The Virginia football team finally celebrated a 2023 victory on Saturday as it dispatched William & Mary, 27-13, at Scott Stadium. That stopped an 8-game losing streak for the program.
The Hoos had to overcome an early 10-point deficit, 2 turnovers, and a pair of short punts as some of the adversity on the afternoon so, no, it wasn’t a style points type of win, but it was a win. Given that nearly a year had passed since the last time UVA entered victory lane and more than a year had passed since a win at Scott Stadium, a win of any caliber was enough for the Cavaliers to enjoy even if they weren’t fully satisfied with everything about the performance.
“Yeah, there are a lot of things that that obviously, when you look back at it, when we evaluate the film, we’re going to critique and say we could have done better. But man, let me tell you something. A win’s a win, and they’re hard to come by,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said. “And that’s a good football team over there. They’re very well coached. They’re a prideful bunch and they came in here wanting to do everything they could to prevent us from victory. So, a lot to be proud of and just really, really proud of those young men in there. Man, it’s been a long time coming. They’ve worked extremely hard. They’ve had to persevere through a ton of adversity. And I think that most people know what’s on the surface. But you know, behind the scenes, just the things that these young men have had to persevere through. Just extremely proud of them. So, man, hey, I don’t care if some people could say it might not be pretty, but a win’s a win and we needed to win. We got a win. The guys found a way versus a team that came in here to challenge them.”
“We hadn’t won at home since ODU last year. That’s a long time,” UVA senior cornerback Coen King said. “Over a year so just being able to come back in the locker room, I thought about it before the game, when’s the last time we were able to jump around and dance? It was awesome. No matter the opponent, it’s awesome to just finally have a win, get a little bit of confidence and show what we can do as a team.”
One of the most critical points in the game came late in the first half and, perhaps, propelled the team to the victory it wanted so much.
Virginia trailed 13-3 early in the second quarter after Tony Muskett fumbled while being sacked. William & Mary linebacker John Pius forced the fumble and returned it 57 yards to the UVA 4-yard line to set his team up on the doorstep. UVA running back Perris Jones saved the defensive touchdown with a late tackle, but the Tribe’s Martin Lucas managed to score from inside the 1-yard line on fourth down anyway.
That handed the Hoos another double-digit deficit on the season and also meant they were down in the second quarter for the third straight home game. With some murmurs certainly trickling across Cavalier nation about quarterbacks and losing streaks and all of that, the next 12 minutes proved crucial as the hosts closed with 17 unanswered points to take a lead into halftime.
At the fulcrum of that moment was Muskett. After battling back from a shoulder injury that is expected to require surgery after the season, he had just left his team in an unenviable spot with the fumble. How he handled that moment would likely not only determine the outcome of the game, but potentially a whole other can of worms in the future.
“He just let us know that he’s got us, that was on him, and it wouldn’t happen again,” Jones said of Muskett’s leadership after the fumble. “He’s a cool, level-headed guy. He’s not really a guy that make a mistake and gets down on himself, he’s a guy that looks to ‘we’re going to score next drive, we’re going to score the drive after that’ and that’s what he did.”
Muskett engineered a 6-play, 66-yard touchdown drive as the start of the response. He connected with Malachi Fields for 22 yards – foreshadowing alert – to start the drive, hit tight end Sackett Wood in the middle for 17 more, and then, after a 12-yard carry by Jones, he finished it off with runs of 8 and 7 yards for the score that made it 13-10.
The defense followed with a 3-and-out to set the table again. Muskett started with a 17-yard completion to Malik Washington, but was sacked for a 7-yard loss on the ensuing first down. That eventually led to a 3rd-and-19 play where Muskett escaped some pressure and found Washington open in a pocket on the left side for a 42-yard gain. The Tribe got another sack later in the drive and Will Bettridge tied it up 13-13 with a 37-yard kick.
