By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE — University of Virginia head coach Tony Elliott expects his players to stay composed on the football field, and at times they’ve struggled to do so this season. Elliott needs to do better in that regard, too, he acknowledged Tuesday afternoon.
Since rallying to edge Old Dominion 16-14 at Scott Stadium on Sept. 17, the Cavaliers have lost back-to-back ACC games, both on the road. They fell 22-20 at Syracuse and 38-17 at Duke, which had lost seven straight in the series. At times in each game, Elliott’s emotions boiled over on the sideline.
As Virginia (2-3, 0-2) heads into its homecomings game with Louisville (2-3, 0-3) at Scott Stadium, the “biggest challenge is for me to keep my composure,” Elliott said reporters at John Paul Jones Arena.
In his first season as a head coach, the former Clemson assistant said he’s trying to find “the right way to communicate to these guys to get them to believe and to buy in. I was a little bit embarrassed with my reaction to a couple things during the [Duke] game, just because I lost my composure a little bit.
“I apologized to the staff and to the players. But I saw things that from a cultural standpoint I just did not like. That’s not going to be who we are as a program. I just believe that my job at that time is to try and address those things. Sometimes frustration can get the better of anybody, but there’s a commitment to making sure that the core values of this program [are] what we lean on to be able to win and what we display and what we represent when we go out there.”
In a game to air on ACC Network, the Wahoos host the Cardinals at noon Saturday.
Louisville’s leader is senior Malik Cunningham, a quarterback who has 4,132 career yards rushing and 9,043 career yards passing. Cunningham missed the end of Louisville’s loss at Boston College last weekend after taking a blow to the head, and his status for this weekend is uncertain.
Scott Satterfield said Malik Cunningham took a second hit after the targeting call and felt different, saw doctors and doctors pulled him from game. Day to day for Virginia game. Doctors will make call. pic.twitter.com/W9JMWd3zqQ
— rickbozich (@rickbozich) October 4, 2022
“You’ve still got to prepare as if their guy is going to be the guy,” Elliott said. “It’s going to be a game-time decision. Be ready to adjust.”
Cunningham’s backup, Brock Domann, has…