The last 10 years of Virginia football have been unsatisfactory. The Cavaliers have stumbled to a 51-69 record, gone through three head coaches and managed only one winning season in the ACC. A program that once frequently contended for bowl games and national rankings in the late 20th century now views a .500 season as a success.
However, while Virginia football fans have suffered more defeat and humiliation than anything else in recent years, there have also been several things worth celebrating. Between exciting late wins, historic upset victories, shattered program records and one touching display of resilience, the Cavaliers have put together a collection of good memories in recent years.
Here are The Cavalier Daily’s top 10 Virginia football moments of the last decade.
10. Virginia erases a double-digit deficit, takes down Syracuse in triple overtime
The 2015 season was a year to forget for Virginia, who went 4-8 in a lackluster season that spelled the end for Coach Mike London’s career in Charlottesville. But on a sunny October afternoon at Scott Stadium, the second of those four wins arrived in grand fashion against Syracuse.
The Cavaliers found themselves down by ten points heading into the fourth quarter but battled back and sent the game to overtime on an Ian Frye field goal as time expired. Each team scored touchdowns on their first two possessions in overtime, but after a missed field goal by Syracuse in the third overtime period, running back Jordan Ellis scampered into the endzone to give the Cavaliers a marathon 44-38 win.
9. Cavaliers win a shootout against Georgia Tech as Kurt Benkert tosses the game-winning touchdown
As Virginia’s football program was turning around during its second year under Coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Cavaliers held a 5-3 record when Georgia Tech came to town in November of 2017. With the hosts trailing 36-33 and 3:10 remaining in the game, quarterback Kurt Benkert orchestrated a five-play drive that culminated in a 27-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Levrone with just over a minute left to play. The Cavaliers defense stopped the Yellow Jackets on their ensuing drive, and Virginia’s record improved to 6-3.
8. Virginia beats Miami 30-28 after Hurricanes’ game-winning field goal attempt clangs off the upright
The Cavaliers sat at the bottom of the ACC after a pair of 20-point defeats to open conference play in 2021. When they traveled to Miami Gardens to take on Miami at the end of September, it looked like the losing streak was about to continue.
The Hurricanes trailed by two points with the ball on Virginia’s 16-yard line and three seconds remaining — a simple 33-yard field goal would send the Cavaliers home with yet another loss. But stunningly, as the kick left the foot of Miami kicker Andres Borregales, the ball sailed left and bounced off the upright, falling to the ground as Virginia players streamed onto the field to celebrate their first ACC win of the season. That was the first of four straight Cavalier victories.
7. Malik Washington breaks single-season record for receptions, yards
His team won only three games in the 2023 season, but that didn’t stop wide receiver Malik Washington from putting together the best receiving season in Virginia history. Washington exploded for a nation’s best 110 receptions and added 1,426 yards, both of which are program records. He added nine touchdowns to his historic graduate year, which also included 10 100-yard receiving games and three ACC Receiver of the Week honors.
Washington was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft in June and will begin his rookie season in September.
6. Bronco Mendenhall leads Virginia to its first bowl win in 13 years
2018 brought a brief return to postseason success for the Cavaliers, who had been without a bowl win since 2005. Virginia started the season 6-2, and even after losing three of its final four regular season games, the Cavaliers were selected to play in the Belk Bowl against South Carolina.
Virginia took the field at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. and dominated the Gamecocks, holding them to just 251 total yards and 12 first downs. Quarterback Bryce Perkins and wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus connected for a trio of touchdowns as the Cavaliers coasted to a 28-0 win.
5. Cavaliers score 28 unanswered points to take down No. 15 North Carolina
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia hosted No. 15 North Carolina at a limited-capacity Scott Stadium on Halloween of 2020. The Cavaliers weren’t fazed by their lack of typical home field advantage as they totaled six touchdowns and held off a late Tar Heels comeback to win 44-41. North Carolina outgained Virginia by over 100 yards, but the Cavaliers forced two key turnovers en route to their fourth consecutive win in the South’s Oldest Rivalry.
4. Brennan Armstrong shatters program passing records
Entering the 2021 campaign, no quarterback in Virginia history had thrown for more than 3,538 yards in a single season. Brennan Armstrong only needed nine games to get there.
Armstrong put together the all-time greatest statistical season by a Cavalier quarterback, compiling a program-record 4,449 passing yards — surpassing the mark set by Perkins in 2019 — while claiming each of the school’s three highest single-game passing yard totals. He also outdid Matt Schaub’s single-season passing touchdowns record set in 2002, as Armstrong accounted for 31 scores through the air.
3. Virginia stuns North Carolina, notches first top 10 road win in program history
The Cavaliers were a 23.5-point underdog for their road trip to No. 10 North Carolina last year. The 6-0 Tar Heels had their sights set on an undefeated season, and though Virginia was supposed to represent a miniscule hurdle on that path, the Cavaliers proved to be an overwhelming obstacle.
Running back Mike Hollins punched in three touchdowns, Washington added one through the air and the Virginia defense held North Carolina to just three points in the final 24 minutes of play as the Cavaliers won 31-27. The program’s first-ever road win against a top 10 team was sealed by linebacker James Jackson, who leaped to intercept a pass from North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye on the hosts’ final possession.
2. Bryce Perkins’ magic, defensive heroics push the Cavaliers past the Hokies for the ACC Coastal title
The program’s best win of the decade came in the 2019 Commonwealth Clash. Virginia squared off with Virginia Tech in its regular season finale, and with both teams sitting at a 5-2 ACC record, the winner would take home the ACC Coastal title.
The Cavaliers had not beaten the Hokies in 15 tries entering the game, but a 475-yard, three-touchdown performance from Perkins had them in front 33-30 with 1:23 remaining. Virginia Tech tried to put together a drive to extend the game, but Virginia forced a Hokies fumble and returned it for a touchdown, sealing a 39-30 victory and a spot in its first-ever ACC Championship game.
1. Mike Hollins leads the Cavaliers out of the tunnel in their return to game action following the 2022 shooting
Tragedy struck the University in November 2022, when five students were wounded in a mass shooting on Grounds. Four of the victims were members of the football team, and three players — D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler — lost their lives. Running back Mike Hollins was wounded, but recovered from his injuries and was healthy to play the 2023 season.
The following September, as the Cavaliers took the field for the first time since the shooting, Hollins led the team out of the tunnel and into Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium while holding a Virginia flag. It was a special display of resilience and the defining moment of the college football season.
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