The Virginia Cavaliers beat the No. 8 Florida State Seminoles 46-38 in double overtime on Friday night, handing them their first loss of the season. It was the biggest win of head coach Tony Elliott’s time in Charlottesville, Virginia, and they are now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC.
While both defenses struggled, they also generated several turnovers, and Virginia’s did just enough to get the win. Elliott talked about their effort afterwards and explained why he was happy with them.
“We’re gonna celebrate that one, because they made some plays,” he said. “They made a couple stops, and obviously, they gave up some points. But in the end, they gave us an opportunity, as an offense, to have a few more possessions to be able to go score more points.
“And at the end of the day, man, our number one objective on our plan to win is to outscore the opponent, right? And I think they’re gonna get some confidence from this.”
Elliott also talked about Chanler Morris’ big game, linebacker Kam Robinson, what this game meant to him, and more. Here is everything he had to say after beating FSU.
Opening Statement
When I decided to take the job here, the potential, and man really, really proud of the students and the fans for showing up and man, it made a difference. It made a very, very difficult place for a good football team to come in here to play. So just, man, it’s what it should be, and the team is gonna keep working.
But really, really appreciate everybody, the atmosphere was unbelievable. Man, it felt like a championship kind of game. And that’s what we desire to be as a program.
That’s where we wanna go, but we all gotta do it together. So just appreciate everybody for showing up and making Scott Stadium, what it is, is a very difficult place for opponents to play.
On if tonight was an example of Virginia’s competitive stamina
Definitely, I mean, competitive stamina is just competing to a standard, regardless of circumstance, and the circumstance constantly changed. And I thought the guys did a great job, and that was a heck of a football game.
I mean, that was two teams that both teams wanted to win, and they were gonna fight, and it was gonna come down to who could find a way to make one more play than the other, and in order to do that, you gotta have competitive stamina.
On the catch and run in the 2nd quarter by Trell Harris
You know, it’s kind of that middle eight, right? So we give up a score, and then we come back and we match the score, and then we’re able to come out and get a stop, just to start the third quarter with the missed field goal, and then go down and score, and it was huge, right? It just leveled the game back to a 0-0 game, so that we weren’t chasing a possession, because we knew that this was gonna be a one possession game, that you had to get to the fourth quarter to find a way to win it. And so that was huge, those two big plays, and all that is is hard.
You know, at the end of the day, man, the guys got in position. Jamari was, I don’t know if y’all heard it, that was a loud hit. He got hit right squarely in the hole, and found a way to keep his legs moving and pop out, and so we were able to go in at half, and be basically 0-0 with the 21-21 tie, so it was huge.
On the play of Virginia CB Ja’son Prevard
Man, that’s a heck of a football player, and I told the guys, and really what I’m so proud of is, all I could do was kind of give them the study guide, right, from my experience in games like this, but they had to go pass the test. Right, they had to go do it themselves, and I told them that it was gonna come down to playmakers making plays. I didn’t know who it was gonna be, right? It could be the least likely person that we’re expecting, but he’s gotta be ready to go make a play.
And for him to finish the game with a play, and then to make that play where he tips it up was huge. But playmakers gotta make plays, and he’s showing that he could be a really good playmaker for us. And so what you’re seeing is that he’s more and more comfortable day by day, understanding the scheme, athleticism, the reason we brought him here is because we felt like, from a talent standpoint and a body type, that he has exactly what we’re looking for, and it’s just exciting for him to be able to make those plays that he made today.
On Virginia’s defense
Hey, man, that’s the number one offense in the country, right? And they scored 70-60, and man, they beat Alabama. And so, man, all we wanted to do was find a way to get enough stops to give our offense one or two more possessions than the other team.
So, man, we’re gonna celebrate that one, because they made some plays. They made a couple stops, and obviously, they gave up some points. But in the end, they gave us an opportunity, as an offense, to have a few more possessions to be able to go score more points.
And at the end of the day, man, our number one objective on our plan to win is outscore the opponent, right? And I think they’re gonna get some confidence from this, and I mean, that quarterback is dynamic. I mean, he’s dynamic, and I mean, Duce Robinson, he’s phenomenal. I recruited him a little bit, and first of all, he’s an outstanding young man.
