Virginia just slammed the door on NC State with a program-record 23-play touchdown drive, and if you weren’t watching, you missed college football getting a serious wake-up call. This wasn’t just a drive, it was a statement that Virginia’s 2025 season was no fluke, and the 2026 squad might be even better.
The Soul-Crushing Drive That Broke the Wolfpack
NC State quarterback Will Wilson cut Virginia’s lead to 24-8 with 4:59 left in the third quarter after a designed run and two-point conversion. Any hint of momentum for the Wolfpack? Gone, absolutely evaporated by the Cavaliers. Over the next 12:15 of game time, Virginia meticulously marched from their own 25-yard line, featuring 18 runs to just five pass attempts. They had a gain on 21 of those plays! Head Coach Tony Elliott admitted, “As the drive went longer and longer, they could feel it.” He was so locked in, he didn’t even know it was 23 plays, just focused on keeping the ball and scoring. They converted four fourth-down attempts before Xay Davis punched it in from one yard out, capping a soul-crushing drive that drained the final five minutes of the third quarter and almost half of the fourth.
Old Guys Up Front, New Levels of Domination
Quarterback Beau Pribula joked postgame, “I wanted to get off the field as fast as possible because those guys up front are old. They can’t take a beating like that.” But those “old guys” on Virginia’s offensive line were the ones dishing out the pain all afternoon. This is a unit that got national buzz for their combined 31 seasons of collegiate experience, and they showed why. They allowed just one sack, with four of the five starters giving up zero pressure. These experienced pros paved the way for an insane 258-yard rushing output. Pribula himself, on a heavy diet of 12 designed runs plus two scrambles, plowed for a career-high 120 rushing yards. And five other Virginia backs chipped in another 138 yards on the ground. Pribula summed it up perfectly: “That’s who we are, in a sense. That’s what we’re able to do. It just opens up so many things when you have guys like that up front that are so experienced, and they’re so level-headed, and they’re so easy to work with.”
A Statement That Echoes
Virginia finished off their 34-8 rout of the Wolfpack with one final field goal late in the fourth, snapping a four-game losing streak against NC State that dated back to 2018. This wasn’t just a win, it was a full-blown declaration. The Cavaliers’ seasoned front five and relentless ground game have put the entire college football world on notice. They are for real, and they mean business this season. Get ready.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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