Cavaliers get first win given that on-campus shooting

Andrea Adelson, ESPN

• Senior Citizen WriterOct 7, 2023, 05:38 PM ET Close ACC press reporter.
• Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
• Graduate of the University of Florida.Virginia won for the very first time

given that an on-campus shooting eliminated 3 football players in 2015, beating William & Mary 27-13 in a success coach Tony Elliott called “a very long time coming.”It has been almost one calendar year considering that the Cavaliers won a game, returning to a 16-9 victory over Georgia Tech on Oct. 20, 2022. Three weeks later, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were shot and killed on a bus after returning back to school from a school trip Nov. 13, and the rest of the routine season was canceled.Virginia devoted this season to their colleagues and came close to victory in its home opener against James Madison– when the households of all 3 players were honored in a pregame ceremony– before falling simply short 36-35. The Cavaliers went into the William & Mary game 0-5 and on an eight-game losing streak going back to last season, so a victory Saturday– no matter the challenger– was something Elliott and his players would celebrate.Editor’s Picks

1 Associated “It’s been a long time coming,” Elliott said. “They have actually worked extremely hard. They have actually needed to stand firm through a lots of difficulty. I think that most people know what’s on the surface. However behind the scenes, just the things that these boys have actually needed to stand firm through. Just incredibly pleased with them. I don’t care if some people could say it might not be pretty, but a win’s a win and we needed to win.Virginia had actually lost 3 games this season by a combined seven points– difficult results to take after everything that has actually occurred.

“The record, nobody in our locker room, in this organization, feels thrilled or feels excellent about where we are,” Elliott said. “You got a group of folks that recognize the chances we didn’t make the most of, and we want to make sure that we profit from the ones moving forward.

“But, actually, it’s simply confirmation for those men in there due to the fact that they have actually worked exceptionally hard. They show up every day.”

Perris Jones had a career-high 138 backyards rushing on 12 carries and described the win as a “confidence boost.”

“It’s substantial,” Jones said. “Being so close in the last couple games that we’ve had, as we said in the locker space, we’re tired of saying we’re so close, let’s get there. And I believe today we did that.”