The two teams traded 3-and-out possessions in the final 3 minutes, which led to one of those short punts. Daniel Sparks’ misfire resulted in just a 5-yard punt and left the UVA defense to defend at its own 34-yard line. On the third play of the drive, however, King knocked the ball out of William & Mary’s Hollis Mathis’ hands and Tayvonn Kyle recovered the fumble to end the threat at the 21-yard line. That proved to be a huge moment in a game that was still tied.
“When I made that play, I was just excited that they actually gave me the forced fumble and then I realized ‘Wow, that kind of stopped momentum that they would’ve got with any kind of score, a field goal or a touchdown,'” King said. “It just stopped their momentum their and I feel like it did a lot for our team. We kept them scoreless after that so I think it did a lot.”
Muskett still wasn’t done with his response either. After a the 3-and-out on the offense’s first opportunity to end the half with the 2-minute drill, King’s fumble set up a new chance with 55 seconds to go. The Hoos were aggressive after an 18-yard run by Jones quickly pushed the ball toward midfield. Muskett hit freshman receiver for Jaden Gibson for 16 yards into William & Mary territory and then kept the ball for 10 yards to move it down to the 35-yard line. He found Washington for 9 yards on the next throw but he was tackled just short of out of bounds or a first down. That led to a timeout with 11 seconds to go.
Virginia decided to take a shot with the limited time remaining. That decision proved fruitful as Muskett lofted a pass into the left corner of the end zone where Fields came down with a late-half touchdown for the second straight week. The 26-yard touchdown strike gave UVA the lead that it never relinquished.
“It was huge. Huge, huge,” Jones said. “Football games are won on 5 or 6 plays and I think those drives that he led contributed to those 5 or 6 plays that helped us get over the hump.”
An offensive drive finally put it to bed in the fourth quarter. For the offense, a pair of fourth down conversions helped set up a 27-yard touchdown pass from Muskett to Washington that led to the 27-13 winning margin with 11 minutes to go.
Muskett finished the game 17-26 passing for 232 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Jones posted 134 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Kobe Pace added 20 carries for 83 yards. The Hoos had 45 carries for 221 yards, easily a season-best performance. Washington added 7 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, while Fields had 4 catches for 63 yards and a score.
The scoring drives held up thanks to a strong effort from the defense, though. After King’s forced fumble late in the first half, UVA held William & Mary to 136 yards in the second half. That included allowing just 26 rushing yards in the fourth quarter.
The key moment for the Virginia defense, though, came late in the third quarter. The Tribe had a long drive going that reached the Virginia 16-yard line in what was still a one-score game at the time. After a false start, UVA allowed 1 yard on a pair of runs and then stopped Darius Wilson scrambling 2 yards short of the sticks on 3rd-and-14. The visitors went for it on fourth down, but Ben Smiley III and Kyle combined for a 2-yard loss to stop the drive.
Freshman Kam Robinson led Virginia with 12 tackles, while James Jackson and Jonas Sanker added 9 and 8 stops, respectively. King had 7 tackles plus the big forced fumble in the first half.
The Hoos enter their bye week at 1-5 on the season, but with a win to boost their spirits.
“Oh, man, it’s huge. Obviously, the record, I know nobody’s, trust me, nobody in our locker room, in this organization feels excited or feels good about where we are. You got a group of folks that realize the opportunities we didn’t take advantage of and we want to make sure that we capitalize on the ones going forward,” Elliott said. “But, really, it’s just confirmation for those guys in there because they’ve worked extremely hard. As I said, there’s a ton of adversity that they’ve been through that has been seen publicly and then there’s a lot of adversity that a lot of people don’t realize, and the fact that they show up every single day. Also shout out to the student body. I thought they showed up, that’s three home games where they’ve showed up, they’ve been loud. They’ve been very supportive. So very, very appreciative of the other students and the fans as well for showing up. I know it’s not what any of us desire or expect but I appreciate both of them showing up and that’s what you guys got, a football team that shows up every single day.”
