One of the core limitations of life is that you don’t always get what you want. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have large appetites and far-reaching aspirations. It means that while we might want to achieve richly, we live in a world of imperfection. It means that while we shoot for the stars, we live in a world of competition, with other people trying to get the same things we desire.
A few people gain more than nearly anyone else, the emphasis being on the word “few.” Yet, they don’t carry their wealth with them for eternity.
For the other several billion of us, we live in the presence of constant limits here. We strive, we push, we yearn, we dream, we work to make our reality better… but we won’t always get what we want.
The Virginia Cavaliers entered this reality in a very profound way entering their game against North Carolina on Saturday.
Virginia hoped for an Orange Bowl berth — it MIGHT get that, but it’s a big ask at this point. Wake Forest needs to take a non-Clemson-based tumble for the Hoos to play in a New Year’s Six showcase in Miami.
Virginia hoped for 10 wins in the regular season. The only way the Cavaliers will reach that milestone is by winning out through the ACC Championship Game, which means beating Clemson. Say no more on that front.
Virginia sought a dominant season, not merely a very good one. UVA has fallen short of that standard.
On several levels, Virginia won’t get EVERYTHING it wanted from this season. The Cavaliers had to accept that point heading into Chapel Hill.
Yet, not getting everything is hardly a reason to stop the fight and accept a minimal return on investment. The Hoos still had a ton to play for, chiefly the ACC Coastal championship, the one goal Virginia absolutely had (and has) to achieve to make this season a success at a core level.
Virginia really wanted to attain the various goals outlined above, but the one non-negotiable requirement of this season is that it needed to produce a division title. Virginia had its best chance ever to rid itself of the “never won a Coastal” burden it has labored under for a decade and a half. Virginia needed to join the parade of first-time Coastal winners in recent years. Virginia needed to play on Conference Championship Saturday and thereby elevate the profile of the program.
This always had to be the one essential component of Virginia’s 2019 season.
If UVA had lost to North Carolina, that dream — while not completely dead — would have been placed in the intensive care unit, with chances of recovery being uncertain.
This was a game which had to be won. No explanations, no excuses.
This was a game in which leaders have to emerge, insisting to themselves, their teammates, and the world that they will not be denied, and that in a world of limits, it is sometimes necessary to transcend them.
On Saturday against North Carolina, Bryce Perkins transcended limits.
He totaled 490 yards.
He completed long passes.
He delivered long runs.
He watched North Carolina score 17 first-half points and answered with three straight touchdowns for a 31-17 lead.
Perkins’ failure on a late-second-quarter drive proved crucial in allowing Louisville to beat the Hoos the week before. This time, Perkins came through on a late-second-quarter drive which restored Virginia and picked up a defense which had struggled against UNC quarterback Sam Howell.
You can’t always get what you want, but you CAN get what you absolutely need to have.
You can’t always get what you want, but you CAN sometimes transcend limits and make your pursuit of greatness worthwhile, even satisfying.
Bryce Perkins did this. Now Virginia can still dream of an ACC Coastal title, and a season which — while not a towering feat of dominance — can still attain its most central and necessary goal.
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