LOOK: ACC honors Virginia victims with championship game signage
It’s been one of the darkest times in the University of Virginia football program’s history for the past few weeks. Three of their players were tragically shot and killed–D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler, and Lavel Davis, Jr. Two others were left wounded, including Cavaliers running back Mike Hollins. It’s a tragedy that has shaken the UVA community to its core. It’s led to an outpouring of support from many different schools and coaches across the country the past few weeks.
Virginia state colleges recently decided to wear special decals to honor the victims. Numerous other teams across the college football landscape decided to wear special helmet decals, too.
On Saturday night, the 2022 ACC Championship will be played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina as the North Carolina Tar Heels face off against the Clemson Tigers. The conference decided to honor the Virginia victims on the sidelines of the ACC Championship Game with the words, “UVA STRONG” and the Virginia logo along with the numbers 1, 15, and 41.
Check it out.
In response to the shooting, Virginia canceled its non-conference game against Coastal Carolina that was originally scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 19. They also cancelled their end of season finale against the Virginia Tech Hokies, which was originally slated for Saturday, Nov. 26.
There was also another sign the ACC put on the wall surrounding the field of Bank of America Stadium to honor the victims.
Virginia head coach Tony Elliott had an emotional response to the shooting
Nobody ever expects to deal with a tragedy like what happened at Virginia. However, that’s exactly what Tony Elliott has been going through.
“It feels like it’s a nightmare, to be honest with you, and I’m ready for somebody to pinch me and wake me up and say that this didn’t happen. It’s been a long, I don’t even know how long it’s been since it happened. The minutes can’t go by fast enough,” Tony Elliott said.
“My heart’s hurting right now for our university, our community, the team, the players, the families, the young men whose families have been impacted the most. That’s where my thoughts are at this time, trying to provide all the resources and support that I possibly can. I have to acknowledge the strength of our players and the staff at this time in coming together to work to process what has taken place. Just like many of you all and many of those that are very close to the situation, still in shock, trying to rationalize, but also, find encouragement and community with those that have come out in and also those internally who have banded together to try and figure out how we move forward after going through a situation like this.”
The 2022 ACC Championship Game between North Carolina and Clemson is set to kick off at 8:00 PM EST on Saturday, December 3rd.
On3’s Daniel Morrison also contributed to this article.