ACC Opener Awaits Cavaliers

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — College football coaches learn a little more about their teams every week.

At the University of Virginia, Tony Elliott has seen his team consistently move the ball and score touchdowns in its first three games. With averages of 556 yards and 44.7 points per game, the Cavaliers (2-1) rank among the nation’s most productive football teams offensively.

“We’re putting out an exciting brand of offense,” quarterback Chandler Morris said. “It’s fun to watch.”

On the other side of the ball, the results have been mixed. UVA had few defensive breakdowns in wins over Coastal Carolina (48-7) and FCS member William & Mary (55-16), but neither of those teams has started well this season. In the Wahoos’ other game, Sept. 6 at Carter-Finley Stadium, they gave up 416 yards and five touchdowns in a 35-31 loss to NC State.

Asked Tuesday about his defense, Elliott said the group is still “settling in. I think both the offense and defense are trying to figure out what their identity is, how to communicate properly together, playing a lot of different guys. So we’re starting to get a better sense of where we are. I think this week will be a really good challenge. We’ll know a lot more about our offense and defense as we get into ACC play.”

UVA’s game with NC State did not count in the ACC standings for either team. The Hoos’ conference opener is Saturday night, when they host Stanford (1-2 overall, 1-0 ACC) in a 7:30 game at Scott Stadium.

This will the first football game between these schools. Stanford, a former member of the Pac-12, joined the ACC last year but wasn’t on Virginia’s 2024 schedule.

The Cardinal is coming off a 30-20 win over Boston College in Palo Alto, Calif. Tailback Micah Ford  rushed for a career-best 157 yards against BC.

“He’s a dynamic player,” Virginia defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter of the 6-foot, 220-pound Ford. “He’s a bigger guy, so tackling is going to be big for us. He can run through arm tackles, so it’s not going to be a type of deal where you come in with just one arm. He’ll run through that.”

To Elliott, the Cardinal’s ability to come up with, and then capitalize on, takeaways was the difference in the Boston College game. “But you just see that Stanford has the ability to run the football behind that big offensive line,” he said, “and they’ve got some big, thick running backs that come downhill and that are going to fall forward. The quarterback does a good job of distributing the ball, and I think their tight ends are as good as any that we’ve seen all year.”

The experience the Hoos gained by playing NC State, their only Power 4 opponent to date, should help them this weekend, Elliott said.

“I think you got a sense for the speed of the game and the physicality of the game,” he said. “Not saying that the other opponents that you play were not physical. But you get a test in league, even though it was non-conference, and [the Wolfpack is] one of the better teams in our league that’s won a lot of football games, that has recruited well over the last 10 years or so to be able to build their program holistically. So it was a really good opportunity for us to see where we were and to feel what it feels like to be in an ACC game as we get ready for Stanford coming in here Saturday night.”

KEY PIECE: The return of Kam Robinson figures to bolster the Hoos’ defense. Robinson, a junior linebacker, missed the first three games while recovering from a broken collarbone.

“He’s a dynamic player,” Carter said. “He can make a lot of plays. He’s already shown that throughout the years, so it’s gonna be a great addition for our defense.”

Robinson returned to practice last week on a limited basis and warmed up with his teammates before the W&M game at Scott Stadium on Saturday.

“We wanted him to get used to the game-day routine since he’d been out for a couple weeks,” Elliott said, “and that’s why we allowed him to warm up.”

Asked what Robinson means to the defense, Elliott said, “I think the film speaks for itself. You just go watch him play, and he’s a very, very fast, very instinctual, violent guy, can run sideline to sideline. So you get a very dynamic athlete back at the linebacker position.”

KIND WORDS: Down the road in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech fired head coach Brent Pry on Sunday. His dismissal came a day after the Hokies fell to 0-3 with one-sided loss to Old Dominion at Lane Stadium.

After the 2022 shooting that claimed the lives of three UVA players, Pry reached out to Elliott to offer his support, and Elliott spoke warmly of his coaching peer when asked Tuesday about the situation in Blacksburg.

