One obvious bright spot for 2-8 Virginia is Malik Washington, second in the nation in receptions and receiving yards per game.
Washington is almost certainly a first-team All-American with his numbers – 88 catches on 112 targets, 1,119 yards, seven TDs.
The Northwestern grad transfer has had 100+ receiving yards in eight of his 10 games.
He had 97 yards in one of the other two, in case you were wondering.
And he’s getting all the catches and all the yards with the other side game-planning to stop him.
“I can’t remember where we were, but he reminded me, like, Coach, remember when you sat on my couch, I said I wanted to do 80 catches and 1,000 yards. I’m like, hey, man, that’s great, we’re going to make that happen, not really knowing how it was going to come to fruition, like, I like your ambition, and I can see it, so let’s go make it,” UVA coach Tony Elliott told reporters at his press conference this week ahead of the Virginia-Duke game on Saturday.
“After he showed up and you saw how serious of a young man he is, just how meticulous he is, starting with his apartment, it was immaculate. There wasn’t anything out of place. Like, literally when I sat in his apartment, it was like, man, I’m inspired, because it’s really clean,” Elliott said. “Now that carries over to the way he practices. His leadership has been awesome. He’s been vocal within his position group. He’s led both from the front, the back and the middle, which has been fun to see.
“Man, he just keeps showing up every week, but it starts in the way he practices. If you come out and watch him practice, for a guy that’s played a lot of snaps, has a lot of production, man, he practices the right way, and it translates to the game,” Elliott said.
You wouldn’t go wrong with a team of Malik Washingtons.
Measuring stick games
Virginia’s final two games of the 2023 season are at home against Duke and Virginia Tech, two programs, like UVA, with head coaches in Year 2.
Mike Elko turned things around at Duke right off the bat, taking the 3-9 team that he inherited from David Cutcliffe to a 9-4 finish in 2022, and he has Duke, battling myriad injuries, including to his starting QB, Riley Leonard, to a 6-4 record so far this season.
Down in Blacksburg, meanwhile, Brent Pry has rebounded from an ugly 3-8 finish in his Year 1 to have his Hokies at 5-5 overall, 4-2 in the ACC, with a chance to get Virginia Tech back into a bowl.
Elliott, at Virginia, took the program that had gone 11-11 in the two years following the 2019 Orange Bowl to a 3-7 record last year, and at 2-8 in Year 2, he’s batting .333 right now, which is good for a corner outfielder, assuming it came with power and walks, but it ain’t good for a football coach.
“Comparison is the thief of joy, right? But I laid it out for our football team today because I want them to know who they are. Yes, I know what our record is. We’re 2-8. We’ve come up short. We own that. But you look at the teams that we’ve played, teams that are bowl eligible, teams that are in the Top 25, and we’ve been right there in the fourth quarter with opportunities to win those games,” Elliott said.
“Yeah, we came up short. We didn’t make the plays. We’ve got to make more progress. But that’s what I’m looking at. I’m looking at the quality of how we played, the adversity that we’ve had to overcome, the injuries that we’ve had to overcome, and these guys are continuing to fight,” Elliott said.
“If there needs to be a message to our fan base, it’s man, we’re putting in the work, and the progress is coming. It may not appear on the stat sheet and the wins and losses like some of the other programs, but there is a lot of progress, and I’m very excited about the future,” Elliott said. “I’m very grateful for the players and the staff that have persevered through the adversity, so I know people are going to compare us on paper to other teams. I’m looking at where we are in the fourth quarter fighting against some of the competition that we’ve had to go up against, considering some of the obstacles that we’ve had to overcome.
“That would be my message, is, stay encouraged, stay the course. The progress is being made. I believe the future is bright for the Cavaliers,” Elliott said.
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Chris Graham
