By Jerry Ratcliffe
Only a few minutes into the celebration of completely dominating Duke’s football team more than a week ago, Virginia coach Tony Elliott stopped the party and said this:
“I know where we’re trying to go. I know what’s after that. I ain’t worried about that. I’m worried about the state championship in our house.”
State championship week — Virginia (9-2, 6-1 ACC) hosts rival Virginia Tech (3-8, 2-5) — is here. Elliott’s Cavaliers are 9.5-point favorites over the Hokies in a game set for national television (ESPN) starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at what the UVA coach hopes is a sold-out Scott Stadium.
While outsiders are predicting a 10-point Wahoo win, those outsiders haven’t paid much attention to the history of this rivalry, one in which the Hokies have won 23 of the last 25 times.
That’s why Elliott shrugs off lopsided predictions, because he’s been on the fuzzy end of the lollipop too many times for his liking.
“This is going to be a four-quarter game and we’re anticipating that it’s going to come down to one possession, regardless of what everybody else may think,” the UVA coach said Tuesday. “It’s a very capable football team and they still have talent in that locker room and they’re going to be motivated.”
If nothing else, the Hokies would like to spoil Virginia’s season by knocking the Cavaliers out of a spot in the ACC Championship game.
Should UVA win Saturday, it will secure a spot in the title tilt in Charlotte the following weekend, most likely against SMU, which plays at Cal (8 p.m.), a program that just fired its head coach.
The last and only time Virginia has made it to Charlotte for the championship came in 2019 when the Cavaliers beat the Hokies in Scott Stadium in a contest also played on Nov. 29. Prior to that, UVA hadn’t beaten Tech since quarterback Matt Schaub piloted a Cavaliers win in 2004.
The Hokies have had an interesting season, firing head coach Brent Pry early in the season, and just last week hiring former Penn State coach James Franklin to become their next head coach.
Still, Elliott expects plenty of fight from Tech.
“They’re playing hard and that’s a credit to (interim coach) Philip Montgomery and the staff in that situation,” Elliott said. “To have the guys still showing up every week and playing hard.”
Elliott harped on how motivated Tech is going to be “because I’m sure they have a certain mindset relative to this rivalry, and rightfully so. We’ve got to change that mindset, so you’re going to see two teams out there playing physical football with passion and desire and a want to win. And it’s going to come down to the details and execution, ultimately.”
Montgomery conceded that his players have experienced a lot of adversity this season, but none of that matters this week, rivalry week.
“Obviously it’s a huge game,” the Tech coach said. “The rivalry is part of it. It’s the last game of the season. A lot of things on the line. I think our guys are excited. They’ve been through a lot obviously this year and so, that being said, we got a lot of things to be grateful for. We’re thankful for this one more opportunity in this great game and should be a great environment and looking forward to going over and playing.”