But he’s, I mean, all I’m gonna say is, they got enough stops, and we found a way. We’ll go back to work, we’ll fix it, we’ll find ways to get better. But at the end of the day, when we needed stops, they got us a stop, so that we can score more points than the opponents
On how Virginia ran the ball so effectively
I know people, and I’m glad you asked that question, because people are going to say, well, this cliche is coastal. Belief, at the end of the day, belief.
We got Drake Metcalf starting at center. We got Kevin Wiginton, who was questionable for last week with an ankle injury. And at the end of the day, it’s all belief.
It’s all, and that’s really what I’ve been challenging everybody in our program, is just, man, the heart of a champion. Doesn’t mean you’re perfect, right, but you just believe. You believe beyond your circumstances.
You believe beyond what you see in front of you. And that group, man, I could tell by the way they practiced this week. I could tell by how they showed up for pregame, that they believed.
They didn’t know how it was gonna get done, but they believed. And I didn’t know how it was gonna get done, right? But I believe that, at the end of the day, playmakers are gonna find a way. We’re super proud of that offensive line, and main credit to Terry Heffernan and what he’s been able to do.
We went in the portal and we brought in seven offensive linemen, and right now, five of them unavailable, and still be able to do that versus very quality opponents. But at the end of the day, it’s belief. They believe in Coach Kidds.
They believe in the rest of the coaches in there. They believe in the plan. But more importantly, they believe in the man next to them, and they won’t be denied.
And really, if you think about anything great that’s ever been accomplished, it’s because somebody believed, right?
On quarterback Chandler Morris’ hand injury
He was, and was told in the game that it looks like it’s a little sprained there, but he’s a warrior, man, he’s a warrior.
And just so happy for him, and that’s why he came here. He came here because, you know what, he believed. He believed in me, he believed in the staff, he believed in the players in the locker room, and he believed that he could come in and help this program, take the next step.
So I know that sounds cliche, but at the end of the day, tonight’s all about the good Lord and belief. And hopefully, we can continue to believe and stay humble, so that we can really, really go reach our potential.
On Chandler Morris’ performance
Yeah, I mean, when you’re playing games like that, it’s hard to be clean, playing against really, really good opponents.
And he’s trying to make a play, and the one over here to Jamal, I mean, that’s a competitive play, right? And I know he’s gonna want the one back out row, too, right? But the other one is that he’s trying to go make competitive plays. He’s a warrior, and that’s all you can say. So we’re gonna look at the tape, and we get back in on Sunday, and we’ll evaluate everything like we do.
Just as if we do have one thing that’s very critical, we’re gonna try and go get better when we get our practice practice. So that we can improve on the things we need to improve upon, so that we can get ready for a really, really good Louisville team.
His message to Virginia at halftime, after the game
Yeah, the message in the locker room was, boys, it’s right where you wanna be, right? It’s a little different message than last week, right? I told them, I said, last week, I got after you pretty good, right? Because we kind of stumbled into the middle eight. But we knew it was gonna be a heavyweight fight and a 0-0 at half, right? And we had given them some punches, they had given us some punches. And so we were right where we wanted to be.
That was the message, and I said, hey, it’s gonna come down to who wants it more than you, right? Who’s gonna strain, who’s gonna fight, right? And who’s gonna find a way to make a play? And really, the play that you need to make is a routine play, right? Just focus on making the routine play and get to the fourth quarter. And you’ll find a way to do it.
On Kam Robinson being back for Virginia’s defense
Yeah, I mean, he’s a super dynamic as an athlete. He can go make plays for us when things break down.
He can kind of be an eraser on defense. The guys look to him because they know that he can make things right. But man, I’m excited about, he does get going too.
He’s been down for about four weeks, and he’s on his second week back. But he’s gonna continue to make plays. I think we know that he’s got the capability to be a household name.
We gotta continue to push him, we’re gonna give him poised plays. We know that he’s been a game slow back down for him. And he’s gonna continue to make plays for us.
