The Virginia offense, hobbled with big losses on the offensive line, put up a season-low 237 yards. But the defense scored two TDs, sacked Louisville QB Miller Moss five times, and got the big stop in OT, setting up a J’Mari Taylor walk-off 2-yard TD and a 30-27 win.
This should have been a three-score loss, or thereabouts, for the #24 ‘Hoos (5-1, 3-0 ACC), who were already down starting center Brady Wilson, then lost left tackle McKale Boley in the first half, forcing O line coach Terry Heffernan to piece things together with his group with spit and tape.
UVA also lost starting tight end Dakota Twitty on the second play from scrimmage with an apparent knee injury.
Twitty was carted off the field, but returned to the sidelines in the second half on crutches.
ICYMI
Louisville (4-1, 1-1 ACC), a 6.5-point favorite, with the winds blowing in its direction in so many ways, had trouble not stepping on its own … you know.
The Cardinals should have had scores on all four of their first-half drives, but a sneaky-important tackle by safety Ja’Son Prevard on a third-down pass on the opening drive forced a fourth-down try.
The Louisville offense seemed confused as to the play call, and instead of calling a timeout, Moss rushed the snap, tailback Isaac Brown fumbled a pitch from Moss, and Donavon Platt scooped the ball from the turf and raced 61 yards for the score to put UVA ahead 7-0 early.
Highlight: Donavon Platt scoop-and-score
⚡️ SCOOP & SCORE ⚡️
Donavon Platt recovers a Cardinal fumble and goes 61 yards to the HOUSE‼️
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/7RQzX1i0PR
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) October 4, 2025
The Virginia offense really only had one self-generated scoring drive on the day – a 16-play, 75-yard march that ended with a 15-yard TD pass from Chandler Morris to Cam Ross in the second quarter.
Louisville had a chance to go into the break up a field goal, but placekicker Cooper Ranvier, to that point perfect on the season, missed badly from 43 as time expired.
UL, which had 235 yards of total offense in the first half, should have been up either 20-7 or even 24-7 at the half.
Instead, it was 14-14.
Virginia would go up 24-14 after getting a second defensive TD – Moss, as he was about to be sacked, tried to throw the ball away, but the ball went directly to linebacker Kam Robinson, who raced in untouched from 47 yards – and then, after a short punt that set up UVA in plus territory, Will Bettridge was good from 46 yards to make it a two-score game.
Louisville would get things square in the fourth quarter, with a highlight-reel 13-yard TD catch by Chris Bell, who had 12 catches on 14 targets for 170 yards on the day, capping a quick six-play, 55-yard drive, and a Ranvier 50-yard field goal with 1:08 to go, after Moss had extended the drive with a 33-yard pass play to Kris Hughes to convert a third-and-24.
Virginia won the coin toss ahead of the OT, elected to start on defense, and got a stop on a third down inside the 10, forcing a short Ranvier field goal that put Louisville on top for the first time in the game.
The UVA drive started with a 14-yard gain on a play-action pass from Morris to backup tight end John Rogers, then, after a short gain on the next play, Morris, after dropping back to pass, escaped the pocket and made a beeline for the end zone.
He was met at the Louisville 2 by defensive backs Jabari Mack and D’Angelo Hutchinson, and was on the turf for several minutes before getting back to his feet.
Backup QB Daniel Kaelin replaced him for the next play, which was a direct snap to Taylor, who took the ball into the end zone for the walk-off.
Highlight: J’Mari Taylor walk-off TD
🔥 J’MARI CALLED GAME 🔥
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/AIX8CMMOct
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) October 4, 2025
It’s not hard to see this one as a 27-10 or 31-10 loss without the two defensive scores, but that’s a credit to the group.
Winning games that you should lose is the mark of a team with guts and resilience.
The stats – Louisville outgained UVA 383-237, had a 25-14 advantage in first downs; Moss was 34-of-48 for 329 yards through the air – don’t measure guts and resilience.
This Virginia team, picked to finish 14th in the 17-team ACC in the preseason, is now a favorite to make it to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game.
More importantly in the here and now, given how banged up this group is, they’re into their first bye week.
The next game is Saturday, Oct. 18, a nonconference matchup with Washington State.
We can all now, exhale.
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Chris Graham
