I see them called culture wins: when things don’t go your way, but your team finds a way. Virginia’s 22-20 win over Washington State is the third culture win in a row for a program that used to find ways to lose close games.
“We just wanted it more. It just meant more to us. That first half left a nasty taste in our mouths, and we didn’t like it,” said Devin Neal, a grad senior safety who had 10 tackles to lead the UVA defense – which gave up 252 total yards to Wazzu in the first half, but shut down the Cougars in the second half, and in particular the fourth quarter, when the Cougars ran eight plays and gained a total of eight yards.
ICYMI
Washington State (3-4) led 17-7 at the half, as everything that could go wrong for the #18 ‘Hoos pretty much did.
Quarterback Chandler Morris re-injured his left shoulder when a Wazzu defender fell on him, which had backup Daniel Kaelin warming up on the sideline a couple of different times.
Virginia had just 109 yards, four first downs and 9:56 in time of possession in the first half, and despite a Homecoming Weekend crowd of 56,048 that desperately wanted to have something to be excited about, it looked and felt like the home sideline was missing something.
“I got a little bit upset, because I started to see some things that were uncharacteristic of who we say we are as a team,” head coach Tony Elliott said, noting how he picked up on a lack of focus from his team during a final-minute timeout.
“We called a timeout, and I got a couple guys that are walking in the back, right, so, I’m jumping their tail about that, because when we were kind of, you know, jumping on people, it’s when guys were running on and off the field and the little things, and that’s what’s so hard about this game, is to stay committed under all circumstances to the little things, the details.”
The halftime pep talk wasn’t so much a pep talk.
“I told them, I said, Look, boys, there ain’t gonna be a whole lot of yelling, because me yelling and just trying to create energy is not going to get it done. This is a decision, right, this is, it’s going to take a decision from everybody in this room to go fight for what it is that you want. Because in the first half, I felt like the team in the other locker room wanted it more, you know, than we did,” Elliott said.
The Virginia D forced a three-and-out on Washington State’s opening second-half possession, and the offense got the ball to the edge of the red zone before settling for a 47-yard Will Bettridge field goal.
Wazzu responded with a six-minute-plus drive that ended with a field goal that put the margin back to 10, at 20-10, heading into the fourth quarter.
A punt downed at the UVA 3 felt like a do-or-die moment, and the Virginia offense responded, with a 97-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard Harrison Waylee TD run that got it back to a one-score game, at 20-17.
The Cougars got a pair of false starts and then a holding call that backed them up on their next possession, and on a third-and-20 from their own 15, QB Zevi Eckhaus, under pressure, overthrew his target and was intercepted by Ja’Son Prevard.
The offense got the ball into the red zone before stalling out, and Bettridge was good from 34 yards to tie the game with 2:55 to go.
A major mistake on the kick return had Washington State beginning its next possession at its own 2, and on third-and-11 from its 1, UVA defensive coordinator John Rudzinski dialed up a run blitz, and Wazzu tailback Kirby Vorhees, taking the handoff out of the pistol, wasn’t able to get the ball back across the goal line, resulting in a safety that put Virginia ahead for the first time all night.
The offense just needed to get a first down to seal the game, and J’Mari Taylor, on third-and-3 from the UVA 37, broke off a 7-yard run to move the chains, and set up three kneeldowns to bleed the clock for the win.
“There’s a lot of things we can learn from this, but at the end of the day, the football team made a decision at the half to come out and find a way to win the football game, and they did,” said Elliott, whose team is 6-1 on the season, and bowl-eligible for the first time in his four years as the head coach.
There are, obviously, bigger goals ahead. Virginia is 3-0 in the ACC, with control of its own destiny, at this point, on the Road to Charlotte, and a possible berth in the ACC Championship Game.
I mentioned in the lede that this one was the third what they call culture win in a row for the program – after surviving OTs with Florida State and then Louisville.
“I say, more calluses,” said Neal, who is in his sixth season of college football – he was at Baylor for three years, from 2020-2022, and at Louisville for parts of two seasons before transferring to Virginia in the spring.
“Another close situation, another tough situation for both the offense, defense and special teams, too,” Neal said. “Just a lot of complementary ball once again, and just everybody just getting toughed up, roughed up and just getting ready for that next week. Because it comes down to just, who’s ready for those critical situations, really. That’s what football comes down to, a lot of games.”
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Chris Graham
