The Professor - The Coaching Career of James Xavier

[The JZA]

Nice way to pick up the W. Y'all let Jayden Moore ball out in the redzone though, should we be worried defense on their heels against struggling teams or we letting it slide?

[Agent]

Clutch on 100

[djp73]

that's a hell of a way to steal a W

[Captain Canada]

Nice way to pick up the W. Y'all let Jayden Moore ball out in the redzone though, should we be worried defense on their heels against struggling teams or we letting it slide?

Once they got in the red zone, it didnt matter what we did, Moore would slither his way open. Going to have to make some changes in the secondary for sure. Can't keep battling back like this.

Clutch on 100

that's a hell of a way to steal a W

That pick six blew the roof off the place.

[Chillcavern]

That pick though

Holloway’s got a VERT - and he’s backing up his talk for the second straight week! Love to see that

[Soapy]

a bit too close against a sorry ass duke team but a win is a win. almost bowl eligible.

[Captain Canada]

Week 8 Top Stories
Louisville stuns the masses, pulls off upset against SMU, 21-20 in ACC matchup
Coach Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies prepare for ascent up the top 25 rankings, facing off against Ole Miss
Speaking of Ole Miss, they nearly avoided the upset but couldn't quite do it, losing to Auburn 45-24
Georgia is left looking for answers after dropping their game against Texas A&M

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Week 8 ACC Results
#18 SMU 20 | Louisville 21
#1 Clemson 29 | California 24
Georgia Tech 10 | Stanford 31
#3 Pittsburgh 27 | Boston College 6
Virginia Tech 33 | Miami 23
Wake Forest 27 | #2 NC State 31
Syracuse 17 | #5 North Carolina 20
Duke 24 | Virginia 28

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Week 9 ACC Matchups
Miami (2-5, 0-3) at Wake Forest (2-7, 1-5)
Florida State (3-4, 1-3) at Boston College (2-5, 1-2)
Louisville (3-4, 2-2) at #5 North Carolina (6-1, 2-1)
California (4-3, 2-1) at Virginia (6-2, 2-2)
Georgia Tech (3-4, 1-3) at #3 Pittsburgh (7-1, 4-0)
#1 Clemson (7-0, 4-0) at Syracuse (4-3, 2-2)
Duke (1-6, 0-4) at #2 NC State (6-1, 3-0)

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Heisman Watchlist
QB Alonza Barnett III, Rs Sr » 20-28, 279 passing yards, touchdown, 6 carries, 43 rushing yards (W 29-24 at California)
QB Gio Lopez, Rs Jr » 15-24, 245 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, interception, rushing touchdown (L 34-21 at #12 Louisiana)
QB Kevin Jennings, Rs Sr » 24-36, 254 passing yards, touchdown (L 21-20 at Louisville)
QB A.J. Duffy, Rs Sr » 32-55, 332 passing yards, touchdown, interception (L 24-7 vs Buffalo)
QB Sam Leavitt, Rs Jr » No stats

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Players of the Week
WR Tyler King (Wyoming): (28-7 W vs Air Force) - 10 receptions, 217 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns
DE Deante McCray (Western Kentucky): (24-17 L vs Jacksonville State) - 8 tackles, 4 sacks
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WR Terrell Anderson (NC State): (31-27 W vs Wake Forest) - 7 receptions, 133 receiving yards, 4 touchdowns
DT Felix Hooks (Wake Forest): (31-27 L at #2 NC State) - 7 tackles, 3 sacks

[Captain Canada]

That pick though

Holloway’s got a VERT - and he’s backing up his talk for the second straight week! Love to see that

He's a dawg.

a bit too close against a sorry ass duke team but a win is a win. almost bowl eligible.

I knew you wouldn't let me live down losing to both Florida State AND Duke in one year.

[Captain Canada]

Week 9 Preview: vs California


Record: 4-3, 2-1 ACC
Head Coach: Justin Wilcox
Offensive Scheme: Veer and Shoot
Defensive Scheme: 4-3 Multiple

Injuries
HB Bennett Galloway, Sr - Torn Pectoral (Out)
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LT Nick Morrow, Jr - Dislocated Ankle (Doubtful)

California Projected Starters
QB #15 Fernando Mendoza, Rs Sr | 6'5", 225 lbs | 83 overall
HB #25 Jaivian Thomas, Sr | 5'10", 190 lbs | 90 overall
WR #13 Nyziah Hunter, Rs Jr | 6'2", 210 lbs | 86 overall
WR #8 Mikey Matthews, Rs Jr | 5'9", 180 lbs | 85 overall
WR #84 Jaiven Pulmmer, Rs Sr | 6'3", 200 lbs | 83 overall
TE #87 Jack Endries, Rs Sr | 6'4", 240 lbs | 86 overall
LT #69 Aiden Newbill, Rs So | 6'8", 285 lbs | 77 overall
LG #77 Braeden Miller, Rs Sr | 6'6", 310 lbs | 77 overall
C #63 Johnny Isaacs, Fr | 6'2", 283 lbs | 66 overall
RG #56 Jamie Hartley, Rs So | 6'4", 304 lbs | 81 overall
RT #54 Frederick Williams III, Rs Jr | 6'5", 295 lbs | 80 overall
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DE #55 B.J. Canady, Rs So | 6'5", 270 lbs | 85 overall
DE #52 Zurich Ashford, Rs Jr | 6'2", 280 lbs | 79 overall
DT #51 Curlee Thomas IV, Rs Sr | 6'4", 260 lbs | 80 overall
DT #93 Akio Martinson, Rs So | 6'1", 298 lbs | 73 overall
WILL #18 Serigne Tounkara, Rs Jr | 6'2", 235 lbs | 76 overall
MIKE #41 Luke Ferrelli, Rs So | 6'3", 215 lbs | 82 overall
SAM #44 Steve Bond, Rs Fr | 6'3", 236 lbs | 75 overall
CB #5 Kelvin Vardell, So | 5'11", 178 lbs | 83 overall
CB #8 Jasiah Wagoner, Rs Jr | 5'11", 180 lbs | 82 overall
FS #9 Ryan Yaites, Rs Sr | 6'1", 200 lbs | 83 overall
SS #14 Russell Willis, So | 6'2", 195 lbs | 79 overall
K #17 Andre Alaka, So | 6'0", 180 lbs | 70 overall
P #19 Randy Holliday, So | 6'3", 191 lbs | 74 overall
KR #21 Byron Cardwell, Rs Jr | 6'0", 215 lbs | 92 overall

