The 19-play Gator Bowl march that gave UVA Football its first 11-win season ever almost didn’t happen.
First play out of the locker room to start the second half, Virginia down 7-3 to Missouri, was a run by Harrison Waylee for a two-yard loss.
Second-and-12, Chandler Morris missed on a pass intended for Jahmal Edrine at the UVA 31.
Third-and-12, fail to convert, you’re giving the ball back to Mizzou less than a minute into the second half.
ICYMI
- UVA Football: ‘Hoos, picked 14th in the ACC in the summer, complete 11-win season
- Gator Bowl Blog: Cardiac Cavs take a bow, hold off Missouri in Gator Bowl, 13-7
- UVA Football: Virginia rallies from early deficit, defeats Missouri, 13-7
“Yeah, no, I think just watching it on film all week, the coaching staff had a really good plan for us third down. I was very confident in it,” said Morris, who completed the third-down pass to Eli Wood for a 13-yard gain and a first down, the first of five – five! – third- and fourth-down conversions on the 75-yard, 10-minute-plus drive.
There was a six-yard pass to Cam Ross to convert a fourth-and-2 at midfield.
A fourth-and-3 floater to Waylee to keep the chains moving in plus territory.
Third-and-2 at the Missouri 30, Xay Davis, a true freshman pressed into action at tailback with All-ACC first-teamer J’Mari Taylor sitting this one out, gained three yards for another first down.
Then it was Waylee, on back-to-back direct snaps – converting a third-and-2 at the Mizzou 4, then bolting for a 2-yard TD run that put the ‘Hoos ahead, as it turned out, to stay.
Virginia converted 13 third downs and two fourth downs on the night, against a Missouri defense that ranked second in the SEC in the regular season.
Morris was 10-for-10 for 119 yards on third-down pass attempts, on a night when yards and first downs were at a premium.
“The O-line, that’s a tough deal to drop back 10 times on third down. Those guys are protecting me. They did their job, which allowed me to go out there and put the ball around my receivers and have them go make plays for me,” Morris said.
Let’s hope that wasn’t the last time we see Morris in the orange-and-blue. The school is working with Morris and his reps on a petition to get him a seventh year, citing his 2022 season at TCU, which he began as the QB1, was injured in the opener, then played in a mop-up role in three games late in the season, in its case for a medical redshirt.
From what I’m being told, UVA Athletics is confident that he’ll be back, which makes the question that he was asked post-game last night – “when you do look back on it, when what will it mean to you that you left the program in a better place and reached a lot of the goals you set?” – a tad bit awkward.
“I guess just for me personally, I mean, it’s kind of how I’ve been raised, anytime you go somewhere, you’re whole goal is to leave it better than you found it,” Morris said. “It means the world to me to come to a university that has a ton of passion for their sports teams. I’m also extremely grateful for the opportunity that I got to come to this awesome university and really get to experience it with everyone here. It starts in the locker room.
“This is my favorite team I’ve ever been a part of,” Morris said. “I’m not saying that because we won a lot of games this year. You go in the locker room, everybody really does love each other, they’re pulling for each other, and it’s just great people which starts with Coach Elliott and his staff and bringing in the right people and everything like that.
“It’s awesome. I mean, I’m so blessed to be in this position,” Morris said.
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Chris Graham
