The 2024 ACC Preseason Poll was released Wednesday, and Virginia football was picked 16th out of 17 teams, landing only above conference newcomer Stanford. The poll is voted on by 170 members of the media, and the low ranking suggests an expectation that the Cavaliers will not improve much from the 2023 season, in which they posted a mere two conference victories.
“[I am] not surprised,” Coach Tony Elliott said. “We earned that. Last time we stepped on the field in an ACC game, we did not do our part.”
Elliott was referring to the 55-17 thrashing his team took from Virginia Tech at Scott Stadium last November. Virginia allowed 500 yards of total offense to their rival Hokies, who were voted sixth in this year’s preseason poll. Elliott has won just six games with the program since being hired in 2022, and he knows the standard has to be raised.
“We got a lot of work to do,” Elliott said. “We believe that we can finish better than that.”
Despite a 3-9 overall record last season, the Cavaliers showed flashes of being a serious football team. They pulled out a historic 31-27 road win over No. 10 North Carolina and also earned a 30-27 victory against Duke, who later won a bowl game. Virginia also lost a trio of conference contests by just three points, signaling that the team was closer to being a serious ACC contender than its record suggested. The ACC media doesn’t seem to be buying that, but Elliott is advising his players not to be concerned.
“This is the preseason — I told the guys, ‘Don’t worry about what people are saying in the preseason,’” Elliott said. “All that matters is what they’re saying at the end of the season. Today was the start of us making our case for that. All we can do is focus on what we can control — and what we can control is what we think, what we believe — and then come out here every single day with purpose to be able to bring that to life.”
Virginia’s 2024 campaign kicks off Aug. 31 against Richmond at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers will jump right into conference play following that game, as they will then travel to play Wake Forest Sep. 7.
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