By Scott Ratcliffe

No. 14 Virginia came into Saturday night’s nationally televised showdown against Wake Forest with a chance to do something no other UVA team had done before — win nine of its first 10 games.

Scott Stadium was packed and loud as the Cavaliers fought for a crack at the best start in school history and a more secure spot in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Demon Deacons (6-3, 3-3 ACC) had other ideas, coming away with a 16-9 upset victory and snapping the Wahoos’ seven-game winning streak, clinching bowl eligibility in the process.

The Cavaliers (8-2, 5-1) fumbled three times on the evening, losing all three after not losing any of the previous 10 this season. Coming into the day, UVA was one of only two FBS teams that hadn’t lost a fumble all year.

The third one couldn’t have come at a worse time for J’Mari Taylor, who had just busted loose for a huge 43-yard gain into Wake territory, with his team needing a touchdown to tie the score late in the fourth quarter.

Taylor’s aforementioned big gain gave UVA a first down at the Deacons’ 32-yard line with the clock ticking down, and it seemed as if the Hoos had all the momentum in another nailbiting finish.

On the very next snap, however, Taylor had the football ripped from his hands by Dylan Hazen for his second fumble recovery of the game.

The Cavalier defense held Wake to a quick three-and-out, getting the ball back with 2:28 left at their own 42-yard line. A few plays later, Kaelin connected with Sage Ennis down to the Deacs’ 12-yard line for a first down with 1:07 on the clock.

The Hoos took their final timeout with 36 seconds left, with a crucial third-and-6 upcoming at the 8-yard line. When play resumed, Kaelin found Trell Harris along the sideline for a short gain to set up a fourth-and-3 from the 5 with precious seconds melting away. Kaelin’s ensuing pass into the end zone was intended for Jahmal Edrine, but defended well by Braylon Johnson before falling incomplete, and the visitors began to celebrate as they took over with 13 seconds to play.

Adding insult to injury, UVA played the majority of Saturday’s game without star quarterback Chandler Morris, who exited the contest with 8:33 remaining in the second quarter and did not return.

Morris was sliding to the turf on a QB keeper when he took a shot to the head from both sides from two Wake defenders. After a lengthy pause, Morris was helped off the turf and taken into the locker room for evaluation.

Coach Tony Elliott said afterwards that Morris returned to the Cavalier sideline in street clothes and was reportedly “feeling alright” as the Nebraska transfer stepped in and led the offense for the remainder of the night.

“We’ll know more when we get some more tests early in the week, [Sunday] and Monday,” Elliott said of Morris’ status going forward. “Any time you get hit in the head or up above the neck, you’ve got to make sure that you take that with a lot of caution.”

Despite the tough loss, the Hoos still sit in a four-way tie for first place in the conference standings with two games and three weeks to go.

The Cavaliers scored on the opening possession of the second half, trimming Wake’s lead to a single point, 10-9, on a Will Bettridge field goal, but that’s as close as it would get the rest of the way.

It was a fairly uneventful opening half, with the only scoring through two and a half quarters coming from the foot of Bettridge, who nailed a pair of field goals — one in each period, the first of which was set up by a Kam Robinson punt block— to give the Hoos a 6-0 edge. Kaelin rushed for a career-long 54 yards inside the Wake 10-yard line late in the half to give Bettridge a chip-shot 21-yarder with 4:27 on the clock.

The Deacs rattled off 10 unanswered points in the final 1:33 of the half to take a four-point lead into the break. The lone touchdown of the game came when Wake’s Carlos Hernandez returned a punt 88 yards to the house with 1:33 left. UVA lost its first fumble of the season a few plays later, as Kaelin was drilled and coughed up the rock, and Wake was back in business with 1:07 on the clock. The Deacs added to their lead with 40 ticks left on a Calvert field goal, and the two teams went to halftime with a combined 240 total yards.

For the game, UVA outgained the Deacons (327-203 total yards), limiting Wake to 64 passing yards, but the three fumbles proved to be the difference. Wake’s Demond Claiborne rushed for a team-high 75 yards on 25 carries, while quarterback Robby Ashford added 57 more yards on 11 carries, accounting for most of the team’s offensive output. Leading receiver Chris Barnes was held to 12 yards on two catches (seven targets).

Taylor led all rushers with 98 yards on the ground, adding 30 more via the pass. Kaelin completed 18 of his 28 passes for 145 yards (Morris was 3 for 6 for 19 yards before leaving the field). Harris was the team’s leading receiver, finishing with six catches for 60 yards. Robinson led the defense with 10 tackles (three solo).

UP NEXT

The Hoos travel to Durham to face Duke next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2) before the second bye week of the season.

Scoring Summary

Wake Forest 0-10-3-3 — 16
Virginia 3-3-3-0 — 9

First Quarter
UVA (11:48) — Bettridge 34-yard field goal. UVA 3, WFU 0.

Second Quarter
UVA (4:27) — Bettridge 21-yard field goal. UVA 6, WFU 0.
WFU (1:33) — Hernandez 88-yard punt return (Calvert kick). WFU 7, UVA 6.
WFU (0:40) — Calvert 39-yard field goal. WFU 10, UVA 6.

Third Quarter
UVA (10:35) — Bettridge 40-yard field goal. WFU 10, UVA 9.
WFU (3:49) — Calvert 50-yard field goal. WFU 13, UVA 9.

Fourth Quarter
WFU (3:53) — Calvert 49-yard field goal. WFU 16, UVA 9.

