The Good, Bad and Ugly From Virginia’s Decimation at Wake Forest

Halloween featured all tricks and no treats for the Cavaliers

Oct 31, 2026; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons running back Kyndall McCaleb (21) rolls in for a score tackled by Virginia Cavaliers defensive end Nnanna Anyanwu (33) during the second half at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Virginia has fallen below .500 for the first time since the 2024 season. And it came on the heels of a 51-7 defeat that was an all-out emasculation.

Here is the good, bad and ugly from the Cavaliers' stinker in Winston-Salem, N.C.:

The good: Da'Shawn Martin, Daniel Sparks

Martin produced nine catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. That's the silver lining. Sparks was also strong again, netting 192 yards on four punts. Sparks looks like a frontrunner for All-American consideration, as well as the Ray Guy Award.

The bad: Des Kitchings, missed tackles

Virginia's offensive coordinator might not have put his team in the best position to succeed. With Rico Flores Jr., Kam Courtney and Jekail Middlebrook all out due to injury, Kitchings said he was going to rely on extra-tight end sets. That didn't result in a whole lot of production, as Cavaliers tight ends combined to produce five catches for 37 yards.

It isn't Kitchings' fault that Virginia abandoned the run. The Cavaliers had to — they fell into a massive deficit early in the game. However, Kitchings is at fault for failing to adjust to Wake Forest's aggressive front. When the Demon Deacons sent extra rushers, Virginia was still running progressive dropback passing plays. There were not a lot of productive checkdowns for Beau Pribula.

Over on defense, missed tackles were once again far too frequent. The Cavaliers had hands on Gio Lopez on multiple occasions — and he ended up escaping for positive yardage or finding an open receiver downfield. Wake Forest ran for a ludicrous 309 yards on 51 attempts. Six different Demon Deacons ran for a first down or more.

The ugly: Just about everything

Pick any statistic, and it probably reflects poorly on Virginia. The Cavaliers ran for just 16 yards on 19 carries. The whole team managed just one touchdown (for the fourth time in its past five games).

Coach Tony Elliott said he thought both Beau Pribula and Eli Holstein threw the ball well. On paper, that's true. However, it would be impossible to watch Pribula's performance and say he quarterbacked well. Pribula was unable to lead this team to more than one score.

In four games away from Scott Stadium, the Cavaliers have been outscored by an average of 38-14. That certainly qualifies as ugly. And once again, Elliott repeated the same old refrain from previous losses. The question is, will things change?