Cavaliers notch first win in nearly a year, rallying to defeat Tribe, 27-13

By Scott Ratcliffe

At long last, the streak is finally over. On a day when Virginia fell behind early by double digits, the Cavaliers responded with 24 unanswered points and secured their first win in nearly a calendar year, defeating William & Mary, 27-13.

With the long-awaited triumph, UVA (1-5, 0-2 ACC) snapped its 8-game losing skid and tasted victory for the first time since Oct. 20 of last season (at Georgia Tech), prevailing for the first time at Scott Stadium since Week 3 of 2022 against Old Dominion (Sept. 17).

It may not have been pretty from start to finish, but just to get the monkey off the Cavaliers’ back was ultimately what the program needed.

“There are a lot of things that obviously when you look back at it, when you evaluate the film, we’re going to critique and say we could’ve done better, but man, let me tell you something — a win is a win, and they’re hard to come by,” said Virginia head coach Tony Elliott, whose team has basically been in position to win late in the game in all but one of its losses.

After trading field goals in the first quarter, the Tribe (4-2) jumped out to an early 13-3 lead on a short Martin Lucas touchdown run — the result of a Tony Muskett fumble that was scooped up by CAA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year John Pius — with 12:04 left in the second before the Wahoos began the rally.

Muskett quickly redeemed the apparent error (which to the dismay of the crowd was not reviewed), capping off a scoring drive with a 7-yard scamper into the end zone to draw the Cavaliers within three. A few minutes later, after a huge 42-yard hookup from Muskett to Malik Washington, Will Bettridge knocked home a 37-yarder to knot it up at 13-apiece with 2:38 until halftime.

The UVA defense came up with a crucial takeaway inside the red zone with just over a minute left in the first half, as Coen King knocked the ball loose from W&M’s Hollis Mathis on a reverse, and Tayvonn Kyle recovered to swing the tide in Virginia’s favor.

Just like last week, Malachi Fields gave the Hoos a spark heading into the break, hauling in a diving, highlight-reel touchdown catch on a perfectly placed pass from Muskett from 26 yards out with just seven ticks on the clock, and the Hoos once again took a lead into the locker room, 20-13.

The defenses held their respective ground on both sides throughout the third quarter — including an interception by the Tribe in the end zone to start the half and a gigantic fourth-down stop by the Cavaliers — before Washington added to his big day, putting the icing on the cake with a 27-yard reception with 11:11 to play.

Muskett had re-injured his left shoulder two plays prior, as Grady Brosterhous came in for a play before the Monmouth transfer returned and finished out the game.

Elliott, who went with Brosterhous over freshman Anthony Colandrea earlier on an important QB sneak on a critical fourth-down conversion, explained after the game that he didn’t want to burn Colandrea’s redshirt — he’s seen action in four full games — for one play.

The postgame celebration was loud and proud and well-deserved, as the team was finally able to put one in the win column after all they’ve been through, while the 38,289 in attendance on Homecomings Saturday got to go home happy for the first time in a long time.

Virginia registered 453 yards of total offense, with Muskett completing 17 of his 26 passes for 232 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception.

Although he didn’t find the end zone, sixth-year back Perris Jones had a monster day, rushing for a career-high 134 yards on just 12 carries, as his longest tote went for 43 yards on the game’s final drive.

Jones became the first UVA running back to eclipse the century mark since he went for 104 in the season opener last season against Richmond. The 134 yards were the most on the ground for a Cavalier tailback since Jordan Ellis in 2018.

Washington went over 100 yards for the fourth time in his six games as a Hoo, finishing the contest with 7 grabs for 112 yards and a score.

On the other side of the ball, the Cavalier defense — playing without several starters — held the Tribe to just 219 total yards on the day (147 passing, 72 rushing). The Wahoo defense held W&M scoreless over the final 42:04 of the contest.

“That’s a good football team over there,” Elliott said of Mike London’s squad. “They’re very well-coached, they’re a prideful bunch and they came in here wanting to do everything they could to prevent us from victory.”

