Elliott: ‘I’m not worried; I’m not going to change my message’ as UVA slips to 1-6 in ACC

By Jerry Ratcliffe

A smattering of boos followed Virginia’s football team off the field at halftime of the Cavaliers’ 37-7 home loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon. UVA trailed 28-0 before the smallest crowd of the season (36,529) and the smallest since the second game of the 2021 campaign.

As attendance shrinks with each mounting loss, so does enthusiasm. Virginia is mired in a three-game losing streak and has dropped six of its last seven games, with only Virginia Tech preventing UVA from hitting rock bottom of the ACC Coastal standings.

Under former head coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Cavaliers had been bowl-eligible the past five years and preseason enthusiasm was high for new coach Tony Elliott with a high-powered offense returning. Virginia was predicted to finish fourth in the Coastal in the league’s preseason media poll, and sixth overall in the ACC behind Clemson, NC State, Miami, Wake Forest and Pitt.

With two weeks to go in the season, UVA is ahead of only Virginia Tech in the division, and owns the 12th-worst overall record in the conference.

All those negatives are hard to swallow for Wahoo fans who expected much more, even during a coaching transition. The most disappointing aspect of this season, other than the losing record and no shot at a bowl game, is the fact UVA’s potent offense has been diminished to below-average, and that highly regarded quarterback Brennan Armstrong and his elite group of receivers have been reduced to ineffectiveness.

Elliott remained resolute when he was asked after Saturday’s loss if he was concerned over the big picture of his program after the setbacks, the sagging attendance and even recruiting. UVA has 14 commitments, next-to-last among ACC schools, and its 2023 class is ranked No. 65, 67 and 68 by the three national services (On3, Rivals and 247Sports), and 13th in the ACC, ahead of only Syracuse.

“I’m not worried,” Elliott replied. “I came here with a vision in mind, a goal in mind, and you know what, it may not be going exactly how I planned it to be, but I’m not going to lose hope. I’m not going to lose focus. I’m not going to tuck my tail. You back me in the corner and I’m going to turn and fight. That’s all I’ve ever done my entire life.

“I’m going to be accountable for the things that I’ve got to change. The attendance, that’s on me. The fans are expecting to see a good product on the field, and we’ve been inconsistent in what we’re putting on the field. So I don’t blame the fans. That’s on me. It’s my job to make sure that we have a winning product. From a recruiting standpoint, all I can do is sell what my vision is, and there’s going to be some guys that believe in what we’re trying to build here and those are the guys that we want here.”

Elliott was unyielding in his intentions to build a winning program here by sticking to his blueprint.

“I’m not going to change my message in recruiting, I’m not going to change my message to the team. I’m going to fight for those values regardless of what the circumstances are,” Elliott said.

Virginia has played several close games with chances to beat Syracuse (22-20), Miami (14-12 in overtime) and No. 17 North Carolina (31-28). Three wins there and the Wahoos are 6-3 overall, bowl-eligible, 4-2 in the ACC, and no one is having this conversation.

With two games to play — this coming Saturday at home against nonconference opponent Coastal Carolina (9-1 on the season) and at rival Virginia Tech — the Cavaliers could end on somewhat of a good note. Elliott was asked if he sensed his team would fight to the end.

“I do,” Elliott said. “It’s every single day. Everything that you do, you’ve got to be fully committed. We’ve got some work to do, but we’re going to get there.”

One of the team captains, linebacker Nick Jackson, believes Virginia could have won most of its conference games, and isn’t about to give up on the season or allow any of his teammates to do so either.

Asked if this season and the outside factors could wreck Elliott’s plans to build the program, Jackson didn’t flinch.

“I think Coach is a guy with unlimited potential and we’ve got people buying in,” Jackson said. “Everybody knows how much I love Coach Bronco, but I mean his first season didn’t start off too well either (2-10).”

Free safety Coen King, a senior from Culpeper, believed the booing as the team left the field was “human nature,” but the players didn’t let it get to them. UVA came back out and played Pitt to a 9-7 score in the second half.

“Coach Elliott tells us we don’t play for the people in the stands,” King said. “We’re grateful that they come, the people who do come. But we play to a certain standard, regardless if we’re in practice, or there’s 10 people in the stands or it’s sold out. We play to that standard and look past all that.”