Game Notes: Virginia hosts Georgia Tech Saturday night

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (5-2, 3-2 ACC) will be home for the second-straight week and host ACC foe Georgia Tech (3-3, 2-2 ACC) on Saturday at Scott Stadium. The contest is scheduled to air live on ACC Network at 7:30 p.m.

GAME COVERAGE

Information on providers of the ACC Network can be found on GetACCN.com. The game is also available to ACC Network subscribers via the ESPN App and ESPN.com. 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.

OPENING KICK

• Virginia is seeking its fourth-straight win and is one of 24 teams in the country that have a current win streak of three or more games.
• UVA has won three-straight ACC games, the third consecutive season UVA has strung together three-straight ACC wins. The last time the Cavaliers won four-straight ACC games in the same season was 2011.
• Dating back to Oct. 31 last season, Virginia has won nine of its last 12 games, tied with Wake Forest and NC State for the best mark in the ACC. UVA is one of 22 teams in the nation with nine or more wins in the last 12 games.
• Since 2017, Virginia is 24-6 at home. The Cavaliers are 15-2 at Scott Stadium since 2019.
• Under Bronco Mendenhall, the Cavaliers are 8-2 at home in night games.
• Virginia lost its first night game at home since 2017 earlier this season against Wake Forest. It snapped an eight-game win streak at home in night games.
• UVA comes into the contest with the most passing yards (2,841) in the country and with 3,683 yards of total offense, the second most in college football.

AGAINST GEORGIA TECH

• The Yellow Jackets have a one game edge in the all-time series (21-20-1) that dates back to 1965.
• The 2020 season marked the first time UVA and Georgia Tech didn’t play since 1981. The two teams had met every year from 1982-2019.
  • The series has favored the home team historically. The Cavaliers are 13-4-1 all-time at Scott Stadium against Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is 17-7 all-time against UVA at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
• Virginia has won 12 of the last 14 meetings with the Yellow Jackets at Scott Stadium.
• In the last meeting between the two schools, Virginia held off a late charge from the Yellow Jackets, 33-28 at Scott Stadium. Georgia Tech pulled within five points on an eight-yard touchdown run by Jordan Mason with 5:30 remaining in the game but Virginia ran out the clock with a nine-play, 39-yard drive to seal the win, the second of four-straight wins to close out the regular season.

THE BRENNAN ARMSTRONG EXPERIENCE

• Quarterback Brennan Armstrong comes into the weekend as the nation’s leader in passing yards with 2,824. The total is already the fifth-most in a single season in UVA history.
• Armstrong has thrown for 300 or more yards in six times and 400 yards four times in seven games this season. Prior to this year a UVA quarterback hadn’t thrown for 300 yards more than four times (Matt Schuab and Bryce Perkins) in the same season and thrown for 400 yards twice in the same season.
• Nationally, Armstrong ranks second in total offense (414.6), second in passing yards per game (403.4) second in passing yards per game (403.4), third in completions per game (30.0), seventh in passing TDs (19), and eighth in points responsible for (134).
• There have been 23, 400-yard passing performances across FBS this season, Armstrong owns four of them. Tops on the list is his school-record, 554-yard game against North Carolina.
• Armstrong has accumulated 2,902 yards of total offense this season, the most in the country and the sixth-highest total in a single-season in school history.

THE CAVALIER TARGETS

• Virginia has four wide receivers in the ACC’s top-10 in receiving yards – Dontayvion Wicks (2nd – 679; Keytaon Thompson (6th – 515); Billy Kemp IV (8th – 474) and Ra’Shaun Henry (10th – 437).
• Virginia has five players with 300 yards receiving, no other FBS school has four.
• Wicks has emerged as Virginia’s top receiver with 32 receptions for 679 yards. His 21.22 yards per catch lead the ACC and is sixth-best in the country. Wicks has caught a touchdown pass in five of the last six games.
• 15 Cavaliers have caught a pass this season, including quarterback Brennan Armstrong who has 18 receiving yards to his name. Five pass catchers have 20 or more receptions this season.
• To date, Billy Kemp IV, Keytaon Thompson, Dontayvion Wicks and Ra’Shaun Henry have each caught a pass in Virginia’s seven games this season.
• 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 Thompson (149) and Henry (179) went over 100 against Louisville. Adding tight end Jelani Woods (122 vs. Illinois).
• There have been five different Cavaliers (Kemp-1; Wicks-3; Woods-1; Henry-1; Thompson-1) that have put together 100-yard receiving performances.
• Jelani 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 five in six games played 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.

