After Saturday night’s humbling performance against West Virginia, Tony Elliott must get his Virginia Cavaliers to immediately regroup and prepare for an underrated Delaware team this Saturday. Their primary focus can’t be on reaching the ACC championship game or the College Football Playoff.
Even so, Saturday’s results may have ended the Cavaliers’ chances of either of those lofty preseason goals — even if they somehow go unbeaten for the rest of the season.
True, a 38-27 loss to the Mountaineers in Charlotte doesn’t affect their ACC record. Just like last year’s nonconference defeat at NC State, it gave them an early wake-up call and time to address their weaknesses. And they did just that in 2025.
Can they rebound again?
But Saturday’s loss exposed several flaws that weren’t apparent in this season’s rematch with NC State or a 59-3 romp over Norfolk State. The Mountaineers gashed Virginia’s defense for 247 rushing yards, exploited that number with effective play-action passes, and put far more pressure on Beau Pribula than either the Wolfpack or Spartans did…