The Professor - The Coaching Career of James Xavier

[Captain Canada]

‣ CFB 2026 College Football Playoff Round 2 - Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
(11-2, 6-2 ACC) #4 Virginia Cavaliers at #6 Clemson Tigers (11-2, 7-1 ACC)

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UVA | 0 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 31
CLEM | 0 | 7 | 7 | 114 | 28

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Cavs narrowly avoid disaster, Gibson scores late to slide past Clemson

They have done it again. The Cinderella story of unexpected tales continue. Virginia has taken down Clemson 31-28 in a narrow victory and will advance to the semi-final of the College Football Playoff.

Barely.

The team was cruising for most of the game, thanks to their hapless defense and an offense that the Clemson defense couldn't quite get off the field on third down. The offense just always seemed to have the right play-call to get just enough yards to keep their momentum going. Despite Clemson's own dominant offense, Virginia severely outweighed the Tigers in time of possession.

Even when the Tigers scored - a 41-yard bomb from Heisman finalist, quarterback Alonza Barnett III - the team just slowly made their way up the field and capitalized with their own redzone touchdown. Suderian Harrison was found just open in the back of the end zone to give the Cavaliers the lead.

When Donte Hawthorne opened up a two-score lead in the second half, it felt like the Cavaliers might actually pull this off. Kane McNally would hit back after the Cavaliers' goal-line stand barely came up short, but Jawan Hocker kicked a long field-goal to give the Cavs back the lead. That was until quarterback Anthony Colandrea lofted a drag route to tight end Dom President that was picked off by Tigers' cornerback Judge Collier and taken to the house.

Tyler Brown picked up his second touchdown of the game late in the fourth quarter and it seemed like the Cavaliers were destined to fold. "We had to tighten up, we had one last gasp effort. We believed that we could do it" said wide receiver Jaden Gibson, now owner of the most receptions in a single season in school and ACC history with 128.

A drive that would be immortalized for ever, including an impressive sideline catch on a corner route from wide receiver Triston Ward would get the Cavaliers into the red zone. On 4th down, with five yards to score, a scrambling Colandrea would find his number one target abandoned in the back of the end zone. Touchdown, Cavaliers.

A few heave attempts would be all she wrote for Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers as the Cavaliers have officially advanced to the semi-finals.

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Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NO SCORING

2nd Quarter
Jaden Gibson, 1-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea (Jawan Hocker kick) [9:01]
Tyler Brown, 41-yard pass from Alonza Barnett III (Nolan Hauser kick) [3:07]
Suderian Harrison, 3-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea (Jawan Hocker kick) [0:16]

3rd Quarter
Donte Hawthorne, 4-yard run (Jawan Hocker kick)
Kane McNally, 12-yard pass from Alonza Barnett III (Nolan Hauser kick) [0:44]

4th Quarter
Jawan Hocker, 47-yard field goal [7:32]
Judge Collier, 48-yard returned interception (Nolan Hauser kick) [4:44]
Tyler Brown, 22-yard pass from Alonza Barnett III (Nolan Hauser kick) [1:52]
Jaden Gibson, 5-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea (Jawan Hocker kick) [0:08]

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Player Stats
QB Anthony Colandrea: 33-41, 314 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
QB Alonza Barnett II: 20-24, 238 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, interception

HB Donte Hawthorne: 17 carries, 73 rushing yards, touchdown
HB Noah Vaughn: 8 carries, 6 rushing yards, 4 receptions, 15 receiving yards
HB Kane McNally: 11 carries, 10 rushing yards, 4 receptions, 44 receiving yards, touchdown

WR Jaden Gibson: 12 receptions, 117 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns
TE Dom President: 6 receptions, 52 receiving yards
WR Triston Ward: 5 receptions, 75 receiving yards
WR Antonio Williams: 6 receptions, 64 receiving yards
WR Tyler Brown: 5 receptions, 81 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns
WR T.J. Moore: 4 receptions, 45 receiving yards

DE Jewett Hayes: 3 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
MLB Myles Brown: 6 tackles, tackle for loss
CB Tayon Holloway: 2 tackles, interception
DE Peter Woods: 7 tackles, 6 tackles for loss
CB Judge Collier: 9 tackles, interception, touchdown
MLB Sammy Brown: 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss

[Chillcavern]

Game winning TD with 5 seconds left on 4th down.




Nerves of steel with ice in your veins I stg

[Captain Canada]

Game winning TD with 5 seconds left on 4th down.




