CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Chandler Morris’s final throw of the first half Saturday appeared to give Virginia control of its matchup with North Carolina State.

His last throw of the game sent the Cavaliers home with their first loss of the season – and raised questions about whether this team has the mettle to make winning plays.

“You’ve got to find a way,” coach Tony Elliott said after falling to 4-9 the last four years in games decided by four points or fewer.

A week after praising his team’s complementary effort in a rout of Coastal Carolina, Elliott watched breakdowns in all three phases of the game cost his club in Raleigh. 

The defense found itself overwhelmed by Hollywood Smothers and the Wolfpack all game long, gave up 416 yards of total offense and five touchdowns, and failed to produce a turnover or a sack.

But in the fourth quarter, it was an offense that had hummed from three quarters sputtering, and a special teams failure that cost the Cavaliers the chance to open the season 2-0.

“That’s where we’re going to have to grow as a football team,” Elliott said.

Trailing 35-31, Virginia got three more possessions, three more chances to take the lead.

Will Bettridge missed a 47-yard field goal, banking it off the upright 1:40 into the final quarter. 

Because of that miss, Elliott elected to go for a fourth-and-1 conversion on the next drive. But J’Mari Taylor – who ran for 150 yards and three scores on the day – got stuffed at the Wolfpack’s 8-yard line with 6:37 to play.

UVA got the ball back one final time, at its own 19-yard line with 2:12 to play.

Again, because of the earlier Bettridge miss, Virginia needed a touchdown. 

Morris, a graduate transfer from North Texas, who came to Virginia with 33 games of college experience under his belt, commanded a crisp two-minute drill. He hit on five of his first six passes, driving the Cavaliers to State’s 12-yard line with just over a minute to play. 

Morris had gone 168 pass attempts without being intercepted, including all 69 throws for UVA this season and the final 99 passes of his time at North Texas.

But on first down at the 12, he rolled to his right and threw a ball in the direction of Taylor in the end zone. Taylor was well covered by State outside linebacker Cian Slone, who picked Taylor up out of the backfield and ran with him, step for step, to the end zone.

Still, Morris threw a pass that way, leaving it short and allowing Slone to turn and pick it off, ending Virginia’s hopes. 

“Just kind of missed where you don’t want to miss,” Elliott said.

The loss and lack of clutch plays in the fourth quarter overshadowed the best offensive outing of the Elliott era. Virginia racked up over 500 yards of total offense and over 250 rushing yards both for the third time under Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings, the previous two coming against Coastal Carolina last year and FCS Richmond in 2022. 

Taylor actually outproduced Smothers, who totaled 140 rushing yards and two scores. Each player had 17 carries. 

Morris threw for 257 yards and ran for another 56. 

Seven UVA players had multiple catches and the offensive line did not allow a sack.

But in the end, the offense had three possessions with the game on the line.

Three scoring opportunities, two in the red zone, and Virginia came away with nothing. 

Nothing but more questions about its ability to finish games.