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Coach James Xavier's Gameplan

"We did the one thing we couldn't do last week and that was underestimate our opponent. We almost choked away the game there. We got very lucky. We need to stop playing games with the expectations that we can dig deep and pull a win out of our asses. California still has a season to play for. They're going to give us everything we can handle. Our goal has to be to dominate from the first snap. Get our reads on offense and execute our gameplan. We need to get to the quarterback on defense - make his evening a living hell. They have an impressive athlete at running back. We need to clamp down on the run and get off the field on third and short distances. We sucked at that last weekend."

[Captain Canada]

‣ CFB 2026 Regular Season, Week 9 - Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, Virginia
(4-3, 2-1 ACC) California Golden Bears at Virginia Cavaliers (6-2, 2-2 ACC)

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CAL | 0 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 30
UVA | 0 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 42

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Cavaliers outlast Golden Bears in unexpected shootout, rattle off 5th straight win

If you were to come across Virginia head coach James Xavier after their fifth straight victory, outlasting California, 42-30, you would have sworn the team lost. That's how upset he was. That's how high the standard for Cavaliers football has been set.

"We may as well have lost that game, that was such a piss-poor effort from our defense, it was absolutely atrocious," he said to the media post-game. "We made Fernando Mendoza - who, in his own right, is a perfectly fine quarterback and played a great game - look like prime Aaron Rodgers out there. Getting diced up by Cal like that. I don't know what kind of dreams we have on this football team, but it's certainly not of a the College Playoffs. I'll tell you that much for free."

After a scoreless first quarter, the Cavaliers and the Golden Bears traded touchdowns, with Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea hooking up with wide receiver Suderian Harrison and running back Noah Vaughn for touchdown. But, a back-breaking 97-yard full-field run from Golden Bears running back Jaivian Thomas set the game ablaze.

"Horrific tackling, horrifying angles of pursuit. It was all so bad."

Donte Hawthorne would get three touchdowns in the second half to push the Cavaliers lead to a comfortable level but defensive coordinator Brandon Fisher opted to leave his first-team defense in the game in the fourth quarter.

"It was their mess, they should finish it."

The team would allow two garbage time touchdowns to California and allowed an onside kick to boot. It would have been a third had cornerback Tayon Holloway not intercepted the ball in the end zone to end the game.

The team will take a hard look in the mirror and embrace a much needed bye week.

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Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NO SCORING

2nd Quarter
Suderian Harrison, 1-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea (Jawan Hocker kick) [8:55]
Nyziah Hunter, 36-yard pass from Fernando Mendoza (Andre Alaka kick) [7:46]
Noah Vaughn, 11-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea (Jawan Hocker kick) [2:50]
Jaivian Thomas, 97-yard run (Kick blocked) [1:46]
Triston Ward, 12-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea (Jawan Hocker kick) [1:05]

3rd Quarter
Donte Hawthorne, 1-yard run (Jawan Hocker kick) [5:37]
Andre Alaka, 34-yard field goal [3:54]

4th Quarter
Donte Hawthorne, 1-yard run (Jawan Hocker kick) [5:31]
Jack Endries, 15-yard pass from Fernando Mendoza (Andre Alaka kick) [2:50]
Donte Hawthorne, 9-yard run (Jawan Hocker kick) [1:42]
Jaiven Plummer, 6-yard pass from Fernando Mendoza (Andre Alaka kick) [0:30]

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Player Stats
QB Anthony Colandrea: 34-41, 354 passing yards, 3 touchdowns
QB Fernando Mendoza: 34-47, 407 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, interception

HB Donte Hawthorne: 19 carries, 95 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 18 receiving yards
HB Noah Vaughn: 12 carries, 39 rushing yards, 5 receptions, 42 receiving yards, touchdown
HB Jaivian Thomas: 13 carries, 128 rushing yards, touchdown

TE Dom President: 8 receptions, 106 receiving yards
WR Jaden Gibson: 13 receptions, 132 receiving yards
WR Suderian Harrison: 4 receptions, 40 receiving yards, touchdown
TE Jack Endries: 9 receptions , 102 receiving yards, touchdown
WR Nyziah Hunter: 8 receptions, 119 receiving yards, touchdown
WR Jackson Harris: 5 receptions, 45 receiving yards

CB Kevon Gray: 11 tackles, tackle for loss
MLB Myles Brown: 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
CB Tayon Holloway: 3 tackles, interception
OLB Serigne Tounkara: 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
CB Jasiah Wagoner: 11 tackles
MLB Kana'i Lopes: 14 tackles, tackle for loss