Cavaliers Now

Virginia Shows Mental Toughness in Comeback Victory at Wake Forest

Matt Newton

Virginia Athletics
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In 2023, the Virginia football season was defined by missed opportunities. The Cavaliers' on-paper record of 3-9 disguises the fact that they were in position to win five of those games that ultimately ended in one-score losses.

It's still early, but 2024 could be a different story for Tony Elliott and the Hoos.

All through the game on Saturday night in Winston-Salem, Virginia was trailing, often by double digits, and struggling to keep up with Wake Forest on either side of the ball. But the Cavaliers kept battling, showing remarkable resilience, and giving themselves an opportunity to win the game at the end if they could just finish strong.

And that's the difference. The 2023 iteration of the Virginia Cavaliers, with just a couple of exceptions, could not finish games. In their first road game and first conference game of the 2024 season, the Wahoos gave themselves a chance to win and they didn't miss it.

"To be honest with you, it's going to sound like cliche or simple, but belief, man," said Tony Elliott when asked how his team managed to erase a 30-17 deficit in the fourth quarter. "The guys believed, right? They believe when we get into the fourth quarter, we're going to go win the fourth quarter. And that's really what it boils down to - how strong is your belief? Because if your belief is strong, then your actions will follow suit."

A 26-yard field goal from Matthew Dennis gave the Demon Deacons a 30-17 lead that held well into the fourth quarter. Wake Forest took a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game and sustained that lead deep into the fourth quarter. The rest of the contest could have been a formality at that point, but the Cavaliers refused to concede.

"And so what you saw is guys putting their love for their teammates into action, and then it just spread throughout the team... and that's what good football teams do in the fourth quarter. They feed off of each other, but it starts with just an attitude or belief," Elliott said.

Virginia trailed 17-3 in the second quarter and 30-17 in the fourth quarter. If you look back at the 2023 season, the Cavaliers simply don't win these types of games. In fact, UVA didn't win many times even if the scores were reversed and the Hoos were ahead in the fourth.

Virginia led JMU by 11 points with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter and lost 36-35. Virginia was tied with NC State 21-21 with 36 seconds left and lost 24-21. Virginia led Boston College 21-7 at halftime and lost 27-24. Virginia led Miami 23-20 with four minutes to go and lost 29-26 in overtime. Virginia led then-No. 11 Louisville 24-17 with less than eight minutes to go and lost 31-24.

UVA did manage to win two close games, beating North Carolina and Duke by a combined seven points, but those were the outliers.

By finishing the game on a 14-0 run, a run that was fueled by two impressive touchdown drives by the offense and a series of clutch plays by a UVA defense that was diced up all night for 544 yards of total offense, the Cavaliers reversed perhaps their most disturbing trend from the 2023 season and showed tremendous mental toughness.

That resilience manifested itself around the entire team. Trell Harris dropped a wide-open 60-yard touchdown early in the game, but bounced back and caught a career-high seven passes for 91 yards and a clutch 24-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Anthony Colandrea shook off a bad interception in the third quarter and led the Cavaliers on those two big-time touchdown drives to win the game. The UVA defense, which was devastated by injuries throughout the game, recovered after giving up 14 plays (10 passing plays of 15+ yards and 4 rushing plays of 10+ yards) and made enough plays down the stretch to give Colandrea and the Virginia offense a chance. The same UVA pass rush that had 11 total sacks in 2023 recorded six sacks in the game.

And then there's the play that essentially won the game for Virginia. With Wake Forest driving in Cavalier territory to possibly set up the game-winning field goal, Malcolm Greene stripped the ball from Taylor Morin. The fumble rolled along the turf and Wake receiver Donavon Greene appeared to pick it up easily, but Antonio Clary dove at Greene's ankles and wrestled the ball away from him, flipping possession, and the game, in Virginia's favor.

"The key is, how do you respond? And so the guys, man, there was energy on the sideline, a lot of encouragement," Elliott said of his team in the second half. "Guys weren't turning on each other. They weren't fussing at each other. They were emphatically encouraging each other...  Hey, we're going to go make a play, we're going to get it to the fourth and we're going to find a way to win the game."

Wins like the one Virginia just earned in Winston-Salem on Saturday night were few and far between in 2023. Can this gutsy victory set the tone for the Cavaliers for the rest of the year?

More Virginia Football News & Content

By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia's Big Win at Wake Forest

VIDEO: Highlights & Postgame From Virginia's Epic Win at Wake Forest

Five Takeaways from Virginia's Thrilling Win Over Wake Forest

Virginia Football Pulls Off Come From Behind Victory to Defeat Wake Forest 31-30

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.