Virginia vs. Virginia Tech canceled: ACC calls off rivalry week football game after UVa shooting

Bryan Murphy

Virginia vs. Virginia Tech canceled: ACC calls off rivalry week football game after UVa shooting image

The University of Virginia will not play its scheduled football game for a second consecutive week. The ACC announced on Tuesday that the rivalry week contest with Virginia Tech has been canceled. 

According to the conference's statement, the "decision was made following communication between the Atlantic Coast Conference, Virginia and Virginia Tech athletic department administration."

It is the second matchup that has been called off for the Cavaliers in the aftermath of the campus shooting on Nov. 13. Virginia did not play its Week 12 contest against Coastal Carolina last week. 

The ACC announced today that the Virginia at Virginia Tech football game scheduled for Saturday, November 26, has been cancelled. The decision was made following communication between the ACC, Virginia and Virginia Tech athletic department administration. https://t.co/pTViufn2zU

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) November 22, 2022

The shooting resulted in the deaths of UVa football players D'Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler. Two other students — Mike Hollins, a running back on the team, and Marlee Morgan, a sophomore finance major from Houston — were also injured. 

The shooter, identified as Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is also charged with two counts of malicious wounding and additional gun-related charges related to the shooting of Hollins and Morgan.

Jones is being held without bail in a jail in Charlottesville, Virginia.

This would have been the 104th meeting between the Cavaliers and the Hokies. The two have a storied rivalry that dates back to 1970. Overall, Virginia Tech owns the better record, sitting at 60-38-5 and have beaten Virginia 20 out of their last 22 meetings. 

The Nov. 26 game was set to be the final game of the regular season for both schools. Neither will be making the ACC playoffs, as Virginia and Virginia Tech sit in the bottom two spots in the Coastal Division. 

The Cavaliers end the 2022 season with a 1-6 conference record and 3-7 overall mark. The Hokies went 1-6 in conference play and finished the year at 3-8.

Bryan Murphy

Bryan Murphy Photo

Bryan Murphy joined The Sporting News in 2022 as the NHL/Canada content producer. Previously he worked for NBC Sports on their national news desk reporting on breaking news for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, in addition to covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games. A graduate of Quinnipiac University, he spent time in college as a beat reporter covering the men’s ice hockey team.