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Football
UVA Opens 128th Season on Saturday Against the Tribe
Aug. 28, 2017
| Virginia vs. William & Mary – #WMvsUVA |
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| Date/Time | Sat., Sept. 2, 2017 | 3:30 p.m. |
| Location | Charlottesville, Va. | Scott Stadium (61,500) |
| Television | ACC Network Extra |
| Radio | Virginia Sports Radio Network | Satellite Radio — Sirius 113 | XM 193 |
| Multimedia | | WatchESPN |
| @UVA_Football | @UVACoachBronco | @VirginiaSports | |
| Game Notes | Virginia | William & Mary | ACC | UVA Depth Chart |
| Additional Information |
Tickets | Facebook | Instagram | 2017 Fact Book | |
UVA Opens 128th Season of Football
– The University of Virginia opens its 128th season of football Saturday against William & Mary.
– It is the 87th season the Cavaliers have played in Scott Stadium.
– UVA is 80-38-9 (.665) all-time in season openers.
– The Cavaliers are 74-21-7 (.760) in home season openers and have won 17 of their last 22 season openers at Scott Stadium.
– In his career as a head coach, Bronco Mendenhall is 8-4 in 12 season-openers.
– Virginia is one of 336 college football coaching staffs from all four NCAA divisions that will wear American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) patches on their shirts opening weekend to bring awareness of and promote the association.
Virginia vs. William & Mary, CAA
– Virginia owns a 28-6-1 edge in the all-time series with William & Mary. UVA has won eight of the last nine meetings, including a 35-29 win the last time these teams met in 2015.
– In games played in Charlottesville, Virginia has a 22-4 advantage.
– William & Mary’s last win in the series came in 2009, a 26-14 victory at Scott Stadium.
– The Cavaliers own a 58-10-3 record against current members of the CAA.
Five Top Storylines
– Virginia is opening a season against William & Mary for the 13th time in program history. UVA is 8-3-1 in season openers against the Tribe and 7-2 when those games are played in Charlottesville.
– Virginia returns the ACC’s top two tacklers in 2016 with Micah Kiser (11.2) and Quin Blanding (10). It is the second year in a row Kiser and Blanding finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the league in tackles.
– Blanding is the first player in ACC history to finish No. 2 in the league in tackles three straight years.
– UVA is replacing 178 career starts on offense in 2017. Eric Smith (44), Keeon Johnson (27), Jackson Matteo (27), Michael Mooney (25), Taquan Mizzell (22) and Matt Johns (17) are the players lost with double-digit career starts on offense. UVA returns five offensive players with double-digit career starts, highlighted by Jack English‘s 18. Jack McDonald (13), Doni Dowling (12), Olamide Zaccheaus (11) and Kurt Benkert (10) also have double-digit career starts for the Cavaliers.
– Bronco Mendenhall is facing an FCS team for the 10th time as a head coach. He is 8-1 all-time against FCS competition. Mendenhall has faced Eastern Illinois (1-0), Eastern Washington (1-0), Idaho State (2-0), Northern Iowa (1-0), Richmond (0-1), Savannah State (1-0), Wagner (1-0) and Weber State (1-0).
Virginia – William & Mary Connections
– William & Mary defensive line coach Kevin Lewis is a Varina High School graduate in Richmond, the same high school that produced current UVA student-athletes WR Doni Dowling and CB Tim Harris. Lewis began his coaching career at Varina from 2007-08 before Harris and Dowling began their high school careers.
– Below is a list of high school connections between players on UVA’s roster and those on William & Mary’s roster:
More on the William & Mary Series
– In his 38th year as the head coach of William & Mary, Jimmye Laycock is facing his fourth UVA head coach on Saturday in Bronco Mendenhall. Laycock has also coached against UVA football teams headed by George Welsh, Al Groh and Mike London.
– UVA’s Andrew Brown and Evan Butts made their first collegiate start against William & Mary in 2015, while Darious Latimore made his collegiate debut.
– UVA’s Olamide Zaccheaus returned his first collegiate punt against William & Mary in 2015 for 30 yards.
– UVA’s Micah Kiser collected 15 tackles, 2.0 sacks and forced a fumble in the 2015 game against William & Mary. The 2015 game against the Tribe served as Kiser’s second career game with double-digit tackles.
– Former UVA CB Maurice Canady’s 74-yard punt return for a touchdown in the 2015 William & Mary game is the fifth-longest punt return for a touchdown in school history.
– UVA held William & Mary to only 169 yards of total offense in the 2011 meeting, a 40-3 Cavalier win.
– University of Virginia founder Thomas Jefferson attended William & Mary from 1760-1762.
Blanding and Kiser Return to Anchor Defense
– FS Quin Blanding and ILB Micah Kiser return to anchor the UVA defense. The duo finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the ACC in tackles. Kiser (11.2) led the ACC in tackles and finished No. 4 nationally. Blanding (10.0) finished No. 2 in the ACC in tackles for the third year in a row and No. 9 nationally.
– Kiser (9.75) and Blanding (9.58) also finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the ACC in tackles in 2015.
– Since the ACC started tracking tackle leaders in 1990, no tandem of tacklers has led the league in tackles for two consecutive seasons.- Blanding, who also finished No. 2 in the ACC in tackles in 2014 (10.25), is the first player in ACC history to finish second in tackles for three straight seasons.
– The only ACC player since 1990 to lead the league in tackles for three consecutive seasons is Boston College’s Luke Kuechly (2009-11), now of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
New Starters at key positions
– There are five positions between the offense, defense and special teams at which no current Cavalier has started a game.
– No player on UVA’s current roster has ever started a game at center, right tackle, fullback, defensive tackle and strong safety.
– Also, UVA has zero kickers on its roster that have appeared in a college game.