Virginia was playing for more than a result Saturday. On UVA Strong Day , the Cavaliers were playing to honor the late Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D'Sean Perry. They did so by winning 42-3.
Here are the important notes and quotes from Coach Tony Elliott's postgame press conference:
Elliott began his press conference by speaking about the Davis, Chandler and Perry families. He has done so often, emphasizing that Lavel, Devin and D'Sean are at the heart of his Virginia program.
"Today is a is a very special day, also a a challenging day for for many folks, and just very very grateful to Happy Perry and family and Simone Davis and family and Delana Chandler and family for choosing to be a part of of this day, I can't imagine how difficult it is it is for them," Elliott said. "Thankful to the fans and the students that showed up to to support to create an atmosphere that hopefully brings some peace, some comfort, hope to those to those families."
Elliott - and Cavaliers players said that bringing a win to the families and Virginia faithful was special. Virginia's head coach told the medai that he was truly proud of his team for showing up and giving their best to make UVA Strong Day a special evening.
The Cavaliers were rather dissatisfied with their performance against West Virginia last week. But they did as Elliott said - flushing out the result and focusing on going 1-0 this week.
"I thought what you saw tonight was a reflection of how they responded," Elliott said. "I thought that they they responded the right way in in in practice, and it showed in the game where we were able to do the things that we wanted to work on and improve. And that was a fast start. Play complementary football, try to avoid the low in the second quarter offensively, win the middle eight, and then find a way to finish in the in the fourth quarter. And I thought we made progress in a lot of those areas."
"The ACC is a really, really, really good league, from top to bottom, and anybody can play with anybody in our league," Elliott said. "It's going to be a very competitive next couple months in our league, and so every win that you get in league is going to be is going to be huge. And then the other thing that that that I express to the to the group is my mindset has always been in this league to win this league you gotta go through Tallahassee."
Virginia knows firsthand how facing Florida State can lead to great success. Last season's upset victory over the Seminoles (then ranked No. 8 nationally) needs no introduction. But even before then, Florida State has been the part of great Cavaliers seasons.
Virginia faced the Seminoles in 2019, 2005, 1995 and other crucial battles. Elliott has leaned into that fact.
"They're extremely talented, they're well coached, and like if you want to find your way to Charlotte, you got to win down in down in down in Tallahassee, and this will be the first time taking a team down there," Elliott said. "It's a it's it's a tough place to play, right? I'm glad it's not a night game, to be honest with you, because it gets it gets pretty it gets pretty it gets rocking down there...."
"And so that's the way we're going to approach it. And really, we're going to approach it from the standpoint of of now we're into the to the heart of our schedule. It's ACC play. This group, you know, has a has a passion and a desire to work their way and earn their way back to Charlotte, and it starts with a trip down to Tallahassee."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginia as Important notes and quotes from Virginia's Tony Elliott after destroying Delaware .
