CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Backup running back Harrison Waylee ran for 65 yards and the go-ahead touchdown and Virginia’s defense turned in one of its best defensive outings of the season as the No. 19 Cavaliers topped Missouri 13-7 in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

Waylee, playing for J’Mari Taylor – who opted out of the game – took a direct snap and scored from 2-yards out in the third quarter to help UVA (11-3) set a school record for wins and notch its first victory against an SEC opponent since blanking South Carolina 28-0 in the 2018 Belk Bowl.

It was the third time this season that Virginia’s defense held an opponent to just seven points in a game. It also did that in home wins over Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Unlike Taylor, Missouri star running back Ahmad Hardy did play Saturday night and, with 89 yards on 15 carries, set the program’s single-season rushing record. 

Missouri got the ball back one final time, with 1:33 to play at its own 18-yard-line. Quarterback Matt Zollers, playing for starter Beau Pribula, who opted out, drove the Tigers (8-5) to UVA 21, before exiting with an injury. Missouri’s final play, a pass by third-string QB Brett Brown, fell incomplete in the end zone as the Cavaliers bounced back from its disappointing ACC title game loss to Duke.

UVA safety Devin Neal broke up the final pass. He and linebacker Landon Danley each finished with a team-high 10 tackles.

This was the eighth time Virginia played a one-score game this season. It went 5-3 in those contests. 

Quarterback Chandler Morris, who is seeking a waiver to return to UVA next season, went 25 for 38 for 198 yards, earning Gator Bowl MVP honors. He helped the Cavaliers go 13 for 23 on third downs. He was 10 for 10 passing on third down.

Missouri took the early lead, going ahead 7-0 on a Jamal Roberts 5-yard rushing touchdown just 3:04 into the game.

Virginia went to the locker room down 7-3 after Will Bettridge hit a 42-yard field goal but missed from 44.

It was UVA’s lowest-scoring first half of the season and just the second time this year it failed to score a first-half touchdown. (It settled for two first-half field goals in a loss to Wake Forest on Nov. 8. 

The Cavaliers opened the second half with a record-setting scoring drive to take the lead. They went 75 yards in 19 plays, eating 10:07 off the clock. It was their longest drive – by plays and by time – this year and their longest ever in a bowl game.

The march ended with a new face running a familiar play. Virginia used the direct-snap to the running back that Taylor ran so often successfully during the regular season. This time, it was Waylee taking the snap and scoring from 2-yards out, putting UVA ahead 10-7 with 4:53 left in the third quarter.

On Missouri’s ensuing possession, Emmanuel Karnley intercepted Zollars, setting up a 38-yard field by Bettridge and a 13-7 Virginia lead with a minute left in the third quarter.

UVA’s defense made sure that held up.

Virginia, which was picked to finish 14th in the ACC in the preseason, had gone just 11-23 in coach Tony Elliott’s first three seasons in Charlottesville. It went 11-3, won the conference regular-season crown, and came within an overtime loss in the ACC championship game of reaching the College Football Playoff.