CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The last time Virginia trailed going into the fourth quarter of a football game was Dec. 6, 2025 against Duke in the ACC championship game. Saturday night, back in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium for the first time since that title tilt, the Cavaliers found themselves behind a touchdown in the last frame against regional rival West Virginia.

On that night, UVA rallied to force overtime. This time around, it mustered no such comeback.

West Virginia quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 123 yards and three scores as the Mountaineers downed No. 25 Virginia 38-27 in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. He became the first quarterback since Virginia Tech’s Braxton Burmeister in 2021 to run for 100 yards against the Cavaliers. His 5-yard touchdown run with 5:24 to play gave the Mountaineers a two-touchdown lead and effectively ended UVA’s hopes of starting 3-0 for the first time since 2019.

The Cavaliers’ defense allowed two long scoring drives, one each in the third and fourth quarters, while the offense failed to score on seven of its nine final full possessions.

“I felt like we came out, we really attacked,” offensive lineman Monroe Mills said. “I was really proud of the guys. I could see a lot of energy, a lot of want to. We just came up short.”

Virginia (2-1) went up 14-7 in the first quarter, then never led again. In all, UVA surrendered 439 total yards to the Mountaineers in a loss that will almost definitely knock it from the Top 25 rankings.

“We always have the mindset that we want to come back and win,” defensive end Fisher Camac said. “Unfortunately, we gave up too many plays. The moments we needed to make plays, we didn’t.”

In its last visit to Charlotte, UVA scored 10 points in the final 3:52 of the ACC title game, forcing overtime with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Chandler Morris to Eli Wood. Saturday night, the Cavaliers were shutout in the final frame until a cosmetic touchdown with 21 seconds to go.

Quarterback Beau Pribula went 21 for 33 for 197 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked three times behind an offensive line that lost left guard Noah Josey in the second quarter. Running back Jekail Middlebrook rushed 17 times for 75 yards and a touchdown and Xavier Brown added 71 yards and a touchdown on eight rushes.

Virginia jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, piling up 136 yards of total offense in that frame. Jekail Middlebrook and Xavier Brown each scored, Middlebrook capping the Cavaliers’ opening drive with an 8-yard scoring run, and Brown ripping off a 47-yard sprint to the end zone on UVA’s third possession.

But after that, the Cavaliers’ offense bogged down and its defense appeared to wear down. 

After Virginia scored touchdowns on two of its first three possessions, it managed just three punts the rest of the half.

“I thought there were opportunities that we’re going to be proud of and then some opportunities where we can grow,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said. “I don’t think the belief ever wavered.”

The Mountaineers (3-0) and Rich Rodriguez’s up-tempo attack got in gear as the half moved on. 

West Virginia tied the game 14-14 on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Hawkins to DJ Epps with 11:49 left in the half. 

WVU went ahead 21-14 with 26 seconds left in the half on a 15-yard scoring run by Hawkins, his second touchdown of the half and, for the first time this season, UVA found itself behind on the scoreboard. 

On its first possession of the third quarter, Virginia found itself facing a fourth-and-10 at the Mountaineers’ 34-yard line. Pribula threw a pass to a tightly-covered Rico Flores Jr., but the UCLA transfer fought for the catch and hauled in a 26-yard reception for his first catch at UVA. That play seemed to give Virginia some of its swagger back.

Three snaps later, Pribula hit Middlebrook for a 1-yard score, tying the game 21-21 with 7:09 left in the third quarter.

Hawkins responded with a 21-yard scoring strike to Epps, putting the Mountaineers back in front going into the fourth quarter.

Pribula opened the fourth by leading UVA down to the WVU 13-yard line. But on third down, Virginia failed to pick up a Mountaineers’ blitz and Ashton Woods sacked Pribula for a 9-yard loss. Will Bettridge came on and missed a 39-yard field goal attempt.

“I think the mental response, I thought offensively, we did a good job,” Pribula said. “I thought leaders stepped up. Every time we went out, we want to put points on the board. Execution? Obviously we’re standing here with a loss so it wasn’t to where it should have been. But I think we’ll learn and grow from this.”

After the Bettridge miss, Hawkins then led West Virginia on an 8-play, 78-yard scoring drive that he finished off with his 5-yard run.

UVA had no answers for Hawkins or the Mountaineers. And it leaves Charlotte with nothing but questions. Perhaps the biggest: How will the Cavaliers respond after a defeat.

“In the first two games, we really hadn’t faced adversity,” said Elliott, whose team hosts Delaware on Saturday. “I knew going into this game, with that bunch on the other sideline, with their ability to score quickly and be explosive, I knew we were going to have some adversity. And I thought that there times we responded the right way in all three phases. And then there were times where we could have responded better in all three phases.”