virginiasports.com:

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The University of Virginia football came into its season finale looking to reclaim the Commonwealth Cup, and there was ample reason to expect a competitive game at Scott Stadium.

Instead, Virginia Tech dominated from the start. The Hokies outplayed UVA on offense, defense and special teams Saturday to secure a 55-17 victory before an announced crowd of 42,976.

The Cavaliers finished their second season under head coach Tony Elliott with a 3-9 overall record. They went 2-6 in ACC play. The 55 points were the most Virginia has allowed against Tech in a series that dates back to 1895.

“It starts with me,” Elliott said. “I have to do a better job of having the team ready to play week in and week out. I’ll evaluate that, but I just didn’t feel like we had the right look in our eye really from the time we ran out for the game, and that’s on me.”

The Hokies (6-6, 5-3) became bowl-eligible with their win, their third straight in a series they lead 61-38-5.

“We’ll watch the tape and see exactly what the breakdowns were,” Elliott said. “But they made the plays consistently. We didn’t. In all three phases we gave away some snaps, and then ultimately it got to a point to where you’re in such a deficit, it’s hard to come back from that.”

The Hokies led 10-0 after a first quarter in which UVA’s offense gained 27 yards and didn’t pick up a first down. At the half it was 24-09, and the Wahoos had 60 yards of offense.

Tech stretched its lead to 31-0 early in the third quarter on quarterback Kyron Drones’ 84-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver De’Quen Felton. Virginia finally scored midway through the third quarter, when sophomore Will Bettridge’s 25-yard field goal to 31-3. Moments later, however, Tech’s Bhayshul Tuten returned Matt Ganyard’s kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown.

“DNA-wise, I didn’t feel like it was Virginia football today,” Elliott said. “I didn’t quite feel like we played with the effort, the tenacity and the toughness. I can live with mistakes. But I just didn’t feel like DNA-wise, just the things that we hang our hat on, we didn’t do a great job of coaching that or performing.”

This was the longtime rivals’ first meeting since 2021. They were scheduled to clash last November in Blacksburg, but the game was canceled after the shooting that took the lives of three UVA players.

Tech is in its second year under Brent Pry, who like Elliott experienced the rivalry for the first time as a head coach Saturday.

“I gotta tip my hat to Brent,” Elliott said. “They did a heck of a job today. They were ready to play. They took it to us early on. I didn’t have my guys ready to play, but I’m not gonna make this bigger than what it is. This is one game. We’re gonna learn from it, and we’re gonna get better this offseason. We got to wait unfortunately for 365 days to get another shot.”