Virginia Prepares For Emotional Return To Field

When the Virginia football team opens its season on Saturday, it likely will be both an emotional and charged environment.

The Cavaliers face No. 12 Tennessee at a sold-out Nissan Stadium in Nashville at noon so the Volunteers’ fans certainly will be a vocal part of a packed house. It’s a big game environment in an NFL venue. That alone will bring some energy to the table.

The emotions will run much deeper than the typical opener, though. UVA has not played a game in 294 days after the remainder of the 2022 season was canceled last November following the tragic shooting deaths of team members Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry. Mike Hollins, a running back, also suffered injuries from gunshot wounds and required surgery but has made an incredible recovery to be a full participant for Virginia as the season dawns.
Prior to the start of the game on Saturday, there will be a moment of silence at Nissan Stadium to honor the players that were killed. Tennessee will wear a helmet decal to honor the three players as well. UVA has placed legacy patches on uniform numbers 1, 15, and 41 with the players names as well.

The Hoos have spent the last nine months trying to navigate the grieving and healing process while also trying to prepare for a new season. The pregame moments, taking the field, and playing those first snaps likely will carry plenty of emotion for the players and coaches.

Each step of that process, the message has been one of moving forward, but not moving on from the tragedy. As they try to turn tragedy into triumph, however, part of the focus is on how they carry themselves as potentially an inspiration to others as they try to uplift the memories of their fallen teammates.

“Every day is the triumph for us,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said. “I believe as a program every day that we continue to wake up and come to work, put our best foot forward, that’s the triumph in all of this. Now we have an opportunity on a national stage to show just how resilient the human spirit is. That’s what I’m looking forward to is seeing the guys play in a way that inspires people. We know the responsibility that we have to the legacies of the ones that we lost and we got a great opportunity because football is a great unifier as I’ve said before. People are going to be watching. The situation is going to come back up. It’s going to be right in front of us and we have a chance to say you know what, we’re going to accept the challenge and we’re going to be the ones that’s going to triumph every single day. The outcome doesn’t necessarily determine the triumph. For me, it’s about how the guys play. If they play in a way that inspires others, then they’re going to give themselves a chance in each game that they play to be in it all the way to the end. … I’m really, really excited for our guys to play. Definitely going to be carrying the Davis family, the Chandler family, the Perry family with us when we step on the field knowing their son should’ve been with us and we’re going to try to use that energy and channel it the right way to play in such a way that everyone says you know what that’s a triumphant bunch of individuals considering everything that they’ve been through.”

That part of the story does not account for the football challenge the Hoos face in the opener.

Tennessee posted an 11-2 season in 2022, while UVA went 3-7. The Volunteers secured a 31-14 win in the Orange Bowl against Clemson as part of their total and the Tiger obviously are the marquee program in the ACC in recent years. The oddsmakers looked at that and made Tennessee a 28.5-point favorite.

The Hoos will likely carry the proverbial chip on their shoulders as a result. Plus, they’ll be just hyped to go play since it has been so long since they had that chance. Add in the fact that Virginia has not been in a game of this magnitude since arguably the 2019 Orange Bowl and players are likely to be juiced up for the chance.

Elliott said he would try to remind players not to let all that adrenaline zap their energy all at once.

“There’s going to be of excitement. I think more so [than] the crowd as much as just the anticipation of wanting to play,” Elliott said. “This football team hasn’t played in a long time and it’s been a very, very long offseason. So helping these guys understand how to channel that emotion, not to play the game before you actually show up to the game. Don’t play the game in the locker room. Kind of the analogy I’ve been using is gas in your tank. So you’ve got to manage it. You can’t use it all in the first quarter, in the five minutes, you’ve got to be able to use it each quarter, each play and not be too emotionally involved in the game. What I’ve learned in games like this is the emotions are high early and then it comes down to who can lock in, who can focus, and when you get into the course of the game where there’s momentum changes, can you stay steady so that you can continue to do what you need to do to give yourself an opportunity to be in position. Definitely focusing on teaching these guys how to manage their emotions. Don’t play the game the night before. Don’t play it on the bus ride to the stadium. Kind of giving those guys some tips on how to manage themselves so that they’re prepared to be able to play for four quarters.”

The crowd and venue will add to that challenge. Nissan Stadium is the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans with 69,143 listed as its capacity and it has been announced as a sellout. The University of Tennessee is located from just 2.5 hours away and Vols fans cover the state regardless so it’s safe to say that this game won’t be all that neutral even if isn’t in Knoxville.

Virginia quarterback Tony Muskett, for example, noted that he had played in a game at Villanova with 20,000 thousand or so and in front of a vocal and energetic crowd at North Carolina A&T. This setting will be three times that size. There are true freshmen on the UVA depth chart that have yet to play a college game.

So, yes, the big stage could be a challenge for some.

“For all the guys, in particular, this is probably going to be an environment that they may not have played in before and so they’ve got to be ready and they can’t become overwhelmed by the environment,” Elliott said. “You play for the roar of the crowd, there’s no question about it but after you hear that initial roar, you’ve got to lock in and just go do your job.”