The Virginia Cavaliers suffered their first ACC loss of the season on Saturday night, falling 16-9 at home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Virginia reached the Wake Forest 5-yard line on its final possession, but its 4th down pass attempt fell incomplete to seal Wake Forest’s triumph.
The Cavaliers, ranked No. 14 in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, were in the initial CFP bracket as the highest-ranked ACC team. They gave up just 1 touchdown to Wake Forest. It came on special teams, courtesy of Carlos Hernandez, who housed a punt from 88 yards away.
Virginia (8-2, 5-1 ACC) is now in a 4-way tie atop the conference with Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh and SMU. Duke, at 4-1 in ACC play, is lurking just behind the aforementioned foursome. Both Miami — who beat Syracuse on Saturday — and Louisville — who lost at home to California in overtime — are 4-2 in conference.
The Cavaliers played a large chunk of Saturday’s game without starting quarterback Chandler Morris. The senior signal-caller was knocked out of action in the second quarter after taking a big hit from a pair of Demon Deacon defenders. Backup quarterback Daniel Kaelin threw for 145 yards in relief of Morris.
Virginia heads to Durham for a big matchup against Duke next Saturday, Nov. 15 (3:30 p.m. E.T.).