Nerves of steel with ice in your veins I stg

These last two games have been the most nerve-wracking games I've played in years. Holy hell.

We ride on.

[Captain Canada]

College Playoff Semi-Final Preview: at #3 Texas


Record: 12-2, 7-1 SEC
Head Coach: Steve Sarkisian
Offensive Scheme: Pro Style
Defensive Scheme: Multiple Defense

Injuries
DT Jaray Bledsoe, Sr - Torn Labrum (Out)

Texas Projected Starters
QB #16 Arch Manning, Rs Jr | 6'4", 225 lbs | 93 overall
HB #9 Jerrick Gibson, Jr | 5'10", 205 lbs | 90 overall
WR #82 Nic Anderson, Rs Sr | 6'4", 216 lbs | 92 overall
WR #0 DeAndre Moore Jr., Sr | 6'0", 195 lbs | 88 overall
WR #5 Ryan Wingo, Jr | 6'2", 210 lbs | 87 overall
TE #84 Jordan Washington, Jr | 6'4", 250 lbs | 81 overall
LT #68 Earnest Greene III, Rs Sr | 6'4", 320 lbs | 88 overall
LG #70 Nate Kibble, Rs So | 6'3", 320 lbs | 90 overall
C #62 Connor Robertson, Rs Sr | 6'4", 310 lbs | 83 overall
RG #72 Neto Umeozulu, Rs Sr | 6'4", 330 lbs | 83 overall
RT #75 Robert Kush, So | 6'6", 305 lbs | 83 overall
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DE #11 Colin Simmons, Jr | 6'3", 245 lbs | 92 overall
DE #1 Justice Finkley, Rs Sr | 6'2", 250 lbs | 86 overall
DT #53 Aaron Bryant, Rs Sr | 6'2", 305 lbs | 86 overall
DT #90 Sydir Mitchell, Rs So | 6'6", 350 lbs | 87 overall
WILL #40 Derion Guilette, Rs Jr | 6'3", 235 lbs | 89 overall
MIKE #0 Anthony Hill Jr., Sr | 6'3", 235 lbs | 94 overall
SAM #46 Tausili Akana, Rs Jr | 6'4", 220 lbs | 89 overall
CB #5 Malik Muhammad, Sr | 6'0", 190 lbs | 89 overall
CB #27 Wardell Mack, Rs So | 6'0", 190 lbs | 88 overall
FS #23 Jordon Johnson-Rubell, Rs So | 5'10", 190 lbs | 83 overall
SS #25 Jelani McDonald, Sr | 6'2", 205 lbs | 88 overall
K #15 Will Stone, Rs Sr | 6'0", 195 lbs | 84 overall
P #49 Ian Ratliff, Rs Jr | 5'11", 185 lbs | 79 overall
KR #21 Ryan Niblett, Rs Jr | 5'10", 185 lbs | 97 overall

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Coach James Xavier's Gameplan

"Playing against the presumptive #1 overall pick in this year's NFL draft behind his Great Wall of Texas feels like it was a movie script. Who thought that we would be here? Well, the guys in that locker room did. I did. We know everyone thinks that time is up. That we caught Ohio State asleep at the wheel and we caught Clemson on one of their less powerful years. We hear the chatter. We just don't give a [expletive]. We've clawed our way to the mountaintop and we want to earn an opportunity to play for a National Championship. The Longhorns are in our way. We're going to make them earn every yard.

Their defense is powerful and I would argue Anthony Hill Jr is the best defensive player we've played all year. He's rangy and his lateral quickness is insanity. Malik Muhammad is a man-to-man corner like no other. I'm sure he'll be tracking Jaden [Gibson] all game. He's up to the challenge. We'll stick to what works and figure it out as we go. All you need to know is - as per usual - we're ready for war."

[YaBoyRobRoy]

Arch Madness time. Kick their ass! Awesome win over Clemson, it must've been a fun one to play

[Agent]

Xavier can go from returning to UMASS to coaching anywhere in the planet with a win here

[The JZA]

Beating Clemson just to see Texas No easy path, but LFG!!

[Captain Canada]

Arch Madness time. Kick their ass! Awesome win over Clemson, it must've been a fun one to play

We keep getting star quarterbacks. This is going to be the best one I've ever faced

Xavier can go from returning to UMASS to coaching anywhere in the planet with a win here

UMass is dead, we up now.

Beating Clemson just to see Texas No easy path, but LFG!!

