Tony Elliott has his signature win at Virginia.
The ‘Hoos, 23.5-point underdogs on the road at #10 North Carolina, battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit, taking the lead for good on a Malik Washington TD with 8:51 left, then clinched the game on a James Jackson INT in the final minute, capping an improbable 31-27 win on Saturday night.
It’s the program’s first-ever road win over a Top 10 team, which is saying a lot, considering the run that George Welsh had, that Al Groh had, early on.
Hell, Bronco Mendenhall took Virginia to an Orange Bowl in 2019, but never beat a Top 10 team on the road.
Elliott, 1-5 in 2023 coming in, 4-12 in a season and a half, a big ‘dog on the road, against a program that seemed poised for a run at an ACC title game appearance in 2023, didn’t figure to be the guy to get the big W.
His team played like it had nothing to lose, scoring first, on an 11-yard Mike Hollins TD run, the first of two TDs in the first quarter, and three TDs overall on the night for Hollins – who, you may remember, shouldn’t be here, for lots of reasons, all having to do with what happened last Nov. 13.
UNC (6-1, 3-1 ACC) led 17-14 at the break, and went up 24-14 early in the third, on a 3-yard keeper by Drake Maye.
Admit it: you were thinking at this moment, OK, Carolina made adjustments at halftime, they’re going to roll now, only, they didn’t.
A Hollins 1-yard TD capped a 13-play, 74-yard UVA drive that got the Cavaliers back to 24-21 with 3:56 left in the third.
A 45-yard Will Bettridge field goal tied the game with 32 seconds left in the third.
The Virginia D got a stop in the red zone and forced Carolina to get a short Noah Burnette 27-yard field goal that put the Heels up 27-24 three minutes into the fourth quarter.
Virginia, as it did all night, responded, with a seven-play, 73-yard drive that gave Virginia the lead when Tony Muskett connected with Malik Washington on a 14-yard catch-and-run score.
It was 31-27 ‘Hoos with 8:51 to go at that stage.
Virginia had the chance to put the game away on its next offensive possession, which got to the edge of the end zone, before a Hollins fumble as he was being tackled inside the UNC 1 bounced out of the end zone, giving Carolina possession with 4:50 left.
Two big plays got the Carolina offense to the red zone with a ton of momentum, but the UVA D held, forcing a Drake Maye incompletion on a fourth-and-12 from the UVA 20.
The Tar Heels would get one more chance, after forcing a Virginia punt with 1:12 to go.
Maye, on a second-and-10 at the UVA 48, was hit as he tried to throw by a rushing Paul Akere, and the wobbly pass was intercepted by James Jackson at the 43 with 26 seconds left.
That would be the night, and the conclusion of the improbable upset for Virginia.
Muskett was 20-for-30 passing for 208 yards, a TD and an INT, and gained 66 gritty yards on the ground.
Hollins ran for 66 yards and a career-high three TDs, and Perris Jones gained 67 yards on 15 carries, as Virginia, which came in averaging 99.5 yards per game on the ground, ranking 120th among the 133 teams in FBS, piled up 228 yards rushing.
Maye, whose Heisman candidacy is now officially at an end, was 24-for-48 passing for 347 yards, two TDs, and the game-clinching INT.
Share
Chris Graham