We’ll have much more on the win coming up on the site throughout the evening.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia rushed for a season-high 221 yards, the most in a game this season and the most since rushing for 229 against ODU last season.

• The 27 points scored by Virginia were the most surrendered by W&M this season. The Tribe came into the contest ranked No. 2 in FCS in scoring defense (10.6 ppg).

• UVA held William & Mary without a point for the final 42 minutes of the game. It was the first second- half shutout since Virginia held Georgia Tech scoreless in the second half last season.

• The victory snapped UVA’s eight-game winless streak and is the first win since defeating Georgia Tech on the road on Oct. 20, 2022.

• Virginia has won six-straight games and 12 of the last 13 meetings against William & Mary. Virginia is 32-6-1 all-time against W&M in a series that was first played in 1908.

• UVA held William & Mary to 72 yards passing, the lowest UVA opponent total since limiting the Tribe to 89 yards passing in the 2021 meeting.

Player Notes

• Muskett was 17 for 26 with 232 yards passing and three total touchdowns (2 pass, 1 rush). The rushing score was his first as a Cavalier. It was his sixth career rushing TD and first since Oct. 1, 2022 against Lehigh.

• The 200-yard passing performance by Muskett was his second in as many weeks and the 19th of his career.

• Jones ran for a career-high 138 yards on 12 carries (11.2 yards per carry). It was the first 100-yard rushing effort by a Cavalier since both Jones and Brennan Armstrong went over the 100-yard mark in the season opener against Richmond last season. His 43-yard rush in fourth quarter was a career long.

• Washington recorded his fourth 100-yard receiving effort in his last six games. His 27-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter put him over 100 yards for the day and 2,000 yards for his career (1,348 at Northwestern). He has four touchdowns in his last three games five for the season.

• Washington extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 31 games with a 17-yard reception in the second quarter.

• Washington, who came into the contest as the ACC’s leading receiver, now has 44 receptions for 668 yards and four touchdowns in six games as a Cavalier.

• Fields scored the go-ahead touchdown with :07 seconds remaining in the first half, his third career receiving touchdown. It marked the second-straight week Muskett and Fields have connected for a score in the final 10 seconds of the first half.

• Bettridge has made seven-straight field goals, and was successful from 45 and 37 in the contest. The 45-yarder in the first quarter was the second longest of his career. He is 6 for 7 in attempts from between 40 and 50 yards in his career.

• Freshman Kam Robinson led the Cavaliers with a season-high 12 tackles. It marks his second double-digit tackle effort of the season. The 12 stops are the most by a UVA true freshman linebacker since Ahmad Brooks (12 tackles) in the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl against Pitt.

Game Stats

Scoring Summary

William & Mary   6    7  0  0 — 13
Virginia                  3  17  0  7 — 27

First Quarter
W&M (10:07) — Bonoffski 38-yd field goal. W&M 3, UVA 0.
UVA (5:52) — Bettridge 45-yd field goal. UVA 3, W&M 3.
W&M (10:07) — Bonoffski 48-yd field goal. W&M 6, UVA 3.

Second Quarter
W&M (12:04) — Lucas 1-yd run (Bonoffski kick). W&M 13, UVA 3.
UVA (9:31) — Muskett 7-yd run (Bettridge kick). W&M 13, UVA 10.
UVA (2:38) — Bettridge 37-yd field goal. UVA 13, W&M 13.
UVA (0:07) — Fields 26-yd pass from Muskett (Bettridge kick). UVA 20, W&M 13.

Fourth Quarter
UVA (11:11) — Washington 27-yd pass from Muskett (Bettridge kick). UVA 27, W&M 13.

UP NEXT

The Hoos will go into their bye week with some much-needed confidence and momentum before traveling to Chapel Hill in two weeks (Oct. 21) to face No. 14 North Carolina (time, TV to be revealed in a few days).