Virginia Football: 3 takeaways from Belk Bowl win over South Carolina

Virginia football dominated South Carolina for a huge Belk Bowl victory. Here are three things we learned from the overpowering Cavaliers performance.

South Carolina had their chances to get on the scoreboard in the Belk Bowl against Virginia, but the Gamecocks squandered every opportunity along the way. As a result, the Cavaliers walked away from Charlotte with a 28-0 shutout of the Gamecocks that sets them up as a potential contender for the ACC in 2019.

With the big victory, Virginia claimed their first bowl victory since defeating Minnesota in the Music City Bowl in 2005. They shut out an FBS opponent for the first time since their 31-0 takedown of Maryland in 2008. And Bronco Mendenhall’s crew did it by showcasing a skilled offense led by a star with one more year of eligibility at quarterback and a defense that just kept giving the ball back to churn more clock.

It was an all-around dominant performance by the Cavaliers that countered the SEC supremacy narrative being engineered most recently by South Carolina’s divisional rival Florida against Michigan in the Peach Bowl at the same time the Gamecocks were losing big.

Even when there were opportunities for South Carolina to get into the contest, they were unable to capitalize. As a result, they head into the postseason with big questions as Jake Bentley ponders whether to return to Columbia or try to land an NFL spot.

There are far fewer questions for Virginia, which proved its mettle and earned eight wins for the first time since 2011. Here are three things we learned from the Cavaliers performance on Saturday in Charlotte at the Belk Bowl.