Player Stats

Rushing

WFU — Demond Claiborne 25-75; Robby Ashford 11-57; Ty Clark III 3-6; Chris Barnes 1-2; TEAM 1-(minus-1). TOTAL — 41-139. UVA — J’Mari Taylor 19-98; Daniel Kaelin 6-49; Harrison Waylee 3-10; Chandler Morris 1-6; Kameron Courtney 1-0. TOTAL — 30-163.

Receiving

WFU — Ty Clark III 1-22; Chris Barnes 2-12; Sterling Berkhalter 1-9; Demond Claiborne 2-8; Eni Falayi 1-6; Carlos Hernandez 1-4; Kamrean Johnson 1-3. TOTAL — 9-64. UVA — Trell Harris 6-60; Kameron Courtney 2-36; J’Mari Taylor 7-30; Sage Ennis 2-20; Cam Ross 2-7; Jahmal Edrine 1-6; Eli Wood 1-5. TOTAL — 21-164.

Passing

WFU — Robby Ashford 7-16-46-0-0; Deshawn Purdie 2-7-18-0-0. TOTAL — 9-23-64-0-0. UVA — Daniel Kaelin 18-28-145-0-0; Chandler Morris 3-6-19-0-0. TOTAL — 21-34-164-0-0.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia’s seven-game win streak came to a close. The win streak tied for the program record. UVA also recorded seven-game streaks in 1914, 1945, 1949, 1990 and 2007.
• UVA’s five-game win streak in ACC play – a program record – also ended.
• With an overall record of 8-2, UVA is still off to its best start since 2007.
• The Cavaliers are now one of five ACC teams with only one loss in conference play (Duke, Georgia Tech, Pitt, SMU and Virginia).
• The result was UVA’s first home loss of the season and first since the SMU game in 2024.
• The night game was UVA’s fifth at Scott Stadium this season. UVA is now 4-1 in home night games this season.
• UVA dipped to 35-18 in the all-time series with Wake Forest, which began in 1889. The Demon Deacons have won three straight games at Scott Stadium (2012, 2021, 2025).
• Five of the Cavaliers’ last six games have been decided by one score. UVA is now 4-1 in such contests. The Cavaliers had also won their previous four games decided by one score.
• For the first time this season, UVA lost a fumble after losing three fumbles to the Demon Deacons. Miami and UVA were the only two FBS teams to have not lost a fumble entering Saturday’s contest. UVA had 10 fumbles entering the game, none of them were recovered by a UVA opponent.
• Despite the loss, Virginia outgained Wake Forest 327-203. Virginia has outgained its opponent in both losses this season (NC State & Wake Forest)
• The 203 yards of total offense by Wake Forest are the fewest allowed by UVA since 2022 against Georgia Tech (56 rush, 146 pass).
• UVA’s stop on fourth down at the five-yard line in the second quarter was the second goal-to-go stop of the season. The other came against Florida State on the first of two interceptions by Ja’son Prevard.
• Virginia held the Demon Deacons to only 64 yards passing, the fewest by a UVA opponent since Nov. 17, 2018, against Georgia Tech, when the Yellow Jackets had 37 yards through the air.
• Wake Forest completed only nine passes, the fewest by a UVA opponent since 2021 (Virginia Tech). The Cavaliers’ defense surrendered no passing yards in the third quarter.
• Virginia recorded its second blocked punt of the season. It marks the first time UVA has blocked two punts in a season since 2013. Coming into the week, only 17 teams in the country had multiple blocked punts.
• UVA surrendered a punt return for a touchdown for the first time since 2017, when Pitt’s Quadre Henderson returned a 75-yarder at Heinz Field.
• The last time Virginia gave up only 16 points or less in a loss was in a 14-12 overtime decision against Miami on Oct. 9, 2022.
• The announced crowd of Saturday’s game was 55,568, which marks the first time since 2007 in which UVA has drawn a crowd of at least 50,000 in three consecutive games.

Player Notes

• Kam Robinson blocked a punt on Wake Forest’s opening drive. It marked the first blocked punt by a UVA player since Caleb Hardy’s in UVA’s 2025 season opener against Coastal Carolina (8/30).
• In Robinson’s last five games, he has two interceptions returned for touchdowns, a tackle for loss that resulted in a game-winning safety and a blocked punt.
• Robinson had a game-high 10 tackles in the contest, the fourth double-digit tackle effort of the season.
• J’Mari Taylor was two yards shy of 100 yards rushing and hauled in a career-high six passes for 30 yards. It marked the fifth time this season with 85 or more rushing yards and his fifth game with 100 or more all-purpose yards.
• Daniel Kaelin’s 54-yard rush in the second quarter was the 12th run of 50 or more yards by a Cavalier quarterback in program history. It was the longest since Brennan Armstrong’s 64-yard touchdown rush against Richmond in the 2022 season opener.
• In the third quarter, sophomore wideout Kam Courtney had a career-long 34-yard reception.
• Receiver Cam Ross played in his 50th collegiate game on Saturday.

Saturday’s ACC Results

SMU 45, Boston College 13
Miami 38, Syracuse 10
UConn 37, Duke 34
North Carolina 20, Stanford 15
Wake Forest 16, Virginia 9
California 29, Louisville 26 (OT)
Clemson 24, Florida State 10

Next Week’s Schedule

Friday, Nov. 14
Clemson at Louisville, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, Nov. 15
Notre Dame at Pitt, Noon (ABC)
Virginia at Duke, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Georgia Tech at Boston College, 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
NC State at Miami, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
North Carolina at Wake Forest, 4:30 p.m. (The CW)
Virginia Tech at Florida State, 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)