Virginia Opens Tony Elliott Era With 34-17 Win Over Richmond

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia football opened the 2022 season and the Tony Elliott era with a 34-17 win over Richmond on Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium.

The Cavaliers amassed 505 total yards and had five different players reach the end zone in the win. UVA had 259 yards rushing and 246 yards passing. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong threw two touchdowns and rushed for 105 yards with a touchdown.

Running back Perris Jones rushed for 104 yards and scored two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, in his first career start.

Virginia had seven rushes for over 10 yards, with Jones and Armstrong both recording three 10+ rushes.

On defense, linebacker Nick Jackson led the team with 14 tackles, including one tackle for loss. Defensive back Fentrell Cypress II had eight tackles and three pass breakups.

SCORING PLAYS

• WR Lavel Davis Jr. made his return to the field with a 56-yard touchdown reception on the second play of the drive.

• RB Perris Jones put UVA ahead 14-7 with a 15-yard touchdown run with :05 seconds to go in the first quarter.

• QB Brennan Armstrong broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, giving the Cavaliers a 21-7 advantage.

• RB Mike Hollins put UVA up 28-10 on a three-yard run into the end zone.

• Jones caught an 11-yard pass from Armstrong in the fourth quarter to secure UVA’s 34-17 win.

Postgame Notes

Virginia Team Notes

• UVA is 85-39-9 all-time in season openers and has won six-straight for the first time since winning six-consecutive openers from 1927-32.
• Virginia is 11-2 in the month of September at Scott Stadium since 2017.
• UVA owns a 30-3-2 all-time record against Richmond and has won 11 of last 12 dating back to 1947.
• Tony Elliott made his head coaching debut and became the second UVA coach since 1965 win in his debut.
• Virginia had two 100-yard rushers – Brennan Armstrong (105 yards) and Perris Jones (104 yards) for the first time since Jordan Ellis (146) and Bryce Perkins (108) in 2018 against Richmond.
• UVA ran the ball 42 times and totaled 259 yards rushing, the most since accumulating 262 yards on 42 attempts against Boston College on Dec. 5, 2020.
• Virginia wore orange pants and orange jerseys for the first time since 2010 against North Carolina.

Player Notes

• Brennan Armstrong broke UVA’s career total offense record with a 64-yard touchdown run. He surpassed Shawn Moore (7,987) and Bryce Perkins (7,910) on UVA’s all-time list. It was the longest rush of his career and the 6^th-longest ever by a UVA quarterback. His previous career long was 60 yards against Boston College in 2020.
• Armstrong rushed for 105 yards, his second 100-yard rushing effort of his career. He ran for 130 yards against Boston College on Dec. 5, 2020.
• Armstrong’s 64-yard rushing touchdown was his 15^th rushing score of his career, tying him with fellow southpaw Jameel Sewell for the fifth most ever by a UVA quarterback.
• McKale Boley and D’Brickashaw Ferguson are the only two true freshmen in UVA history to start at offensive tackle in the season opener. Only six true freshmen in program history have started a game at offensive tackle – Ferguson (2002 – all 14 games), Brad Butler (2002-1 game), Morgan Moses (2010 – 6 games), Eric Smith (2013 – 8 games), Chris Glaser (2017 – 2 games) and Boley (2022).
• Perris Jones is the first UVA running back with a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game since Wayne Taulapapa at Miami on Sept. 30, 2021. He totaled 104 yards on the ground, the first UVA running back to rush for 100 yards since Jordan Ellis against South Carolina in the 2018 Belk Bowl.
• Lavel Davis’ first catch since Dec. 12, 2020 (Virginia Tech) went for a 56-yard touchdown, his 12^th career reception of 20 or more yards.
• Billy Kemp IV extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 28 games with a 10-yard catch in the second quarter. Going into to week one, his streak was the sixth-longest among active players in the country.
• First career reception for Luke Wentz in the first quarter, a five-yard reception on UVA’s second drive.
• Keytoan Thompson has caught a pass in 15-straight games dating back to the 2020 season.
• After serving his suspension in the first half from a targeting penalty from last season, linebacker Josh Ahern finished with five tackles and recorded first career sack.
• Nick Jackson finished with 14 tackles, two shy of matching his career-high. It marked the third-straight game of 10 or more tackles. He has recorded 15 double-digit tackle efforts in his career.
• First career starts: RB Perris Jones, McKale Boley, Logan Taylor, Ty Furnish, Derek Devine, Jonas Sanker, James Jackson.