The Virginia Cavaliers lost the Commonwealth Cup to the Virginia Tech Hokies, 37-17 in Blacksburg on Saturday evening. In a fashion that has become all too typical for the Wahoo program over the past two decades, the UVA football season ended its season with a resoundingly uninspiring defeat.

Per usual, we have five takeaways for the football program ahead of what will be a tumultuous 12 months for the Virginia athletic department.

Virginia football remains hopeless against Virginia Tech

You know the numbers. Virginia will now go 28 years (at least) without a win in Blacksburg. The ‘Hoos have won just a pair of the last 25 meetings between the two programs. And, arguably worst of all, the blip of hope provided by the 2019 win against the Hokies has been extinguished, stomped on repeatedly, and buried six feet deep.

Yes, the Cavaliers avoided the utter humiliation last year’s 55-17 loss provided. This was still a 20-point loss. And, despite that momentary hope that UVA discovered by cutting the deficit to 14 and then 13 points in the second half, the Cavaliers never mounted a real comeback effort.

Every year Virginia faithful – as fans should – find some reason to believe in the pipe dream that this team, this season, this game will be different. And. every year, it is the exact same (2019 not included). The trend is exhausting, and it calls into question just how successful the program and the athletic department as a whole can be in the new world of college athletics.

UVA should have gone to Tony Muskett sooner

Who has any idea if benching Anthony Colandrea for Tony Muskett sooner than Saturday would’ve made a meaningful difference. But, given what Muskett put on film against the Hokies, the Virginia staff should have given him the ball sooner.

The senior signal caller is out of eligibility, so his superiority to Colandrea means very little now. He did, however, piece together a respectable performance against the Hokies. Muskett threw for 178 yards, ran for 62, and scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground.

The Springfield, Virginia native looked more composed than Colandrea in the pocket, made fewer back-breaking mistakes, and actually looked faster than his younger counterpart. He was good on the ground, and kept the banged up Wahoo offense competitive.

Muskett didn’t complete many throws down the field – his interception in the second quarter was especially costly and his late heave which Tech picked off further emphasized his downfield inefficiency. He was nothing spectacular. But he was better than Colandrea, and the staff should’ve pulled the plug sooner.

Welcome to the hot seat for real, Tony Elliott

Tony Elliott is squarely on the hot seat entering his fourth and final contracted season next year. With a 11-23 record through three seasons and no energy regarding the future, Elliott’s likely return for a fourth season inspires no optimism in the Virginia fanbase.

This is the conclusion of another disappointing campaign for Elliott at the helm. UVA continues to show zero life against Virginia Tech. And, although the schedule was tough this season, the ‘Hoos squandered too many opportunities to reach bowl eligibility following their 4-1 start.

Even beyond the on-field results, the process from the coaching staff in a micro and macro sense continues to be a source of significant skepticism. Whether it’s fourth down decision making, play calling, game management, roster management, recruiting, public-facing messaging, or anything in between, it’s hard to make a case for what Elliott and his staff have done well the last two years.

For that reason, Virginia is one more below average year away from another coaching search.

Changes are-a-coming to UVA’s offensive staff

The writing on the wall for the ‘Hoos this season has been that, without clinching bowl eligibility, a win over Virginia Tech, or some other legitimate claim to success, there would be changes made to the coaching staff.

Following an uninspiring season from the Wahoo offense, that’s where the firings are bound to happen. Offensive coordinator and play caller Des Kitchings seems like the most likely figure to be replaced. Additional moves among the positional staff could be made as well.

This, obviously, comes in the shadow of Elliott’s seat heating up. He gets some of the blame as an offensive mind who was hired because of his success as Clemson’s offensive coordinator. Whether he takes over play calling or not, the ‘Hoos need new leadership and new minds at the helm to establish a competitive product on the most important side of the ball.

The Virginia athletic department is fully in flux

It’s a shame to have to make so much of 60 minutes of football. Yet, this loss underscores just how uncertain the future of the UVA athletic department is.

The football program is as poorly mediocre as ever. Apathy is setting in for a fanbase that consistently feels burned by the institution, the coaching staff, and the team. If there is not tangible improvement next season, then the Cavaliers’ athletic program will be entirely unstable over the next 12 months.

Tony Bennett’s retirement means there will likely be a national coaching search to find Virginia’s next head men’s basketball coach – barring, of course, an unpredictable rise to a higher standard for the 2024-25 squad. Meanwhile, Athletic Director Carla Williams’ contract expires on June 1st, 2025. Her future at Virginia is uncertain merely because there’s no absolute guarantee that she will sign an extension.

It is not unreasonable to consider a world where the ‘Hoos have a new athletic director, head football coach, and head men’s basketball coach in 2026. Maybe that’s a good thing. But to suffer from this much instability amidst a constantly-changing college sports landscape is a real threat to the department’s future.

In the meantime, the Wahoo faithful can continue to take real pride in the success of the school’s olympic sports programs. But, unfortunately, that doesn’t define a successful athletic department. Virginia needs football and basketball to be good and, right now, the school has neither in an assuredly stable state.