By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the home locker room at Scott Stadium, Tony Elliott celebrated with his football team after the most one-sided victory of his tenure, beaming like a proud father. Before his players dispersed, however, the University of Virginia’s fourth-year coach reminded them that one win, no matter how impressive, does not a successful season make.

“All we did was go 1-0,” Elliott told his team Saturday night. “The objective every week is to go 1-0. But now you know what you’re capable of.”

Since the end of last season, when they finished 5-7, the Wahoos have revamped their roster, adding 54 players, including 32 transfers. Elliott believes his team could have a special season, and the Hoos started on an impressive note, crushing Coastal Carolina 48-7 on a picturesque late-summer evening.

“We showed up and did our job,” said Cam Ross, a graduate transfer from JMU who finished with 224 all-purpose yards. “We did what we expected of ourselves.”

The 48 points are the most the Wahoos have scored under Elliott, surpassing the 43 they rang up in a win over Coastal in Conway, S.C., last year, and they produced a staggering array of highlights Saturday.

Chandler Morris passed for two touchdowns, James Jackson and Kevon Gray each recovered a fumble, Caleb Hardy blocked a punt, Ethan Minter intercepted a pass, Ross returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD, Trell Harris had a spectacular one-handed reception for a 48-yard gain, Will Bettridge kicked two field goals, and Daniel Sparks averaged 64.7 yards on his eight punts.

Virginia, which didn’t turn the ball over, totaled 454 yards on offense and held Coastal to 254 yards. The Chanticleers (0-1) rushed for only 91 yards and were 1 for 13 in third-down situations.

“I thought we played complementary football,” Elliott said.

⚡️ A SCHOOL RECORD 100-YARD RETURN FOR CAM ROSS ⚡️

He’s got 224 all-purpose yards and two total TDs 💯

📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/2QeqMJuyEm

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) August 31, 2025

The first of Virginia’s seven home games this season drew an announced crowd of 46,143, and students, most clad in orange, turned out en masse. At a pep rally at Scott Stadium on Aug. 22, Elliott said Saturday night, he had challenged students “to show up early, to be loud, and I thought they did a really, really good job. I thought we had a good atmosphere to start.

“There’s nothing like playing in front of a good crowd with a good atmosphere, and hopefully the guys showed enough that will encourage more folks to come and fill out Scott Stadium. Hopefully this will be the start of kind of a new thing for us in terms of defending Scott Stadium the right way.”

Virginia’s defense dominated for most of the game, but its offense sputtered for much of the first quarter. Once the Cavaliers settled into a rhythm, however, they moved the ball almost at will. They led 28-0 after a first half in which Morris passed for 239 yards, and they pushed their lead to 35 points before the Chanticleers finally scored later in the third quarter.

Not since 2021 had UVA held an opponent scoreless in the first half.

Moments after Coastal’s only touchdown, Ross became the first Cavalier since Joe Reed in 2019 to return a kickoff for a touchdown. No. 6 also impressed as a wide receiver, catching seven passes for 124 yards and one TD.

Ross arrived on Grounds in January and went through spring practice with the Hoos. From the start, Ross said, he focused on “just earning the trust of my teammates and my coaches and just trying to find a role in this team, and I think from January to now I’ve just been continuing to try to do that.”

Elliott said Ross, who’s from Newark, Del, has “really, really good football instincts. He’s got a great skill set as a receiver and you felt like, based off of what you saw on the film from JMU last year and then the validation of the short-area quickness, that he would be able to make some plays for you, so I’m just super excited for him.”

Ross reminds Elliott in many ways of former UVA standout Malik Washington, who’s now with the NFL’s Dolphins. “They’re different,” Elliott said, “and he’s got a long way to go, obviously, because Malik did some exceptional things here, but he’s kind of cut from the sand cloth, just his ability as a football player and also as a return guy. He doesn’t say much, very quiet. He just shows up every single day and goes to work.”