CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Tony Elliott went into the 2025 season football season on the hot seat. He’s ending it sitting on a throne.

Running back J’Mari Taylor ran for a score and threw for another as Virginia downed rival Virginia Tech 27-7 on Saturday, earning the ACC’s regular-season title and clinching a spot in the league championship game.

The Cavaliers (10-2, 7-1 ACC), who were picked to finish 14th out of 17 teams in the preseason, will play Duke on Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C.

Quarterback Chandler Morris threw for 182 yards and ran for an 8-yard touchdown as UVA beat the Hokies for just the second time in the last 21 meetings. 

Taylor ran for 80 yards on 20 carries, caught four passes for 34 yards and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sage Ennis.

Tech (3-9, 2-6) tried to come out swinging, with Cameron Seldon returning the opening kickoff from five yards deep in his own end zone. But Virginia’s Eli Wood brought Seldon down at the 6-yard line, backing the Hokies up deep for their first possession.

Drones second pass attempt of the game was deflected by Fisher Camac and picked off by Maddox Marcellus, giving UVA the ball at the Tech 46 with 10:38 to play in the opening quarter. 

That set up Virginia to go ahead 7-0 on a 1-yard touchdown off a direct snap to Taylor, a bread-and-butter short yardage play all year long for the Cavaliers.

Marcellus, playing for the injured Kam Robinson, led the UVA defense with nine tackles, the interception and was in on a sack. Tech put up a season-low 197 yards of total offense.

Virginia went up 14-0 in the second quarter, finally running the offensive wrinkle fans had clamored for all year. With first-and-goal at the 1, UVA again ran the direct snap to Taylor. But this time, the running back popped up and threw the ball to tight end Sage Ennis for the score.

That’s how the teams went to the locker room.

A 27-yard field goal by Will Bettridge with 7:28 left in the third made it a three-score game for the Cavaliers.

Morris put things away with a nifty run late in the third quarter, outrunning a Tech defender, then cutting back and reaching the end zone for an 8-yard score that put UVA ahead 24-0 with 46 seconds left in the period.

Tech finally got on the scoreboard with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Kyron Drones to Shamarius Peterkin with 4:20 left in the game. The Hokies have scored in 395 straight games. This was the eighth time during that streak they needed points in the fourth quarter or overtime to keep it going.