[redsox907]

this run is something legendary

If you guys can smash Texas and win the Natty in the next game - maybe no better time to put a bow on Coach X

[Captain Canada]

‣ CFB 2026 College Football Playoff Semi-Finals - Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
(12-2, 6-2 ACC) #4 Virginia Cavaliers at #3 Texas Longhorns (12-2, 7-1 SEC)

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UVA | 7 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 31
TEX | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24

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Hawthorne's hat-trick, late defensive fumble recovery sends Virginia to National Championship

When Coach James Xavier and his new coaching staff first met with the team, one man made sure to catch his attention at the first meeting.

"I'll never forget it, this white kid comes up to me - the type that you could have sworn you just saw sorting through groceries at Whole Foods - shakes my hand and says to me 'Coach Xavier, my name is Ethan Minter, and I promise you, you'll always be able to rely on me in that defense," Coach Xavier told the media during the post-game scrum. "He shows it to me every damn day that I can depend on him. I figured he would show it to the world eventually: I'm certainly glad he picked today to do it."

It was the dying seconds of the fourth quarter and Texas quarterback Arch Manning was ushering his offense down the field as he had done all game long. To the tune of 441 passing yards, mind you. He fired one to his tight end Jordan Washington, who had Virginia linebacker Myles Brown tackling him, trying to bring him to the ground. All of a sudden, here comes Ethan Minter firing in. But, rather than helping take him down, he fires a peanut punch at the ball.

Pop, goes the weasel.

Virginia would pick the ball up and return it to the offense, and a few minutes later, the Cavaliers would be heading to the National Championship after defeating the Longhorns, 31-24.

Running back Donte Hawthorne dominated all game long with three touchdowns on the ground as the Longhorns' defense keyed in on taking away star tight end Dom President, who would only catch one ball for a mere three years. However, receivers Suderian Harrison and Triston Ward picked up the slack, picking up key thirds down to keep Virginia's momentum going.

The highlight moment came a drive before Minter's elite forced fumble when Texas was knocking on the door of the redzone. They opted to go for it on fourth down, thinking they could simply outmuscle the Virginia defensive front. The jet sweep was met in the back field by not only linebacker T.K. Wright, but defensive end Chase Morrison fighting off the seal block. Defensive end Jewett Hayes aided in the tackle by scraping down from the other side of the line of scrimmage. In case that wasn't enough, senior cornerback Tayon Holloway was around ready for clean-up duty.

It was a whole team effort tonight in New Orleans, and they will need it just one more time, in the National Championship game.

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Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
Sedrick Alexander, 28-yard pass from Arch Manning (Will Stone kick) [6:22]
Donte Hawthorne, 1-yard run (Jawan Hocker kick) [1:58]

2nd Quarter
Noah Vaughn, 26-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea (Jawan Hocker kick) [6:53]
Donte Hawthorne, 4-yard run (Jawan Hocker kick) [2:59]
Will Stone, 19-yard field goal [0:00]

3rd Quarter
Jawan Hocker, 25-yard field goal [5:56]
L.J. Martin, 2-yard run (Will Stone kick) [1:45]

4th Quarter
Donte Hawthorne, 3-yard run (Jawan Hocker kick) [9:29]
Jordan Washington, 41-yard pass from Arch Manning (Will Stone kick) [3:21]

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Player Stats
QB Anthony Colandrea: 15-19, 247 passing yards, touchdown
QB Arch Manning: 34-39, 441 passing yards, 2 touchdowns

HB Donte Hawthorne: 23 carries, 133 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns
HB Noah Vaughn: 7 carries, 7 rushing yards, 4 receptions, 45 receiving yards, touchdown
HB Jerrick Gibson: 11 carries, 16 rushing yards, 6 receptions, 122 receiving yards

WR Jaden Gibson: 5 receptions, 103 receiving yards
WR Suderian Harrison: 2 receptions, 34 receiving yards
WR Triston Ward: 3 receptions, 62 receiving yards
TE Jordan Washington: 10 receptions, 164 receiving yards, touchdown
WR Nic Anderson: 9 receptions, 65 receiving yards
WR Aaron Butler: 4 receptions, 44 receiving yards

MLB Myles Brown: 12 tackles, tackle for loss
DE Jewett Hayes: 4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack
FS Ethan Minter: 6 tackles, win-clinching forced fumble
MLB Anthony Hill Jr.: 14 tackles, tackle for loss
DT Aaron Bryant: 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
CB Warren Roberson: 7 tackles