CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia coach Tony Elliott didn’t want to make a quarterback switch during Saturday’s blowout loss at Florida State, leaving backup Eli Holstein on the bench while starter Beau Pribula floundered, being sacked 10 times in the 38-7 setback. 

Around the league, only a handful of QB switches have occurred and all of them, so far, have been related to injuries.

Most notably, undefeated Pittsburgh – Holstein’s former squad – lost Mason Heintschel for the season when he suffered a torn ACL in Friday night’s road win at Virginia Tech. Holden Geriner, who played at Texas State and Auburn before joining the Panthers, will be Pitt’s man behind center the rest of the way.

Virginia’s opponent Saturday switched to Amari Odom at QB. Odom initially got his shot when starter Steve Angelli was injured. But Angelli was cleared and available for the Orange’s game at UConn on Saturday. Still, coach Fran Brown tapped Odom to start.

Odom, who started his career at Wofford and Kennesaw State, responded by throwing for 335 yards, five touchdowns, running for a score and tossing the game-winning two-point conversion pass.

At Clemson, an elbow injury to starter Chris Vizzina opened the door for the Tigers to move on to freshman Tait Reynolds. They’re 2-1 since the move despite Reynolds throwing just one touchdown pass and three interceptions in those games.

Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was injured during Saturday’s loss to UNLV, and the Golden Bears went with Jackson Brousseau to finish the game.

At Virginia, Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings have only truly rotated quarterbacks in one of their past four seasons. 

Last season, UVA started Chandler Morris in all 14 games as the Cavaliers went 11-3. He was knocked out of the team’s loss to Wake Forest on Nov. 8 but returned the following week to quarterback Virginia to a win over Duke.

In 2024, UVA started Anthony Colandrea in the first 11 games before going to veteran Tony Muskett for the finale against Virginia Tech. Colandrea transferred to UNLV after the season and is now starting at Nebraska. 

Back in 2023, the Cavaliers did go back-and-forth between Muskett and Colandrea, with each player starting six games, though injuries to Muskett contributed to the platoon.

Elliott’s first year in Charlottesville, Brennan Armstrong – a returning starter from the Bronco Mendenhall regime – started all 10 games.

That history, combined with Elliott’s dismissal of a question about not changing QBs after the FSU loss, makes it unlikely UVA moves away from Pribula any time soon. Elliott said Tuesday there would be no change going into the Syracuse game Saturday.

“We were battling and things were going haywire left and right,” Elliott said when asked if he was considering a switch at QB. “There was conversation about it, but with the challenges they were posing and the things that were happening, we were just trying to figure out how to fix it. I don’t know if, at that time, it was the best situation.”

Instead, Pribula was left to go down 10 times in the arms of FSU defenders.

Here’s who else is up and down in the ACC this week:

Who’s Up?

Pittsburgh: Picked to finish ninth in the 17-team ACC in the preseason, the Panthers (5-0) are now one of three undefeated squads in the league, joining Miami (5-0) and Duke (4-0). Whether or not that will continue with Heintschel out and Geriner in at quarterback remains to be seen. Pitt’s dramatic escape from Blacksburg, winning when the Hokies normally-reliable place kicker pushed a short field goal (barely) wide left, has it squarely in the race for a spot in the league title game. The Panthers’ remaining schedule features just one game against a team with a winning record in league play, Oct. 24 at Miami.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons didn’t mess around in their matchup with Stanford on Saturday. Wake took a 15-0 lead in the first quarter on its way to a 57-3 domination of the Cardinal. Gio Lopez threw for two touchdowns and ran for three more. And while beating Stanford isn’t exactly the tallest order in the ACC, the totality of the beatdown was impressive, and probably should have moved Wake Forest into the Top 25 rankings. Its only loss came in a fairly competitive 33-20 defeat by No. 4 Miami.

North Carolina State QB CJ Bailey: Bailey had a disastrous season debut against UVA, throwing for just 84 yards with an interception in the Wolfpack’s disappointing 34-8 loss. Saturday, he had a breakout game in a win over Louisville. Bailey threw for 373 yards and two touchdowns in leading State to a 31-28 home win over Louisville. 

Who’s Down?

Louisville: A near-upset of Ole Miss in the opener combined with a big win over SMU in Game 3 had the Cardinals looking like the clear No. 2 team in the ACC. Back-to-back 3-point losses to Wake Forest and North Carolina State have Louisville looking more like an also-ran. It’s better than its 2-3 indicates. Its three losses have come by a combined nine points. Two losses a week into October effectively eliminates the Cardinals, although they do have a favorable schedule down the stretch.

Virginia: The Cavaliers stepped back into league play in Week 5, and took a massive step backward in the conference race. The lopsided loss to Florida State, albeit in Tallahassee, raised serious questions about whether or not UVA is in position to return to the ACC title game. It missed over two dozen tackles, dropped at least five passes and allowed 10 sacks in the 38-7 loss to FSU. 

Virginia Tech kicker John Love: Was it good or not? The Hokies set themselves up for a game-winning 36-yard field goal try by the ultra-reliable John Love on the final play of their Friday night game against Pitt. Tech positioned the ball on the right hash and Love drove a kick high over the goalposts … and just wide left. At least, that is, according to the officials. Whether they got the call right or not, James Franklin’s team now has a loss on its record heading into a challenging second half of its schedule.