Game Notes: Virginia prepares for Homecoming Weekend game with Duke

Virginia (4-2, 2-2 ACC) returns home for the first time since Sept. 24 to host ACC Coastal Division foe, Duke (3-3, 1-2 ACC) on Saturday at Scott Stadium.

The game will kick at 12:30 p.m. and is scheduled to air on ACC Regional Sports Networks and locally in Virginia on MASN. A complete list of affiliates carrying the game can be found here. The matchup will also be available on the ESPN App/ESPN.com and is subject to blackout.

The contest can be heard on Virginia Sports Radio Networks around the Commonwealth and live on VirginiaSports.com. A list of stations can be found here.

Fans can follow along via live stats and the Virginia Mobile app and get in-game updates on the team’s official twitter account, @UVAFootball.

Homecoming Weekend

• Virginia returns home on Saturday for the first time since Sept. 24 and is coming off back-to-back road ACC wins at Miami and Louisville. Virginia won consecutive road ACC contests for the first time since 2011 (d. Miami 28-21; d. Maryland 31-13).
• Dating back to Oct. 31 last season, Virginia has won eight of its last 11 games.
• Saturday will be Virginia’s 96th homecomings game, a tradition that debuted in 1923.
• Virginia has won six-straight meetings against Duke, including a 38-20 season-opening victory last year at Scott Stadium.
• Virginia enters the game as the No. 2 passing offense in the country with 412.8 yards per game. Duke comes to Charlottesville with the ACC’s second-best rushing offense (218.3 yards per game).

Virginia vs. Duke Notes

• Duke will be the first of four Coastal Division foes Virginia will face to close out its ACC slate. Three of the four matchups are at Scott Stadium.
• Virginia and Duke have met every year since 1963. UVA leads the all-time series with Duke, 39-33.
• Since 2000, Virginia is 15-6 against Duke with win streaks of eight and six games.
• Virginia hosts Duke for the third-straight season. UVA has never hosted an ACC team three-straight seasons since the formation of the league in 1953.
• During UVA’s current six-game winning streak, Duke has committed 26 turnovers to Virginia’s ten. Nine of those 18 turnovers were interceptions thrown by current New York Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones. Nine of his 29 career interceptions thrown at Duke came against the Cavaliers.
• At one time Duke had a 12-game advantage in the series, but by winning 28 of the last 38 meetings since 1982, UVA now leads the all-time series by six wins over the Blue Devils.
• Virginia has played 72 games vs. Duke – fifth most among all UVA opponents (UNC, VT, VMI, MD).

Virginia Team Notes 

• Quarterback Brennan Armstrong comes into the weekend as the nation’s leader in passing yards with 2,460. The total is already the 12th most in a single season through just six games.
• Armstrong has four games this season in which he totaled 400 or more yards passing, the most in school history. Prior to this season, a UVA quarterback had eclipsed the 400-yard mark three times.
• He ranks in the top-10 in the Nation in passing yards per game (2nd – 410), total offense (2nd – 417.3), completions per game (3rd – 30.3) passing touchdowns (7th – 17) and points responsible for (8th – 116).
• Of the 20 top passing performances in terms of yardage across FBS, Armstrong has four of them. Tops on the list is his school-record, 554-yard game against North Carolina.
• On the receiving end, Virginia has four players in the top-66 in receiving yards, including Dontayvion Wicks, who ranks 10th overall with 554 yards receiving. UVA is the only school to have four receivers in the top 66.
• Wicks has emerged as Virginia’s top receiver with 25 receptions for 554 yards. His 92.3 receiving yards per game are third best in the ACC and his five touchdowns are tied for fourth most in the league. Wicks caught all five touchdowns in a four-week span beginning with two against Illinois.
• Wide receiver Billy Kemp IV led the Cavaliers with nine catches against Miami, one shy of his career high. It marked the sixth time in his career he had nine or more catches in a game.
• Going into Saturday, Kemp has 144 career catches, tied with Heath Miller (2002-04) for the sixth most ever by a UVA receiver. Of the 15 wide receivers inside the top 20 on UVA’s career receptions list, nine have played for wide receivers coach Marques Hagans.
• Kemp has caught a pass in 21-straight games, a streak that dates back to the 2019 season.
• The sure-handed Kemp is also one of the most experienced punt returners in college football, fielding 52 career punts, the seventh most among active FBS players.
• The Cavaliers have had two players with 100 yards receiving in the same game twice this season. Wicks (183) and Kemp (104) each eclipsed 100 against North Carolina while Keytaon Thompson (149) and Ra’Shaun Henry (179) went over 100 against Louisville. Adding tight end Jelani Woods (122 vs. Illinois), five different Cavaliers have put together 100-yard receiving performances.
• Woods has a touchdown in all but one of the games he played this season. He had caught four scores in three seasons against Oklahoma State and has four in five games at UVA.
• Armstrong has spread the ball around, at least nine different receivers have caught a pass in five of the first six games this season including a season-high 11 against North Carolina.
• The Virginia defense features two of the top six tacklers in the ACC, Nick Jackson (6th – 8.83 TPG) and Joey Blount (T-3rd – 9.0 TPG). Jackson, a preseason All-ACC selection, has made 53 stops in six games and Blount has 45 tackles in five games. Blount’s 30 solo tackles are tied for the second most in the ACC.
• The Cavalier defense clamped down in the fourth quarter limiting Louisville to 17 plays on four drives including a pair of three-and-outs.
• Since taking over for an injured Justin Duenkel, specialist Brendan Farrell has been a perfect 7-for-7 on extra point tries and 4-for-5 on field goal attempts with a long of 43. His only miss was from 55 against Louisville, a yard shy of a would be program record.
• Punter Jacob Finn pinned the Cardinals to the 15-yard line after the offense’s only 3 and out of the fourth quarter with 5:26 remaining in the game. Finn has seven punts of 50 yards or more, five of them coming in the last two games.