CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Beau Pribula sounded as tired of saying it as Virginia fans are of hearing it. 

“Unfortunately, we’re here again saying we didn’t come up with points in the red zone,” Pribula said after UVA took a 51-7 whooping from Wake Forest on Saturday. “Again we’re saying that we didn’t convert fourth and shorts when we got there.”

Indeed, Saturday was the latest in a string of glaring examples of what this team can’t seem to do. The result was the most lopsided defeat of the Tony Elliott era.

One of the most anticipated seasons in recent memory has spiraled into being one of the most disappointing, and the battered and bruised Cavaliers now find themselves heading into their open date needing to end the year with two wins in their final three games just to salvage bowl eligibility. 

The offense deserves more than its fair share of the blame. The unit ranks dead last in the ACC in third-down conversions at 30% and has produced touchdowns on just 20 of its 33 trips into the red zone.

The Cavaliers (4-5, 2-4 ACC) rank 11th out of 17 conference teams in scoring, averaging 25.9 points per game, and 14th in total offense (357.4 yards per game).

Virginia has put up just 14.2 points per game over the last five outings, going 1-4 in those games.

Saturday, in Winston-Salem, N.C., UVA wasted no time showing it wasn’t showing up for this matchup with No. 14 Wake Forest (7-1, 5-1), giving up a touchdown just 2:31 into the no-contest. Virginia didn’t score until there were 50 seconds left in the third quarter. 

“We obviously embarrassed ourselves out here,”  linebacker and captain Maddox Marcellus said.

Unlike the past two weeks, when the defense kept things interesting in losses to SMU and Duke, that unit offered little resistance Sautrday to the Demon Deacons, who piled up 538 yards, gained 6.1 yards per rush and scored on their first nine possessions.

“We didn’t do much right today defensively,” Marcellus said.

The defense wasn’t alone. The offense once again gained yards but failed to score points, and the special teams coverage units gave up big returns – a total failure that resulted in a complete domination. 

“Enough’s enough,” coach Tony Elliott said. “We acknowledge that we’re a better football team than what our record reflects. I don’t think anybody in that locker room at the beginning of the season thought we’d be in this situation. But we are.”

The open date should offer the Cavaliers a chance to get healthy. Key players, including running back Jekail Middlebrook, wide receivers Rico Flores Jr. and Kam Courtney, and safeties Brandyn Hillman, Corey Costner and Ethan Minter, all missed Saturday’s loss at Wake, and a number of players, including center Drake Metcalf, played despite injuries. 

After the week off, Virginia hosts Cal and North Carolina before closing the regular season – and possibly the year – at rival Virginia Tech. 

Last year was the first time under Elliott that the Cavaliers avoided a three-game ACC losing streak. It happened twice in 2022, once each in 2023 and 2024 and now again this season.

A third straight loss. A third straight dismal offensive showing. And, for a third straight weekend, Virginia football made fans grateful that basketball starts Tuesday.

But for the players, the grind continues.

“We’ve got to come together and get that winning mindset back,” wide receiver Da’Shawn Martin said. “These last few weeks, they haven’t been the best. But I believe in this team. I believe we can win.”

Outside the program, that belief is fading.