2025 Virginia Cavaliers football team

2025 Virginia Cavaliers football
Gator Bowl champion
ACC Championship Game, L 20–27OT vs. Duke
Gator Bowl, W 13–7 vs. Missouri
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
APNo. 16
Record11–3 (7–1 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDesmond Kitchings (4th season)
Offensive schemeMultiple pro-style
Defensive coordinatorJohn Rudzinski (4th season)
Base defenseMultiple 4–2–5
Home stadiumScott Stadium
2025 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 16 Virginia y   7 1     11 3  
Duke y$   6 2     9 5  
No. 2 Miami (FL) ^   6 2     13 3  
Georgia Tech   6 2     9 4  
SMU   6 2     9 4  
Pittsburgh   6 2     8 5  
Louisville   4 4     9 4  
Wake Forest   4 4     9 4  
NC State   4 4     8 5  
California   4 4     7 6  
Clemson   4 4     7 6  
Stanford   3 5     4 8  
Florida State   2 6     5 7  
Virginia Tech   2 6     3 9  
North Carolina   2 6     4 8  
Boston College   1 7     2 10  
Syracuse   1 7     3 9  
Championship: Duke 27, Virginia 20OT
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
As of March 14, 2026
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cavaliers were led by Tony Elliott in his fourth year as head coach and played their home games at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Cavaliers had their most successful season to date under Elliot, reaching 11 wins in a season for the first time in program history. Included in their 8–1 start to the season (their best since 1990) was a seven-game winning streak, their longest since 2007. It was the first time in program history that UVA started 5–0 in conference play, a start that included a 46–38 double-overtime home win over No. 8 Florida State on September 26 for their seventh all-time win against an AP Top 10 opponent, their first since 2023, and third such win against FSU. The Cavaliers concluded a 7–1 season in the ACC with a 27–7 home blowout victory over rival Virginia Tech for only their third victory over the Hokies since 1999 and first since 2019. With these successes, the Cavaliers achieved bowl eligibility for the first time since 2021 and played in their second ACC Championship Game. However, with a chance to make it into the College Football Playoff with a win, the Cavaliers were upset by the Duke Blue Devils 27–20 in overtime, allowing Sun Belt champion James Madison to get in instead. They were selected to face Missouri in the Gator Bowl, which they won 13–7, in the process setting the all-time program win record at 11.

Virginia had its first appearances in an AP, Coaches, or College Football Playoff Top 25 poll since 2019, with its initial No. 14 ranking being its highest since the inception of the CFP in 2014. They finished a season ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 2004.

The Virginia Cavaliers drew an average home attendance of 48,776, the 46th-highest of all college football teams.