They rally around him, him,Mitchell Melton. Mitchell Melton continues to make plays. He knows two guys right there, athletic, and give us a chance.
They’re really starting to embrace their opportunities as leaders. So it’s gonna help us get to the next level. But hey, they give us some points.
So we scored a bunch of points too, right? And the reason we did is because we played some complimentary football at times. And we had to stop some more possessions.
On Virginia’s 4th down success, approach
I mean, it’s, hey, to be a champion, you gotta go beat a champion, right? And two years ago, that was the champion of our league, right? And they were in the college football playoff, and it wasn’t for an injury. They probably had a shot to go win it all.
But you can’t coach scared, you can’t play scared. We were playing these guys, so we got to be impressive. And we knew that with their offense, we weren’t gonna be chasing field goals.
We were gonna chasing touchdowns . So we knew we were gonna have to be impressive, especially as we saw the course of it. And in this game, there’s already enough pressure, right? So they don’t need me, you know what I’m saying? But they showed me throughout the course of the game, by the way they prepared, by the way they learned, they responded the right way, they learned our challenge in the last week.
And a game like this, really, what they need from me and the coaches, they already know kind of what’s at stake and how hard it’s gonna be, how busy it’s gonna be, how fast it is, to help them. And the biggest thing for me was just to keep reminding them that, hey, keep believing, keep straining, 0-0, don’t look at the scoreboard, right? One play at a time, do your job.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, they see that we’re playing to win, right? And we got to, right? Because it’s a race to Charlotte for everybody in our league.
And you gotta win, right? You wanna be a champion, man, you gotta go beat champions.
On what this game means for him
You know, for me, I know what I signed up for, right? So I understand that heavy is the corwn, right? That there’s gonna be that.
But for me, it’s really about the Davis family, the Chandler family, the Perry family, the coaches in that locker room, the staff, the players. And just trying to be a model of that for me, right? There’s been days that I didn’t know how I was gonna do it. But as soon as I walk in the office and I see one of their faces, I know why we’re here and what we’re about.
Stay, of course, don’t deviate from the plan, right? Double down on what you believe in. And I came here because I believe that I can be one of the premier football programs in the country to go alongside and do what they wanna do. And that’s what this is, right? And everything associated with this university can just go directly.
That’s why I came. I knew it wasn’t gonna be easy. And I think, you know, no matter what adversity you’re gonna walk into, here’s what I did know is that adversity is a thing, too.
And it is today. So we have to embrace adversity, and that’s where we’re gonna be sitting now. And hopefully, we can change people from the inside out, right? And everybody that is associated and touches the program can look to us and say, you know what, there’s something different about you and that group.
And hopefully, tonight gets peoples attention. If you wanna be a premier program, it’s gonna take all of us, okay? It’s gonna take all of us sitting in this room, having a good relationship, working together. It’s gonna take the folks in the stands, it’s gonna take the students, it’s gonna take our players, it’s gonna take our staff, our administration, our faculty, it’s gonna take everybody, right? But I think that’s what we all want.
And tonight is just being one step in that direction. But in the big scheme of things, we just won an ACC game. And you know what, we go on the road tomorrow, I mean, next week, too, right? We have a chance to win another.
So we wanted to be in the driver’s seat, and that’s all we did. We just keep ourselves in the driver’s seat. We gotta keep two hands on the wheel, put the seatbelt on, right? Make sure that we check the rear view mirror, make sure we’re awake so that we don’t hit a pothole along the way.
On any concerns about the field storming for FSU
I hope that nobody got injured, right? I wanted to shake Mike Norvell’s hand. I got a tremendous amount of respect for him, what he’s done with that program. He’s got a phenomenal team.
Zero, Mr. Little, I wanted to tell him how good of a player I thought he was.In all my year’s preparing for Florida State, I think he’s one of the best that they had come through there.
I wanted to hug Duce Robinson’s neck. I mean, there are a lot of things that I wanna be able to do, but I understand. I’m happy for the folks that wanna be out on the field. I just pray that nobody got seriously injured.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: What Virginia head coach Tony Elliot said after beating FSU
Reporting by JD McCarthy, FSU Wire / FSU Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
