Wahoo Preview, Game 5: Virginia at Duke

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia will be looking to make it eight in a row Saturday night in Durham, as the Cavaliers take on Duke at 7:30 p.m.

UVA (2-2, 0-1 ACC) has beaten the Blue Devils (3-1, 0-0) seven-straight times, including a 48-0 blanking in Charlottesville in 2021. Both teams have a first-year head coach, as Virginia hired Tony Elliott and Duke hired Mike Elko.

The Devils are coming off of their first loss of the season, as they came up short on the road last weekend at Kansas, 35-27. Prior to that, Duke got by Northwestern on the road, along with easy home wins over Temple and North Carolina A&T.

Tropical rainstorm Ian has moved up the East Coast over the past couple of days, bringing a ton of rain with it, and tonight’s contest could be a sloppy one as a result.

Virginia will be going up against yet another mobile quarterback, as Duke sophomore Riley Leonard has rushed for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the season. Leonard has also thrown for over 1,000 yards and 6 more touchdowns.

Duke has a talented pair of running backs in Jaylen Coleman (5.4 yards per carry, 4 touchdowns) and Jordan Waters (5.7 yards, 3 touchdowns).

Senior wideout Jalon Calhoun leads the Devils with 291 receiving yards, with sophomore Jordan Moore hauling in a team-high 20 receptions (3 touchdowns).

The Blue Devils are just 12-14 overall on their home turf at Wallace Wade Stadium across the past five seasons.

UVA’s Brennan Armstrong needs three more touchdown passes and one more 200-yard passing game to set the school’s career marks in both categories. With the wet conditions expected, those records could live to see another week.

Armstrong will have fellow senior Billy Kemp IV back in the huddle after missing the last two contests, while safety Antonio Clary is expected suit up as well for the Cavaliers.

Virginia will likely utilize its backfield depth against a Duke defense that ranks ninth in the ACC stopping the run. Scroll down to the chart below to see how the Wahoos and Blue Devils stack up within the conference statistical categories.

For more UVA-Duke coverage, check out our Football archives here, and you can listen to The Jerry Ratcliffe Show podcast previewing the contest with host Chris Graham.

The Statistical Breakdown

Head Coaches

Virginia
Tony Elliott
At UVA — 2-2 (first season)
Career — 2-2 (first season)

Duke
Mike Elko
At Duke — 3-1 (first season)
Career — 3-1 (first season)

Broadcast Information

TV: ACC Regional Sports Networks
Announcers: Tom Werme (play-by-play), James Bates (analyst), Lyndsey Rowley (sideline)

Radio: Virginia Sports Radio Network
Announcers: John Freeman (play-by-play), Tony Covington (analyst), Jay James (sideline)

Satellite Radio:
SiriusXM — 385
SXM App — 975

Kickoff Forecast

Cloudy, 60 degrees
RealFeel — 59 degrees
Precipitation — 15%
Wind — SW 6 mph
Humidity — 85%
(Courtesy AccuWeather)