Oct 18, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers players and staff sign the school song in font of the student sections after their game against the Washington State Cougars at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Tony Elliott Describes Importance of Strategic Aggression Within UVA's Program

Originally posted on Virginia Cavaliers on SI
By Maria Aldrich | Last updated Oct 19, 2025 10:00 AM ET

Washington State put up quite a fight during their Week 8 matchup against the Virginia Cavaliers, but UVA rallied for a last-minute surge during the fourth quarter, ultimately finishing off the game with an uncomfortably close 22-20 victory. While they were able to defend Scott Stadium, it was anything but a seamless game.

Once the matchup came to an end, and head coach Tony Elliott and his players had a moment to let the victory settle in, Elliott joined the media for a press conference. Overall, he appears to be quite pleased with his program in terms of performance, but he's made it incredibly clear time and time again that there is still plenty of work that needs to be done.

In speaking with the media, he identified one key area where his team needs to remain vigilant — the level of aggression during play, and when that aggression is used.

Mapping Out Aggression on the Field

UVA head coach Tony Elliott has hammered down the significance of aggression in football, but more importantly, he emphasizes how important it is to be strategic with it. Ultimately, he noted during his postgame press conference on Saturday that too much aggression can undeniably be detrimental to the game in terms of injury, consequences and score outcome.

As Elliott explained during Saturday's postgame press conference:

"Yeah so the plan was to be sound, and what we were doing to be aggressive, but to play under control because the last thing you want to do in that situation is be over aggressive in your play, and now you've got a personal foul, you fall on the quarterback the wrong way, you get a pass interference and now it's a first down, so in that situation, you want to be as sound as possible and the way we had been playing the run, I felt like that we could hopefully contain the runs, be able to break the pocket, and get out and get on the perimeter and they did a really good job. But man, if you saw me, I was running around trying to get everybody to stay under control in that situation because you've got them where you want them, but you can easily let them out if you're too aggressive with your play. Now we philosophically want to be aggressive, but with your style of play, you have to be smart in that situation, and it worked out for us."

Virginia now has an impressive 6-1 overall record and continues to stand at 3-0 in conference play. If they can hold onto Elliott's mindset — maintaining control, remaining sound and playing with the right amount of aggression — the Cavaliers will be well on their way to success within the ACC, and college football as a whole.

This season has painted UVA in a different light, one that highlights the true talent and developing skill that the program possesses. This is no longer a fluke — Virginia has turned into a serious threat in college football.

This article first appeared on Virginia Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: