Virginia QB Chandler Morris suffered an injury during the Wake Forest game on Saturday. As a result, the Cavaliers lost the game by 16-9, handing them their second loss of the season. Holding an 8-2 (5-1 in the ACC), they still have their ACC championship hopes. As most wonder, an interesting update on Chandler Morris’ availability for this week’s game against Duke has surfaced.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos report on X, “Virginia QB Chandler Morris remains in concussion protocol and is viewed as questionable for Saturday against Duke. There is legitimate hope he can play this weekend. Will continue to be evaluated leading up to game time.”

Virginia’s QB got injured during the second quarter, with Virginia leading 3-0, and faced a 2nd-and-7. Morris rushed for 6 yards and went sliding at the Cavaliers’ 14-yard line. He then collided with Wake Forest defenders Travon West and Davaughn Patterson, taking a hit to the head and neck area. In the aftermath, Morris remained on the ground and walked to the sidelines as West received a flag for a personal foul but was not sent out for targeting.

ESPN Quint Kessenich confirmed the injury, “Tony Elliott told UVA radio announcers that Chandler Morris will not return to this ball game today,” Kessenich said. “So, we’ll get to see Daniel Kaelin, a sophomore from Nebraska.” As Morris couldn’t continue, Daniel Kaelin stepped in and completed 18 of 28 passes for 145 yards while rushing for 49 yards on six carries, but lost two fumbles. The defense of West Lake pressured him to get the sack and put Virginia on the back foot. 

Losing Morris is a big deal. In this season, for the Cavaliers, he completed 192 of 288 passes for 2,088 yards for 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. With Virginia propelling to the top of the ACC, Morris’ blueprint played a significant factor in the side’s resurgent run. The sides 5-7 record last year forced them to strap up their helmets and go to war, Morris leading from the front.

Elliott reported he was doing well. “He came back out and said he was feeling all right… But any time you get in the head or up above the neck, you’ve got to make sure you take that with a lot of caution.”

However, the positive news is that OC Des Kitchings, during the Wednesday media availability, announced that Morris will start practicing later that day. This provides hope that he’ll likely be starting the game on Saturday; however, it’s still a game-day call.

Chandler Morris’ status becomes mandatory for Virginia

Significantly, Morris played a crucial role in helping Virginia achieve its best start in 35 years for the campaign. He also helped Virginia set a school record for single-game total offense when it put up 700 total yards in an early-season win over William & Mary. If Morris is unable to improve his health through the concussion protocol before the game, the backup QB, Daniel Kaelin, will probably step in as the starter, who replaced Morris last week against the Demon Deacons.

Both Duke and Virginia enter the game with only one conference loss, and the winner will remain in contention for the conference championship. Meanwhile, the losing team will slowly fade away from the playoffs. It’s a crucial game in the ACC, and it’ll decide the trajectory of the ACC championship game and the playoff rankings.

At this stage, the Virginia coaching staff could only hope for Morris getting medically cleared to start the game this weekend. If not, they have a massive problem to deal with and come up with a plan B.