By Jerry Ratcliffe
While the disappointment of losing in overtime to Duke in the ACC Championship game Saturday night still stings, Virginia coach Tony Elliott wants one more thing: a program-record 11th win.
The Cavaliers, 10-3, will take on Missouri, 8-4, in the Dec. 27 Tax Slayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., 7:30 p.m., ABC. Missouri’s Tigers finished eighth in the powerful SEC with a 4-4 record, with losses coming to Texas A&M, Alabama, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, all nationally ranked at the time.
“We’ve got one more game and an opportunity to go win 11,” Elliott said after the title game. “That’s what I told them. I want that 11th. I think everybody in that locker room wants that 11th.”
UVA rallied from a 20-10 deficit with only five minutes remaining in regulation Saturday night and tied the game at 20-20 with only 22 seconds to play, essentially sending the game into overtime.
Duke scored on the opening possession of the extra period on a 1-yard pass from quarterback Darian Mensah to tight end Jeremiah Hasley for the go-ahead score. On that touchdown pass, Virginia was flagged 15 yards for roughing the passer and instead of starting its overtime possession at the 25, stated at the 40.
On the very first play, the Cavaliers attempted a trick play, a flea flicker to quarterback Chandler Morris, who was intercepted on first down by Duke linebacker Luke Margott to end the game, giving the Blue Devils their first outright ACC Championship since 1962.
UVA hasn’t played in a bowl since the 2019 Orange Bowl when Bronco Mendenhall’s Cavaliers won the school’s lone ACC Coastal Division title. The Cavaliers were crushed by powerhouse Clemson in the league championship game, then lost to nationally-ranked Florida in the Orange Bowl.
George Welsh took Virginia to the Gator Bowl and lost to Oklahoma on Dec. 29, 1991, while Al Groh nearly pulled off an upset over the late-Mike Leach’s Texas Tech “Air Raid,” on Jan. 1, 2008.
“There hasn’t been an 11-win team in UVA history,” said Jahmeer Carter, a senior defensive tackle. That’s something to play for. End the season off right.”
