, with Virginia taking control immediately and never easing up.
Beau Pribula threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter, Brandyn Hillman picked off Norfolk State on its first two possessions, and Virginia was able to empty the bench as the night went on. By the end, the Cavaliers had six touchdown passes from three different quarterbacks, 12 different players had caught a pass, and Virginia had outgained Norfolk State 466-223. Through two games, the Cavaliers have outscored NC State and Norfolk State 93-11.
For Elliott, the real value went beyond the scoreboard.
“It’s huge for us to be able to play a ton of guys and then be able to illustrate that the standard didn’t change,” Elliott said after the win. “Are there things to correct?
Yeah. There’s things that I got to do better.
There’s things that the coaches want to do better. There’s some things that the players want to do better.
“But overall, very, very pleased with just the effort, the intensity, the focus and the ability to go out and execute with as many guys as we played.”
That idea of a “standard” has been a constant theme since the opener. After the NC State win, Elliott pushed his team to stay grounded and asked whether that kind of performance could become the baseline instead of a one-night peak.
Virginia took another step toward that against Norfolk State, but the schedule is about to get tougher. The Cavaliers play West Virginia on Saturday in Charlotte before returning home to face Delaware. After that comes ACC play, where some of the league’s other ranked teams could end up shaping Virginia’s path.
For now, the record is 2-0 and the ranking remains intact. Elliott isn’t interested in letting either one change the message.
“We got a lot of football ahead of us, and we’re gonna need everybody because this is a violent game, physical game,” Elliott said. “Guys are gonna get banged up, and we’re gonna need them all.
“I’m excited about the pieces that we have. Now it’s just our job as coaches to figure out how to put them all together and keep them humble, keep them hungry, keep them focused, keep them working, keep them as a team.”
In Other News...
Virginia Still Has Something To Prove Before West Virginia
Virginia kept its place in the national picture after overwhelming Norfolk State, staying at No. 25 in both the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association polls. The Cavaliers were rewarded with more points than they had a week earlier, a sign that voters noticed the lopsided win, even if it did not push them up the ladder.
Now the focus shifts to West Virginia, and there is a little more at stake than just another early-season game. Both teams enter at 2-0, which should make this one a sharper test of where Virginia really stands, especially after a ranking bump that stopped short of a climb. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Is Building A Case Fans Havent Seen In Years
Virginias 59-3 win over Norfolk State did more than keep the Cavaliers unbeaten and tied atop the ACC. It also came with a wide spread of contributors, as several players found the end zone for the first time in their careers while the offense kept rolling behind a sharp outing from quarterback Pribula, who completed 12 of 14 passes for three touchdowns with one interception.
The larger theme, though, is that this is starting to look like a team with both momentum and depth. The defense held Norfolk State to just one score, continuing a run of dominant play that has helped carry Virginia through the early part of the season, and the program also got a milestone moment from Will Bettridge along the way, the kind of development that gives a team plenty to feel good about even before the schedule gets more demanding. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Is Back In The Top 25 Conversation Again
Virginia kept its unbeaten start rolling with a 59-3 win over Norfolk State, and now the conversation around the Cavaliers is shifting from early-season momentum to where they may land in the AP Top 25. After another convincing result, Virginia is sitting at 2-0 and has at least put itself back into the mix as voters sort through a busy first few weeks of the season.
The ranking picture remains fluid, with the AP poll likely to move depending on what happens around the country, including the situations involving Oregon, Washington, Iowa and Michigan. Michigans win over Oklahoma has already changed the landscape and put the Wolverines on track to return to the rankings, leaving Virginia to watch and wait as the next set of ballots takes shape. [Read more 🡒]