Virginia Opens 2022 Campaign Saturday against Richmond

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia football will open its 2022 season on Saturday (Sept. 3) when it hosts Richmond (0-0) at Scott Stadium. Kickoff on ACC Regional Sports Networks and the Virginia Sports Radio Network is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

GAME COVERAGE: The contest will air locally in Charlottesville on MASN. For a list of affiliates that are scheduled to carry the game visit: https://theacc.com/sports/2022/8/26/FB_RSN_UR_UVA_22.aspx. The pregame radio show on the Virginia Sports Radio Network will begin at 11:30 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on the Virginia Sports App, the TuneIn App and any one of the VSRN affiliates across the commonwealth. For a list of expanded coverage visit: virginiasports.com/radio

INSIDE SATURDAY’S MATCHUP

• Virginia will commence its 133rd season of football on Saturday and its 92nd at Scott Stadium.
• It marks the fifth time since 2010, that Virginia and Richmond have squared off in the season opener.
• UVA is 84-39-9 all-time in season openers.
• The Cavaliers are 78-21-7 (.769) all-time in home season openers and have won 21 of their last 26 season openers in Scott Stadium.
• Virginia has opened at Scott Stadium in all but two years since 2008 (2015 at UCLA & 2019 at Pitt).
• UVA has won five-straight season-opening games. Its last loss in a season opener was in 2016 against Richmond at home.
• The Cavaliers are 10-1 in the month of September at Scott Stadium since the 2017 season.

TOP STORYLINES

• Saturday will mark the debut of Fralin Family Head Coach Tony Elliott who took over the reins of the Cavalier program on Dec. 10, 2021. Elliott is the 41st head coach in Virginia history and is one of four new head coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2022.
• Quarterback Brennan Armstrong returns to UVA for a fifth season after putting up one of the most prolific passing seasons in ACC history. He is one of three quarterbacks in the history of NCAA football to throw for 4,400 yards in 11 games or less. The left-hander set an ACC record with 404.5 yards per game, no other quarterback in the history of the conference averaged more than 350 yards per game in a season.
• Armstrong will be equipped with two Biletnikoff Award Watch List receivers in Keytaon Thompson and Dontayvion Wicks. Also in the mix is third team All-ACC selection Billy Kemp IV and 6-7 Lavel Davis Jr. who missed the 2021 season due to injury after averaging 25.75 yards per catch in 2020, the second highest average in the nation.
• The Cavaliers return 89 percent of their total yardage on offense last season. UVA ranked third in the country with 515.3 yards of total offense per game in 2021.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

191 – Yards Brennan Armstrong needs to become UVA’s career leader in total offense. Armstrong has 7,720 career yards trails Bryce Perkins (7,910) and Shawn Moore (7,897).

6 – Touchdown passes Brennan Armstrong needs to break UVA’s all-time career record held by Matt Schaub who threw 58 TDs from 2000-03.

5 – Consecutive season openers won by Virginia, the longest streak since it won six-straight from 1927-32. UVA won 13-straight season openers from 1908-22.

27 – Consecutive games WR Billy Kemp IV has caught a pass, tied for the sixth-longest among   active receivers in college football.

TONY ELLIOTT ERA BEGINS

• Tony Elliott brings a wealth of championship football experience to Charlottesville. In his 16 years as a full-time college coach, Elliott has been a part of 15 winning seasons including 10-win seasons at Clemson from 2011-2020.
• As the offensive Coordinator, Clemson went 89-10 and made four CFP National Championship game appearances.
• Elliott is one of 14 African-American head coaches in college football and one of eight running power-5 programs. The Cavaliers have seven full-time African-American assistant coaches, the most of any coaching staff in the country.
• Ironically, Richmond has been the opponent for the last two UVA coaching debuts. Mike London beat the Spiders in his first game in 2010 and Bronco Mendenhall suffered a 37-10 loss to Richmond in 2016.

HOOS BACK?

• Virginia returns a total of 30 letterman (12 on offense, 16 on defense and two specialists) from its roster a year ago.
• Of those 30 lettermen, 12 (five on offense and seven on defense) have starting experience.
• Virginia returns one letterwinner (Jonathan Leech) on its offensive line, tied with Colorado State with the fewest in college football.
• With the loss of 12 starters from last year (seven on offense & five on defense), the Cavaliers added 30 true freshmen to its roster. An additional 10 players joined the team via the transfer portal.

QB1 NOTES

• Armstrong has thrown a TD pass in the last 17 games he’s played, the longest streak in UVA history.
• In last year’s season opener against William & Mary, Armstrong threw for 338 yards, the most ever by a UVA quarterback in the first game of the season. Only Armstrong, Michael Rocco (311 yards vs. Richmond in 2012) and Aaron Brooks (305 vs. Auburn in 1997) have thrown for 300 yards in a UVA season opener.
• Armstrong joins Jameis Winston (Florida State), Deshaun Watson (Clemson) and Sam Hartman (Wake Forest) as the only ACC quarterbacks to return the next season after passing for 4,000 yards in the year prior.
• Record Watch: Armstrong needs 191 yards to break UVA’s career total offense record, 679 yards to break UVA’s career passing record, six touchdowns to break UVA’s career touchdown passes record.
• Armstrong is one of three players in NCAA Football history that have thrown for 4,400 yards or more playing just 11 games. Only Houston quarterbacks Andre Ware (4,699 in 1989) and David Klinger (5,140 in 1990) had more yards playing 11 games in a season.
• Armstrong’s 4,449 passing in 2021 were the most ever by an NCAA left-handed quarterback. He surpassed Scott Mitchell (Utah) who threw for 4,322 in 1988.
• Armstrong came just 145 yards shy of breaking the ACC single-season record for passing yards and might have done it if the Fenway Bowl was not canceled.
• The 4,000-yard season was one of 10 ever by an ACC quarterback.

WIDE RECEIVER U

• Virginia and UTSA are the only two schools to return three wide receivers that accumulated 725 or more yards last season (Dontayvion Wicks – 1,203; Keytaon Thompson – 990 & Billy Kemp IV). The UVA trio accounted for 2,918 yards, almost 500 more yards than its Roadrunner counterparts.
• Wicks and Thompson are both on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List. Virginia is one of three schools (Penn State & Texas) with multiple student-athletes on the 43-player list.
• Virginia is the only school in the country to return two wide receivers with 990 or more yards receiving – Dontayvion Wicks (1,203) and Keytaon Thompson (990).

UVA – RICHMOND SERIES NOTES

• Virginia has won 29 of the 34 meetings between the two school in an all-time series that was first played in 1893.
• The Cavaliers have shut out Richmond on 20 different occasions, most recently in 2008 (16-0). The most against any other opponent besides VMI (23 times).
• The Spiders snapped a 10-game losing streak against UVA with a 37-20 win over the Cavaliers in the 2016 season opener and also the debut of head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
• Richmond has served as UVA’s season-opening opponent seven times and this year’s game will be the fifth time since 2010.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

• Nick Jackson was the ACC’s top tackler in 2021, totaling 117 stops and was credited with 2.5 sacks in 12 games. He recorded six tackles for loss, broke up two passes and had six quarterback hurries.
• Jackson’s 9.8 tackles per game also led the ACC and were the 14th most in the country.
• The Atlanta, Ga., native went on to earn second team All-ACC honors for the second year in-a-row.
• Jackson has started 23-straight games on the Cavalier defense, the most of any returning UVA player on offense or defense.
• In three seasons, Jackson has appeared in 36 games for the Cavaliers and accumulated 250 tackles, 56 shy of cracking UVA’s all-time top-15.
• Jackson has the chance to join Charles McDaniel (1982-84), Jon Copper (2006-08) and Micah Kiser (2015-17) as the only Cavaliers to lead the team in tackles for three consecutive seasons.

LEADER IN THE SECONDARY

• Cornerback Anthony Johnson, who transferred from Louisville prior to the 2021 season, made an immediate impact on the Cavalier secondary in 2021 by starting 11 of UVA’s 12 games.
• Pro Football Focus listed him as a third team All-ACC selection after ranking seventh in the ACC in interceptions with three and eighth in passes broken up with nine.
• He played in all 12 games and was fifth on the team with 44 tackles