Virginia makes history as it obliterates William & Mary 55-16 on UVA Strong day

(Charlottesville) - The Cavaliers made a statement Saturday putting up 55 points on the Tribe on UVA Strong day. Virginia started the day out strong by honoring the families affected by the tragedy in 2022, having those families and former Wahoo running back who was also shot, Mike Hollins lead the Wahoo Walk into the stadium. The stadium held a moment of silence before the national anthem for the tragedy.

Pretty early in the first drive, the Hoos were faced with a 4th and one situation. Morris dropped back to pass and nobody was open. However, the offensive line held strong to let Morris rush for 7 yards and the first down. That drive ended in wide receiver Kameron Courtney taking a handoff 23 yards to the endzone. The following drive for UVA, J’Mari Taylor found the endzone when he took a direct snap past the goal line in a very similar look to his direct snap against Coastal Carolina. Virginia ended the first quarter up 14-0.

Passing fireworks kicked off the second quarter for the Hoos, Chandler Morris finding Dakota Twitty and Kameron Courtney for a combined 47 yards. Xavier Brown then capped off the drive, rushing 4 yards to the house. Virginia would then give up the Tribe’s first touchdown of the day, a 79-yard pass to Deven Thompson. The closest safety was Corey Costner, and he was nowhere near the play. The name to know on the next Cavaliers drive was Noah Vaughn. Initially he had a rush of 26 yards, but that was called back for a holding penalty against Jack Witmer. Vaughn would then rush for a combined 63 more yards in that same drive, unfortunately going down after his last run and did not return to the game. Harrison Waylee ran into the endzone for three yards to end that drive.

With Sage Ennis out today, 2nd year tight end John Rogers got more playing time than usual. Rogers in the 2nd quarter hauled in a 25-yard reception, and then a 3-yard reception for a touchdown. That touchdown ended Chandler Morris’ Day, bringing in Daniel Kaelin with 3:58 to go in the second… yes SECOND quarter. After another defensive stop, Virginia got the ball again, it began its drive with Suderian Harrison taking a jet sweep 56 yards. Waylee then rushed 8 yards into the endzone for another Cavalier touchdown. That would finally wrap up the explosive second quarter the Hoos had, giving them the lead 42-7.

The Hoos made another quick defensive stop to begin the second half, earning the ball at their own three-yard line. Harrison Waylee would then take over. Waylee took his handoff 97 yards to the house for Virginia. That would be the longest carry in Virginia history, the previous record holder was Mikell Simpson who had a 96-yard rush in the Gator Bowl against Texas Tech in 2008.

After a handful of points, Virginia would eventually get to wrap up the game with Freshman Cole Geer in at QB, winning 55-16.

Longest carry in school history was not the only record broken Saturday. Virginia earned the most offensive yards in a game in program history with 700. The previous record was 691, earned by the 1968 Virginia team, against Davidson in 1968. That team was led by the one and only Frank Quayle.

QUICK TAKES

The offense - WOW. Everybody expected UVA to dominate this football game but not like that. 55 points is the most in the Elliott era, and backups were in for over half of the game. The rushing was incredible between Xavier Brown, J'Mari Taylor, Noah Vaughn, and Harrison Waylee. Offensive line was good again giving up zero sacks.

Defensive line - Going into this one, a lot of eyes were on the Virginia defensive line, hoping to get some pressure on the quarterback, something UVA has lacked so far this season. They ended with three sacks and seven QB hurries. So yes, the defensive line played better but certainly still not up to standard for the talent that is there. Virginia will need more out of their front seven against bigger opponents.

Defensive backs - While Virginia only gave up 16, there was a couple of scares from the defensive back room. The first William & Mary touchdown took the top OFF of the Cavalier defense with no answers. Another deep touchdown pass should have been completed to open the second half for the Tribe. Their receiver was wide open but dropped the open pass in the endzone. The nearest receiver that time was Emmanual Karnley. Those are going to need to be cleaned up.

History being made - Two records being set by the Cavalier offense today is incredible. Virginia should play well against an FCS opponent like William & Mary but still impressive. 700 total offensive yards is outstanding, and a 97-yard rush from Harrison Waylee is a great confidence booster for the Wyoming transfer.

Bounce back - Last week Virginia dropped a heartbreaker to NC State losing by four. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they turned around and put up this kind of performance on William & Mary. Even if it is an FCS opponent, Virginia came out hot and did NOT let last week's loss linger. Coach Elliott credited it with Workmanship.

Final Word - Make no mistake about it, William and Mary is not a quality opponent for UVA to face, and UVA should dominate a team like the Tribe. However, you cannot ignore what the Virginia offense did lighting up the scoreboard. And except for a couple of hiccups, the defense was pretty consistent all afternoon as well. Virginia has another game they will be favored in coming up next Saturday, opening ACC play at home against Stanford. If all goes well, Virginia could very easily be 3-1 going into a Friday night game hosting ranked red hot Florida State.