CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Looking back on the first game week of his college career, Virginia tight end Dakota Twitty knew he may have been a bit excited for his first taste of playing college football.

“I was all over the place,” Twitty, now a fifth-year member of the Cavaliers, said. “I came in, I didn’t know what to expect. I was just super energetic. I had a lot of energy, and it was kind of hard for me to focus it,” he said.

Now, the converted wide receiver, has taken lessons from previous teammates to get his emotions in check before the Cavaliers take on North Carolina State to open their season Saturday at sold-out Scott Stadium.

“After having a lot of older guys in front of me and being able to kind of watch and learn behind them, I know where to focus my energy now and I know how to kind of keep myself a little bit more calmer,” he said.

Last season, Twitty had 11 receptions for 129 yards through the team’s first five games, but against Louisville on Oct. 4, he suffered a broken left ankle that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the season. Twitty has battled injuries throughout his college career, including missing his entire first season at Virginia because of a torn ACL he suffered while still in high school.

“I feel like this one was, it was different because it was one of the first times that I was really playing,” he said.

Twitty knows, though, because of those injuries that nothing is guaranteed in the game and is hoping to pass that lesson on to his teammates.

“Just knowing that regardless of where you might start off or where you might be on the depth chart or what’s going on, one snap has changed the whole course of a season,” he said, “As I saw last year going down and then John Rogers having to step up like any it could be anybody’s name that could be called on Saturday.”

UVA coach Tony Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings have both noticed Twitty taking on the role of team leader.

“He had a good camp from a leadership standpoint,” said Elliott, “you could really hear his voice amongst the team out at practice and then also in the building.”

“We had a strong leader in Sage Ennis last year, both in the locker room, on the field, in the workouts, and so Dak has taken on some of that ownership in that role from a leadership standpoint,” said Kitchings.

Tight end, according to Elliott, may not be the most glamorous or rewarding position to take on in fall camp.

“It’s kind of tough for those guys sometimes in camp because they’ve got to do a lot of the dirty work, blocking, to try and get ready for the season,” said Elliott.

In the Virginia offense, though, Elliott, Kitchings, and Twitty all agree the position holds vital importance. 

“We like to call ourselves like the core of the offense,” said Twitty, “So, really kind of being the glue to everybody, making sure that we’re upholding the standard.”

“I’m glad to hear him say that because that’s something that both myself and Coach Elliott has really been enforcing on those guys,” said Kitchings. “A lot of things go through the tight end room in the run game, in the passing game so we stress for those guys to be the core. That’s the strength of the body. Everything generates from the core.”

Injuries kept him on the sideline during Virginia’s run to the ACC championship game and eventual Gator Bowl victory to clinch the first 11-win season in the history of the program, but Twitty still celebrated the success as if he were taking the field with them. “We were really a selfless team. Like it really didn’t matter who went out there. Like we all knew that whoever stepped on the field, we have a mission, we have a goal and that person needs to get the job done,” he said.

Though Twitty and running back teammate Xavier Brown both committed to the program while Bronco Mendenhall was still the head coach in 2021, Elliott has had no questions about their passion for the program. “Those two guys, man, they bought in, they persevered, man, they’ve been committed, they’ve helped to create the new standards that we have,” said Elliott, “So they’re truly forefathers of the program as it relates to the new staff that came in behind Coach Mendenhall.”

Despite roster turnover and player movement defining the recent years of college athletics, Twitty stays committed to the Cavaliers.

“I love UVA football,” he said. “I love Charlottesville. This is my home.”