Virginia has a major test at hand Saturday, heading to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on Florida State. The history between these two programs runs deep — particularly with lingering memories of a ferocious field storm at Scott Stadium.
Here are important notes from the Cavaliers skipper as Virginia prepares for its first ACC road game.
High praise for Florida State
Postgame against Delaware, Elliott said that the ACC runs through Tallahassee — in order to make it to Charlotte, the best teams “have to play Florida State.”
Elliott doubled down on those remarks Tuesday.
“They’ve always had the best talent in college football,” Elliott said. “That’s been consistent, and I think that’ll be consistent going forward. I mean, it’s Florida State.”
The Seminoles were on the verge of upsetting No. 10 Alabama on the road — losing by 14 in a game where quarterback Ashton Daniels threw a trio of costly interceptions. Elliott called it a heavyweight clash, and as his team watched film, the Cavaliers understood why.
Florida State was also a few plays away from beating ranked SMU.
“They got one of the best atmospheres in college football to play in,” Elliott said. “When Doak Campbell gets rocking, you’re not gonna find a more electric atmosphere to play in so got a ton of respect just for the program and got a ton of respect for Coach Norvell and he’s done a really good job. It’s hard and I think that you know this day and age is different. And being consistent is a challenge for everybody, especially with the roster turnover.”
Last year’s win over Florida State changed everything
“Well, I think it first and foremost, I want to say maybe shifted the mindset of what is possible,” Elliott said. “Brought some proof of concept and some confirmation that, man, we can become what we desire to become and not just say it, not just have slogans on the wall, but on the field. Man, we can be who we desire to be. I think that’s kind of what it did for us internally.”
“From a national perspective, it kind of brought the spotlight. [We were] able to follow it up and now the key this year, be consistent, right?”
Sustained success is the big task for this program in 2026. Elliott has always said that anyone can find success, but the harder challenge is to sustain success. After Virginia upset No. 8 Florida State last year, this program started to have external expectations.
Those expectations continued this year, although external respect has yet to follow after the loss to West Virginia. The Cavaliers will have a real chance to earn that respect back if they can beat the Seminoles on the road.
Kam Robinson primed to return to form
Virginia’s star linebacker suffered a torn ACL Nov. 15 at Duke. Nine months later, he returned to game action. He made his debut far ahead of schedule.
However, just because he was back does not mean he was at 100%. Robinson has gradually reacclimated to full speed — and Elliott thinks this could be the week he takes the next step.
“Now you’re starting to see Kam be reckless, violent [and] disruptive,” Elliott said. “Now you’re starting to see him put ball carriers on the ground on first contact. So he’s starting to kind of come into his own. And as he just continues to make strides, then we’ll do more with him, right?”
There’s also another development —- the now-senior has evolved into an on-field leader. Robinson wears a green dot on his helmet, which means he communicates with defensive coordinator John Rudzinski to deliver plays.
“You’re seeing a lot more confidence in his body language, communicating with his teammates,” Elliott said. “And I think over the next eight ball games, you’ll start to see more of the Kam Robinson type plays that he’s capable of.”
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