Hoos See Season-Opening Win as Launching Pad

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

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the euphoric home locker room at Scott Stadium, the volume dropped Saturday night, if only for a few minutes, when head coach Tony Elliott stepped in to speak to his football team.

In the first game of Elliott’s fifth season in charge of the program, Virginia routed ACC rival NC State 34-8 on Saturday. In the process, the Wahoos reached two of their annual goals. They want to start every season with a victory, and they want to win their ACC opener.

“Hopefully everyone sees what we’re capable of when everyone’s pulling in the same direction,” Elliott told his players.

The Hoos, who won a program-record 11 games in 2025, including the Gator Bowl, were unranked in the preseason Associated Press poll released this month. But their emphatic Week 0 win over the Wolfpack is generating buzz nationally, and they can expect to receive lavish praise from many corners this week.

“The challenge is, are you going to stay humble?” Elliott asked his players, who responded in the affirmative.

Elliott asked again: “Are you really going to stay humble?”

“Yes, sir!” they shouted again.

Virginia will face three non-conference opponents, two of them at Scott Stadum, before resuming ACC play with an Oct. 3 game at Florida State. UVA hosts Norfolk State on Friday, Sept. 11, meets West Virginia in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 19, and entertains Delaware on Sept. 26.

The Cavaliers showed Saturday that they’re talented in all three phases. “The key is, can we lock in week after week and block out the distractions and play like we did today?” Elliott said in the locker room.

Since the end of last season, the program has added about 30 transfers, most of whom made their UVA debuts Saturday. Among those who shined for the Cavaliers were quarterback Beau Pribula (Missouri), tailback Jekail Middlebrook (Middle Tennessee State), wide receiver Da’Shawn Martin (Kent State), cornerbacks Jacobie Henderson (Rutgers) and Omillio Agard (Wisconsin) and safety Brandyn Hillman (Michigan).

Pribula rushed for a career-best 110 yards and averaged 7.3 yards per carry. He completed 9 of 11 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns, and he wasn’t intercepted.

“Beau knows,” UVA defensive ends coach Chris Slade, smiling.

The Cavaliers’ current players are too young to remember Nike’s iconic advertising campaign for multi-sport star Bo Jackson, but they can recognize the value Pribula brings to the offense.

“When you've got a quarterback that's not scared to stick his face in there and run the ball hard, I think that just brings energy to the room, the team, and just the fan base in general,” tailback Xavier Brown said.

Program win No. 𝟕𝟎𝟎#GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 pic.twitter.com/rAgdEXUG7C

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) August 30, 2026

Saturday marked the first time since the 2008 season opener that tickets sold out for a game at Scott Stadium. The atmosphere was festive, and that “hopefully proves to everybody what we're capable of here at the University of Virginia,” Elliott said.

“My hope is that every time we show up to Scott Stadium, that's the energy that we create,” Elliott said, “because truly you can see how the guys feed off of it, and they play to that energy.”

Elliott didn’t enjoy immediate success after leaving Clemson, his alma mater, to take the UVA job in December 2021.

In 2022, the Hoos finished 3-7 in an abbreviated season in which a tragic shooting took the lives of three players: Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry. Virginia went 3-9 in 2023 and 5-7 in 2024 before breaking through last year.

Saturday, under sunny skies at Scott Stadium, the Cavaliers gave their fans—the many high school recruits on hand for the game—more reasons to believe.

“I think we just took advantage of the opportunity,” Elliott said. “It's what we've been asking for, it's what we've been working for: an opportunity to show that Virginia can be a destination.

“People ask me a lot [about] my journey, and I didn't come to Virginia to go somewhere else. I came to Virginia to build Virginia into a destination for our fans. I want folks to [say], ‘We can't wait until Saturdays in the fall to come tailgate on Grounds before a game in Scott Stadium.’

"And I want Scott Stadium to be the place where everybody wants to go watch a game. I want the University of Virginia football to be the destination for guys locally, right here in state, but then also guys nationally. So we just capitalized on an opportunity. We’ve still got work to do. We know that we’ve got to continue to put a good product on the field. But I think we kind of showed what the potential is here at UVA. “

Asked about his first game at Scott Stadium, Pribula said, “I thought it was awesome. I thought the fans really showed out today and made it an unbelievable atmosphere, and I'm honored to play in an atmosphere like that for a school like this, for a coach like this, and for a team like this.”

Behind their extraordinarily experienced offensive line, the Cavaliers totaled 413 yards on offense. Brown, in his first game since October, when he suffered a torn ACL, totaled 98 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns, the second on a 45-yard pass play.

“I think we all know that he's an explosive playmaker,” Elliott said, “and the biggest thing is just trying to find a way to keep him healthy for the length of the season. But so awesome for him [given] how hard he worked to get back, and then to be able to do what he did and provide us a spark and put points on the board.”

Virginia used five tailbacks Saturday, and they combined for 148 yards on 42 carries.

“I'm just proud of that whole group,” Elliott said. “I thought they all did a good job and contributed throughout the course of the game. We're gonna need all five of those guys throughout the course of the year.

“I love how Beau runs, but 15 carries every game is probably not the way that we want to make a living. But it's what was required today to win the game. You'd like to be able to feature the backs a little bit more, but just really proud of the offensive line.”

Just gonna leave this here ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/kwFdUyl2Zr

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) August 30, 2026

In the second half, after NC State scored to make it 24-8, Virginia set program records with a touchdown drive that lasted 23 plays and took 12:15 off the clock. Pribula joked later that he worried about the toll that possession was taking on his offensive line.

Left tackle McKale Boley is 22, left guard Noah Josey is 25, center Drake Metcalf is 24, right guard Makilan Thomas is 23, and right tackle Monroe Mills is 24.

“I wanted to get off the field as fast as possible,” Pribula said, smiling, “because those guys up front are old, man. They can't take a beating like that. But I think that's kind of who we are in a sense. That's what we're able to do, and it just opens up so many things when you have guys like that up front that are so experienced and they're so levelheaded and they're so easy to work with.”

UVA’s defense forced two turnovers and held the Wolfpack, which had won four straight in the series, to 168 yards. Defensive end Fisher Camac deflected a pass that Hillman intercepted, and Hillman later forced a fumble that linebacker Landon Danley recovered.

“We just showed the team that we are,” Camac said. “We knew the team that we were, but we just had to go out and show it today, and that's what we did, on offense, defense, special teams.”

Will Bettridge was 2 for 2 on field goals, connecting from 47 and 42 yards, and 3 for 3 on extra points. Of Elijah Slibeck’s seven kickoffs, five went for touchbacks, and Daniel Sparks averaged 45.4 yards on his five punts. Sparks’ final punt was a 63-yarder, the 16th kick of at least 60 yards that he's had in his college career. 

It was an occasion to remember for the Hoos, for multiple reasons, but Elliott kept the victory in perspective.

“That’s just the beginning,” he told his team. “I’m proud of you, but we’re far from done.”

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