CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Virginia senior placekicker Will Bettridge has been named the recipient of the 2025 Jim Tatum Award, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced Monday.
 
The award is given annually in memory of the late Jim Tatum to the top senior student-athlete among the league's football players. Tatum, a two-time ACC Coach of the Year, coached in the 1950s at both Maryland and North Carolina and believed strongly in the concept of the student-athlete.
 
A standout on and off the field, Virginia’s Bettridge is a William V. Campbell Trophy Semifinalist and three-time ACC All-Academic team member and has earned ACC Academic Honor Roll recognition. He was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Football team and served as Virginia’s nominee for both the Wuerffel Trophy and the All-State Good Works Team in 2024, all while majoring in foreign affairs with a minor in entrepreneurship.
 
On the field, he has been a key contributor to a Virginia team that is 10-2 overall and 7-1 in ACC play, matching the program’s single-season records for both overall and conference wins, and will play in the 2025 ACC Football Championship Game on Saturday, December 6, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
 
Individually, he ranks third on Virginia’s all-time scoring list with 302 career points and ranks among the nation’s top 15 in scoring this season with 106 points. Through 12 games, he has recorded a career-high 20 field goals, highlighted by a 39-yard kick to force a second overtime in UVA’s thrilling 46-38 double-overtime victory over then-No. 8 Florida State on September 26 and two field goals and three extra points in the Cavaliers’ win over Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash to clinch a spot for the Cavaliers in the ACC Football Championship Game.

Bettridge is the ninth football student-athlete to be honored with the ACC's Jim Tatum Award and the first Cavalier to win the award since Jordan Mack in 2019.
 
ACC Jim Tatum Award Winners
1979     Scott Hamilton, OG, Duke
1980     No Award
1981     Bert Krupp, LB, Virginia
1982     Pat Chester, S, Virginia
             Phil Denfield, TE, Wake Forest
1983     Phil Denfield, TE, Wake Forest
1984     Not Available
1985     Kevin Anthony, QB, North Carolina
1986     David Cardenas, DB. Virginia
1987     Harris Barton, OT, North Carolina
1988     Not Available
1989     Doug Kley, DT, Duke
1990     Charlie Cobb, C, NC State
1991     Steve Ainsworth, OL, Wake Forest
1992     Not Available
1993     Thomas Burns, LB, Virginia
1994     Ed Glenn, TE, Clemson
1995     Russell Babb, OT, North Carolina
1996     Daryl Bush, DB, Florida State
1997     Stephen Phelan, DB, Virginia
             Jonathan Claiborne, S, Maryland
1998     Ebenezer Ekuban, DE, North Carolina
1999     Noel LaMontagne, OG, Virginia
2000     Louis Marchetti, OT, North Carolina
2001     Kyle Young, C, Clemson
2002     Jeremy Muyres, DB, Georgia Tech
2003     Chris Douglas, RB, Duke
2004     Nick Novak, PK, Maryland
2005     Brendan Dewan, LB, Duke
             David Castillo, C, Florida State
2006     Josh Wilson, DB, Maryland
2007     Tom Santi, TE, Virginia
2008     Darryl Richard, DT, Georgia Tech
2009     Riley Skinner, QB, Wake Forest
2010     Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State
2011     Danny Coale, WR/P, Virginia Tech
2012     Sean Renfree, QB, Duke
2013     Perry Simmons, OT, Duke
2014     David Helton, LB, Duke
2015     Jeremy Cash, S, Duke
2016     Ryan Janvion, S, Wake Forest
2017     Braxton Berrios, WR, Miami
2018     Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson
2019     Jordan Mack, LB, Virginia
2020     Kingsley Jonathan, DE, Syracuse
2021     Zach Tom, OT, Wake Forest
2022     Dillan Gibbons, OG, Florida State
2023     DeWayne Carter, DT, Duke
2024     Taylor Morin, WR, Wake Forest
2025     Will Bettridge, PK, Virginia