Virginia’s offense did plenty right in 2025. It just didn’t always finish the job once it got close.
That was the one nagging flaw in an otherwise banner season for the Cavaliers, who averaged 30.8 points per game, finished seventh in the ACC, won 11 games for the first time in school history, captured the regular-season title and then took the Gator Bowl. Still, a few more touchdowns inside the 20-yard line might have made the year look even better.
Virginia’s red-zone touchdown rate landed at 56.25 percent, which ranked 96th among 136 FBS teams. In the ACC, only Pittsburgh (54.84), Syracuse (53.85), Wake Forest (52.38), North Carolina (51.43) and Stanford (47.22) were worse.
That inefficiency showed up in the games that ended up mattering most. Will Bettridge set a school record by making 24 field goals in 30 attempts, but three points instead of seven on a handful of drives may have loomed large in one-score losses to N.C. State, Wake Forest and Duke in the ACC championship game.
Against the Wolfpack, Virginia turned five red-zone trips into two touchdowns and a field goal. In the Wake Forest game, with Chandler Morris sidelined by injury, the Cavaliers settled for three field goals and never reached the end zone in four trips inside the 20. Then in the ACC title game, they produced two touchdowns, a field goal and one empty possession in the red zone, before Morris threw an interception from the 25 on Virginia’s first offensive play in overtime.
The defense didn’t exactly clean things up on the other side, either. Virginia ranked 111th nationally in opponent red-zone touchdown percentage at 83.78 percent, with only Duke worse among ACC teams at 91.07.
If the Cavaliers are going to make another run at the ACC final, this looks like one of the details that could swing the season. An experienced offensive line and the power of backs Xavier Brown and Peyton Lewis should help in tight spaces, while tight end Dakota Twitty, at 6-5 and 247 pounds, and receiver Rico Flores Jr., at 6-2 and 211, give Beau Pribula big targets for end-zone throws. Coordinator Des Kitchings also has room to get more creative.
Virginia scored enough in 2025 to win big. The next step is making sure those drives inside the 20 end with seven, not three.
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The trip to SMU may end up carrying the most weight of all, because it is the sort of game that can shape the rest of the ACC race. Virginias Pribula and SMUs Grunkemeyer will draw plenty of attention as a quarterback comparison, but the bigger battle may come down to whether the Cavaliers can handle a veteran offensive line and keep the Mustangs from dictating the game on their terms. [Read more 🡒]