CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter and pinned at its own 3-yard line, Virginia was just where it needed to be, apparently.

UVA used a 97-yard scoring drive, an interception, a field goal, and a safety to rally past visiting Washington State 22-20 on Saturday night at a packed and raucous Scott Stadium.

“The football team made a decision, at the half, to come out and find a way to win the football game,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said. “And they did.”

At third-and-11 on its own 1-yard line, Washington State ran the ball, giving it to Kirby Vorhees. But UVA’s Kam Robinson and Hunter Osborne stuffed Vorhees in the backfield, dragging him down in the end zone for a game-winning safety.

Initially, the official seemed to be spotting the ball just outside the end zone, inside the 1-yard line. Then, he gave the safety signal.

“I really didn’t know,” Robinson said. “All I know was, get the ball down as fast as I could. Even if I didn’t get a safety, back ’em up on the one.”

The win made UVA (6-1) bowl eligible for the first time in Elliott’s four seasons in Charlottesville. Saturday was Virginia’s final non-conference game. It jumps back into ACC play next weekend at North Carolina, and it’s in the driver’s seat for a spot in the ACC championship game, a title tilt the Cavaliers haven’t been a part of since 2019.

For most of three quarters, Virginia looked like a team that thought it was off again this week.

Quarterback Chandler Morris, who continues to deal with a left shoulder injury, and the offense struggled. UVA put just 301 yards of total offense and Morris finished 15 for 25 for 179 yards, his least productive game as a Cavalier.

Jahmal Edrine had five catches for 102 yards and Cam Ross and Harrison Waylee each rushed for a touchdown. Will Bettridge booted field goals of 47 and 34 yards, both in the second half.

The flourish at the end helped erase a ragged first half.

Virginia’s defense has struggled giving up long pass plays this season. Going into Saturday night, it had allowed 22 pass plays of 20 yards or longer, fourth most in the ACC.

That showed up early against the Cougars as Zevi Eckhaus connected on all five throws on the opening drive, including the 32-yard scoring strike to Joshua Meredith.

The Cavaliers’ offense, which had opened the year on a tear but cooled some last time out in the win at Louisville, looked a step off again on Saturday.

But after a pair of three-and-outs on its first two possessions, UVA got points. A 30-yard completion from Morris to Edrine helped set up a 19-yard Ross rushing touchdown. 

On the play, Morris took the shotgun snap and faked a handoff before flipping the ball to Ross, coming on an end around. 

That would be the lone offensive bright spot in the first half, as UVA went to the locker room down 17-7. 

“It’s the first time we trailed at the half,” Elliott said. “We didn’t play great in all three phases to start the game. So, really a challenge to all three phases to play better and look more like themselves.”

The teams traded field goals in the third quarter and Virginia entered the final stanza behind 20-10. 

But the Cavaliers went 97-yards in nine plays, trimming Washington State’s lead to 20-17 on Harrison Waylee’s 2-yard touchdown with 9:45 to play. Then, after a Ja’Son Prevard interception, Will Bettridge tied the game with a 34-yard field goal.

Officials ruled Washington State’s Leyton Smithson called for a fair catch at the 2-yard line, leaving the Cougars stuck in the shadow of their own end zone with 2:55 remaining.

That set up the defense’s rare game-winning safety.

“They made one more play than us,” Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers said. “Lost control there at the end. That’s on me. All of this is on me.”