All #18 Virginia had to do to play its way into the 2025 ACC Championship Game was beat Virginia Tech, which, easier said than done.
Tech had won 23 of the last 25 in the series, including the last four – and the last two were ugly blowouts.
The line on the game opened on Sunday at Virginia by 10.5; by game time, it was 7.5, as the market spoke, loudly, that the program with the 2-23 record against its rival dating back to the late 1990s was anything but a leadpipe cinch.
Should have taken Virginia and the points.
The defense held the Hokies to six first downs and 197 total yards, and four pass completions.
The offense grinded out 380 total yards, carefully built a 14-0 halftime lead, and added to it in the second half to eventually put the game away.
The final: Virginia 27, Virginia Tech 7.
ICYMI
It wasn’t that close.
The Hokies (3-9, 2-6 ACC) actually controlled the action in the first quarter, with four of the first downs and 92 of their total yards, but still trailed 7-0 at the end of one, with the offense surrendering a short field on a Kyron Drones INT, the first of his two on the night.
Virginia (10-2, 7-1 ACC) got on the board with a 1-yard TD from J’Mari Taylor on a wildcat direct snap.
The second UVA TD came on another direct snap to Taylor, who connected with Sage Ennis for a 1-yard TD pass in the second quarter that put the lead at 14-0 going into the break.
The lead got to three scores with a 27-yard Will Bettridge field goal midway through the third.
Chandler Morris, who transferred to Virginia from North Texas with the aim of leading the ‘Hoos to an improbable playoff berth, put the game away late in the third, on an 8-yard keeper that pushed the lead to 24-0.
After another Bettridge field goal, Tech got on the board with 4:21 to go on a 57-yard TD pass from Drones to Shamarius Peterkin.
That was the fourth Drones completion – he finished 4-of-16 through the air for 78 yards, the TD and two INTs.
The Tech ground game, which was third in the ACC coming in, averaging 188.2 yards per game on the season – and 210.5 yards per game since Philip Montgomery took over as the interim head coach in September – could only manage 129 sack-adjusted yards on the night.
Morris was 21-of-35 through the air for 182 yards, and he had 29 sack-adjusted yards on the ground, with the TD run.
Taylor had 80 yards on 20 rushes, with the TD on the ground and the TD pass.
Next week, the ‘Hoos face Duke (7-5, 6-2 ACC), which finished in a five-way tie for second place with #12 Miami (10-2, 6-2 ACC), #21 SMU (8-4, 6-2 ACC), #22 Pitt (8-4, 6-2 ACC) and #23 Georgia Tech (9-3, 6-2 ACC), but won the convoluted tiebreaker to get the second spot in Charlotte.
SMU, like Virginia, went into Saturday night controlling its postseason destiny, but the Mustangs were upset at Cal (7-5, 4-4 ACC), 38-35, late Saturday night, on a touchdown in the final minute.
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Chris Graham
