This Saturday, the Virginia Cavaliers will return to a full-capacity Scott Stadium for the first time in almost two years. The team will face considerable opposition if it wants to repeat its ACC Coastal Division-winning 2019 performance: Most preseason polls have UVA finishing fifth of eight teams in the Coastal, trailing UNC, Miami, Pitt, and Virginia Tech. UNC and Miami in particular boast strong, star-packed rosters.
But for the Wahoo faithful, there’s plenty of reason to believe. The Cavs handled the tumult of the pandemic remarkably well in 2020, winning four of their last five games to finish the season at 5-5. And heading into 2021, the roster has quite a few players who were a part of the memorable 2019 season, which saw Bryce Perkins lead the Cavaliers to their first ACC Championship appearance in program history.
On offense
UVA will shine on offense this season. The 2020 unit averaged 30.7 points per game, the first time UVA has averaged more than 30 points per game in the ACC. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong, the 6’2″, 215-pound redshirt junior from Shelby, Ohio, will lead the charge. Armstrong threw for 2,117 yards and 18 touchdowns, and was the Cavaliers’ leading rusher with 552 yards in 2020. He also threw 11 interceptions, more than competitors like UNC’s Sam Howell (seven) and Miami’s D’Eriq King (five).
Armstrong is one of seven returning quarterbacks in the country with a ProFootballFocus rating over 90. With spring and summer training curtailed by COVID in 2020, he struggled to find rapport with his offense, especially in the early part of the season. After a full season as the starter and a full offseason of work, Armstrong should be better than ever come fall.
The secret to UVA’s success this year will be keeping the team’s signal caller healthy and out of harm’s way—which is where the Cavaliers’ offensive line comes in. The OL has six key linemen returning: Olusegun Oluwatimi, Ryan Nelson, Chris Glaser, Ryan Swoboda, Bobby Haskins, and Joe Bissinger. Although the starting five have yet to be announced, it’s safe to say that Armstrong has experienced men protecting him.
A good quarterback is nothing without quality receivers and running backs, and luckily Armstrong has plenty. Senior Keytaon Thompson, who serves as a back-up quarterback and wide receiver, returns for the Hoos after rushing 39 times for 234 yards and three touchdowns, and catching seven passes for 98 yards and three TDs. Senior wide receiver Billy Kemp IV is a solid option for Armstrong as well, after rushing 644 yards and securing one touchdown in 2020. Kemp will also be the team’s starting punt returner. Big man Lavel Davis, Jr. made waves last season with 20 receptions for 515 yards and five touchdowns before tearing his ACL. Davis was originally slated to return in November, but in a recent press conference Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall teased a potential earlier return. Dontayvion Wicks, who was out last season due to injury, and Ra’Shaun Henry, who racked up 206 yards and four touchdowns in 2020, are valuable options for Armstrong as well.
The Cavaliers have three play-making running backs available to start: senior Wayne Taulapapa, sophomore Mike Hollins, and senior Ronnie Walker, Jr. Taulapapa returns for the Hoos after rushing for 395 yards in 2020. He’ll look to add to his 17 career touchdowns. Hollins opted out of the 2020 season but secured three touchdowns in 2019. Walker ran for 66 yards in four games after transferring from Indiana halfway through last year.
At tight end, Armstrong has an exciting new target to aim for: Jelani Woods, a 6’7″, 275 lb transfer from Oklahoma State. When he arrived at UVA, Woods selected the number 0 for his jersey, because, Woods says, 0 is the number of people who can stop him. Now that’s the right attitude.
On defense
The secondary will make or break the season for UVA. In 2020, the defense struggled, in part due to injury, giving up an average of 442.9 yards per game (10th in the ACC), 6.4 yards per play (14th in the ACC), and 29.6 points per game (ninth in ACC). The defensive backfield allowed 304 passing yards per game, which ranked last in the ACC and 123rd out of 127 FBS teams.
On the bright side, last season’s Hoos finished fourth in the ACC in rushing yards allowed per game, sixth in sacks with 32, and sixth in interceptions with 11. These aren’t extraordinary numbers, but at least the team has a foundation to build on entering the season.
Nick Jackson is the linebacker to watch. As an inside linebacker, he earned a spot on the all-ACC Third Team in 2020 after leading the Hoos with 105 tackles on the inside (ranked sixth nationally) and averaged 10.5 tackles per game (second in the ACC). Jackson was named to the preseason watchlist for the Butkus Award, which goes to the best linebacker in the country.
Senior safeties Joey Blount and De’Vante Cross are ready to rectify the mistakes of last season. Blount, an all-ACC performer in 2019, missed time in 2020 due to an injury but still managed one interception, one forced fumble, and a sack. Cross started all 10 games in 2020 and finished the season with 29 tackles, two interceptions, one sack, and six passes defended.
Senior cornerback Nick Grant is aided by the addition of grad transfer Anthony Johnson. Grant had 31 total tackles (25 solo), one forced fumble, and two interceptions in 2020. In 2019, Johnson had 27 total tackles, six points defended, three forced fumbles, and one interception at Louisville.
The defensive line is filled with experienced returning starters: Mandy Alonso, Adeeb Atariwa, Aaron Faumui, and Jahmeer Carter, plus freshman Bryce Carter, UVA’s highest-ranked recruit for 2021.
ON the competition
The Cav’s opening game against William & Mary should get the team off the mark with a win. After that, things quickly get more difficult: UVA has September road games against the season’s two highest-ranked ACC opponents, UNC and Miami. Both programs boast star quarterbacks: UNC starting passer Sam Howell is on the watchlist for the Heisman, and dynamite Miami quarterback D’Eriq King returns for the Hurricanes after tearing his meniscus and ACL.
The Hoos have a dismal record on the road in recent years. They went 2-3 on the road in 2019 and 0-4 in 2020. Even so, UVA has beaten UNC for the past four years, including last season with Howell under center.
Miami, however, is a different story. UVA has lost to Miami on the road three times in the past four years. The Cavs beat Miami in 2018, when the Hoos and Hurricanes met at Scott Stadium, where UVA was able to pull off a three-point victory. Despite a stacked offensive roster, the Cavaliers may need a miracle to win at Miami on September 30.
Later in the season, UVA can look forward to a tough home game against highly ranked Notre Dame, and a tricky matchup against Pitt in Pittsburgh on November 20. Then on November 27, Virginia Tech comes to town, and UVA will attempt to win the Commonwealth Cup for just the second time in the last 18 seasons.
It’s the million dollar question, isn’t it: Will UVA beat Tech? The Hokies shouldn’t be any great shakes this season, coming off a three-year run where the team accumulated a 19-18 record. Quarterback Braxton Burmeister had an injury-riddled, inconsistent season last year before leading Tech to victory over UVA in the annual November matchup. The Hokies lost their best offensive lineman and running back to the NFL, but added a transfer from Clemson along the defensive line.
With any luck, a jam-packed Scott Stadium crowd will cheer the Hoos as they topple their arch rivals in November. We can dream, can’t we?
Home sweet home
The Cavaliers are 16-2 at home over the last three seasons. They’re 6-13 when playing away from Charlottesville during the same stretch. That home-field advantage should continue this season, as Scott Stadium will be open to its full 61,500-seat capacity to start the season.
Old friends
UVA Class of 2019 star quarterback Bryce Perkins has impressed in this year’s NFL preseason—Perkins threw for more than 450 yards and three touchdowns over the course of the Los Angeles Rams’ three preseason games. The Arizona native went undrafted in 2019 and spent 2020 on the Rams’ practice squad, but now looks set to enter the season as L.A.’s third-string passer.