“I thought we had a good relationship here working together in state, even though we’re rivals,” Elliott said. “Hate it for him and his family. You don’t want to see that happen to any coach. We know it’s a part of what we sign up for, but you hate to see that. I don’t know all the details behind all of that, and really it’s not my job to go and find that out. I just know that Coach Pry’s a heck of a football coach. He’s been really, really good to me over the last three years.”

UVA closes the regular season Nov. 29 against Tech at Scott Stadium.

BREAKOUT GAME: Injuries limited tight end John Rogers to three games as a UVA true freshman last season. He’s healthy this year, and his role is likely to grown as the season goes on.

Against William & Mary, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Rogers caught the first three passes of his college career and scored his first touchdown as a Cavalier. His TD came on a 3-yard pass from Morris midway through the second quarter.

Rogers, who graduated from Episcopal High in Alexandria, has added about 15 pound since enrolling at UVA in 2024, and “because of that, he’s a little bit more physical at the point of attack,” Elliott said.

“We knew in the recruiting process that he was a dynamic athlete. John can really run, change direction, has some explosiveness, something that is different than some of the other guys in the position room. But he has so much to learn as well. And what you’re seeing now is that he’s getting a better understanding of the scheme, which is allowing his physical traits to now really kick in. So just super excited for John.”

MEDICAL REPORT: In addition to Robinson, three other players who missed the W&M game—defensive end Mekhi Buchanan, cornerback Kenan Johnson and safety Da’Marcus Crosby—are likely to be available against Stanford, Elliott said.

Another safety, Anthony Clary, has returned to practice after recovering from a serious knee injury, but Elliott isn’t sure when No. 0 will make his 2025 debut.

“I want him to be able to play as much football as possible,” Elliott said, “and if that means that I have to be the bad guy and say, ‘No, we need to take another week,’ then I’m willing to do that. Because ultimately I want to see him play and play as much as he possibly can. And then, also, I’m a little bit more experienced in terms of the aftereffect of injuries long term. So you don’t want to put him in a situation where five, 10 years from now, he’s going to be walking with a permanent limp because he came back too soon.”

Two UVA players left the William & Mary game with injuries. Tailback Noah Vaughn suffered what appears to be a high-ankle sprain, Elliott said, and won’t play against Stanford. Daniel Sparks, who punts and kicks off, strained his hip flexor early in the W&M game. He didn’t kick after that but eventually returned to hold on extra points and field goals.

“He should be available to punt [Saturday night],” Elliott said. “We may take the duty of kickoff away just for a little while, because that’s where he puts a little bit more stress on the leg.”

NO SMALL FEAT: Virginia’s offense totaled a school-record 700 yards Saturday, breaking the program mark of 691 set against Davidson in 1968. The Cavaliers did so with many of their offensive starters, including Morris, sitting out the second half.

“It was awesome,” Morris said Tuesday. “I don’t care who you’re playing, 700 yards is really hard to do, and a great accomplishment for us as an offense, and we’re just trying to build off of it.”

UVA’s quarterbacks have yet to be sacked this season. Led by defensive tackle Clay Patterson, who has three, the Cardinal has recorded nine sacks through three games.

“They’re a very disciplined group,” Morris said of Stanford’s defensive linemen. “You can see that on film. They’re really well-coached, and they’re always going to be in the right spot, and they play with a ton of effort … It’s going to be a great test for us. We got a lot of respect for them, and it’s going to be a lot of fun when we spot the ball at 7:30 Saturday.”

SWITCHING SIDES: UVA graduate student Drake Metcalf spent his first three years of college at Stanford, from which he graduated in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

He missed the 2024 season, his first at Virginia, after tearing his Achilles tendon, but Metcalf won a starting job at right guard in training camp last month and has played well this season.

Metcalf had hoped to recover in time to play last season. Setbacks prevented that from happening, but “he responded to that the right way,” Elliott said, “and that’s what I’m proud of … As opposed to getting down about it, just taking it in stride and going back to work has put him in in the position that he is now. He’s moving well, he’s communicating well, he’s playing at a high level.”

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