NOTING THE DEFENSE

• Virginia and No. 1 Georgia are the only Power-5 schools in the country with multiple shutouts this season.
• Virginia intercepted two passes against Duke, the first multi-interception game of the season and first since picking off five against Duke in the 2020 season opener. It was the first time this season that the Blue Devils had thrown multiple interceptions.
• To preserve the shutout, UVA recovered a fumble on the goal line on Duke’s final possession of the game. It was the first fumble recovered by the Virginia defense in a goal-to-go situation since 2018 at Pittsburgh.
• The Virginia defense held Duke to 110 yards rushing. The Blue Devils came into the contest with the second-best rushing attack in the ACC, averaging 218 yards per game. It was Duke’s lowest rushing total of the season.
• Mataeo Durant, who ranked second in the ACC in rushing coming into the game accumulated 82 yards on the ground, only the second time this season he was held under 100 yards.
• The shutout was Virginia’s first in ACC play since 2008 when it blanked Maryland, 31-0.
• The 48-point margin of victory was the highest in the Bronco Mendenhall era (2016-present). It was the sixth time since 2016 UVA has scored 48 or more points in a game.
• The 48-0 shutout was the largest in ACC play since defeating Miami, 48-0 in 2007.
• Virginia has two shutouts on the season (W&M, 43-0, Duke, 48-0). It marks the first time since 2008, UVA has two or more shutouts in the same season
• Nick Grant has seven pass breakups in six games played, the most in the ACC and tied for 11th-most in the country
• Nick Jackson made a game-high 11 tackles against Duke, the fourth time this season he has registered double-digit tackles this season. He also recorded a sack and a career-high four tackles for loss. The four tackles for loss were the most since Charles Snowden made four stops in the backfield against North Carolina last season.

THE SPECIALISTS

• Kicker Brendan Farrell was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goals (31, 34) against Duke and was 5-for-5 on extra points. He is 6-for-6 this season on field goals from 43 yards and in.
• Farrell has accumulated 19 touchbacks since taking over the kicking responsibilities beginning in the second half of the Wake Forest game. The 35 touchbacks between Justin Duenkel and Farrell are the eighth most in the country.
• Farrell was chosen to “Break the Rock” after the 48-0 win over Duke. He’s the first kicker since Brian Delaney in 2018 to swing the sledgehammer.
• Virginia ranks fourth in the nation in kick return defense, allowing 14.0 yards per kick return.
• Cavalier opponents have missed three of their last seven field goal attempts, including potential game-winning tries of 33 vs. Miami and 49 against Louisville as time expired.
• Prior to the two final second misses, UVA opponents were successful on 14 of their previous 15 fourth quarter field goals attempts.
• On its opening drive of the game, Duke hit the left upright on a 25-yard try and was unsuccessful on all three red zone tries.

INSIDE THE THREE-GAME STREAK

• Against Miami, Virginia snapped a five-game road losing streak and recorded its first road win since Nov. 2, 2019 at North Carolina.
• The win at Hard Rock Stadium against Miami was the first since 2011 and the first in the last seven games at the facility.
• Virginia had previously been 0-4 in Louisville before the 34-33 win on Oct. 16.
• The back-to-back road victories were the first since 2017 (Boise State/UNC) and back-to back road ACC wins were the first since 2011 (Miami/Maryland).
• Virginia defeated Duke for the seventh-straight time and owns a 16-6 mark against the Blue Devils since 2000.