By Scott Ratcliffe

For the first time in program history, the Virginia football team collected its 11th win of the season, as the Cavaliers held on for a 13-7 victory in dramatic fashion in the waning seconds of Saturday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Missouri.

The UVA defense came up with a huge stop with the game on the line, with Devin Neal breaking up a would-be touchdown in the end zone to seal it with one second remaining.

The 19th-ranked Wahoos (11-3) were playing without J’Mari Taylor, the ACC’s top rusher, and Trell Harris, the team’s leading receiver, as Taylor reportedly opted out of the contest and Harris was still banged up from a leg injury suffered in the ACC Championship Game.

Gator Bowl MVP Chandler Morris had a few of his other offensive weapons step up and deliver, guys like Harrison Waylee, Eli Wood and Jahmal Edrine, among others.

Morris and the Cavaliers dominated the time of possession in the second half, using a 19-play, 75-yard scoring drive — which took 10 minutes and 7 seconds off the third-quarter clock — out of the halftime break to grab their first lead of the night, 10-7, with 4:53 left in the third.

The Hoos added a takeaway a few plays later, as seventh-year veteran Antonio Clary got his hands on a Matt Zollers pass, which wound up being picked off by Emmanuel Karnley.

Morris proceeded to march the Hoos into the red zone, but UVA had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Will Bettridge — who set UVA’s single-season record for field goals made (24) — with exactly one minute remaining in the third quarter to make it a six-point affair.

A holding call put a dent in the Cavaliers’ first possession of the fourth quarter, but Morris pulled off a near-perfect pooch punt that was saved from going into the end zone by Wood, pinning the Tigers (8-5) at their own 2-yard line.

Missouri was whistled for a crucial false-start penalty on fourth-and-1 from the 11, following a big stop by Fisher Camac on the previous play. The Tigers were forced to punt it away and Virginia took over from its own 42-yard line with 8:45 to go, melting another four-plus minutes off the clock.

The Hoos had a chance to add to their lead, but were stopped on fourth-and-4 from the Mizzou 40-yard line, as Morris couldn’t connect with Wood.

The Tigers were thwarted on another fourth-down conversion with 1:57 to play, as Zollers rolled out and headed towards the line to gain, ending up short of the marker when he stepped out of bounds.

The Tigers spent all three of their timeouts and got the ball back at their own 18-yard line just 24 seconds later with one more crack at pulling out the win.

With the game’s final seconds ticking down, Zollers found Donovan Olugbode along the sideline at Virginia’s 21-yard line with 26 ticks showing on the scoreboard, setting up a thrilling finish.

The Wahoo defense forced a pair of incompletions, making it third-and-10 from the 21, and Zollers was chased down and nearly sacked by Daniel Rickert and had to throw it away, setting the stage for the all-important fourth-down try with eight seconds remaining.

Zollers took a shot on the prior play and was pulled off the field, putting the pressure on third-string sophomore QB Brett Brown, who had not attempted a pass all season. Brown dropped back and let it fly toward the end zone, and it initially looked like his intended target might have come down with a game-tying touchdown reception, but the pass was ruled incomplete as replay showed Neal swatting the ball to the turf, and the Cavaliers began to celebrate their first bowl victory since 2018 and first under head coach Tony Elliott.

“This is a culture win and this is what we’re all about,” Morris told a national TV audience on the podium afterwards.

“Oh, man, I’m just so, so excited for our players, our staff, the administration, all of the students, support, all of the different folks in our administration that touch our program,” said Elliott. “That really was for them. I’ve been waiting to be able to just kind of say, ‘Hey, welcome to the 10-win club, welcome to the 11-win club, and you guys are champions.’ And so really that’s just all about them.”

Morris, who is appealing for one more year of eligibility, finished with 198 yards on 25-for-38 passing, going a perfect 10 for 10 on third-down throws. The Hoos were 13 for 23 on third-down conversions, while limiting Mizzou to 3 for 12 on third downs.

Waylee stepped into Taylor’s lead running back role and posted 68 yards and a score on 20 carries, while Xay Davis picked up some of the slack with 41 additional yards on a dozen attempts.

Wood led the team in the receiving category with 71 yards on four catches, each of which resulted in a first down to kept the chains moving. Edrine added 38 yards on four important grabs.

Neal finished with a team-high 11 tackles (6 solo) and the game-sealing PBU to lead the defensive unit, which held the Tigers to 260 total yards (159 rushing, 101 passing).

Scoring Summary

Virginia 0-3-10-0 — 13
Missouri 7-0-0-0 — 7

First Quarter
UM (11:56) — Roberts 5-yard run (Richardson kick). UM 7, UVA 0.

Second Quarter
UVA (12:17) — Bettridge 42-yard field goal. UM 7, UVA 3.

Third Quarter
UVA (4:53) — Waylee 2-yard run (Bettridge kick). UVA 10, UM 7.
UVA (1:00) — Bettridge 39-yard field goal. UVA 13, UM 7.

Player Stats

Rushing
UVA — Harrison Waylee 20-68; Xay Davis 12-41; Davis Lane Jr. 1-2; Chandler Morris 6-0; Cole Geer 1-0; TEAM 1-(minus-1). TOTAL — 41-110. UM — Ahmad Hardy 15-89; Jamal Roberts 11-56; Matt Zollers 5-9; Kevin Coleman Jr. 1-5. TOTAL — 32-159.

Receiving
UVA — Eli Wood 4-71; Jahmal Edrine 4-38; Sage Ennis 5-35; Cam Ross 5-25; Harrison Waylee 3-12; John Rogers 2-10; Isaiah Robinson 1-4; Kameron Courtney 1-3. TOTAL — 25-198. UM — Donovan Olugbode 5-49; Kevin Coleman Jr. 3-17; Daniel Blood 1-14; Jordon Harris 1-13; Xavier Lloyd 1-6; Jamal Roberts 1-2. TOTAL — 12-101.

Passing
UVA — Chandler Morris 25-38-198-0-0. TOTAL — 25-38-198-0-0. UM — Matt Zollers 12-22-101-0-1; Brett Brown 0-1-0-0-0. TOTAL — 12-23-101-0-1.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations