The vibe around Virginia football has never been more upbeat than at this moment in coach Tony Elliott’s four seasons in Charlottesville.

The Cavaliers are 4-1 for a second straight season and in a three-way tie for first in the Atlantic Coast Conference after Friday’s two-overtime win against what was a top-10 Florida State team. On Sunday, they appeared in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2019.

Sustained success has been fleeting for the program, so the No. 24 ranking and all the rest are worth celebrating.

At the center of it is Elliott, who has had far more lows than highs since he left his longtime assistant’s job at his alma mater of Clemson to take over the Cavaliers in 2022.

Three Virginia players died in a campus shooting late in his first season, a tr

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