UVA hopes to get Pace back; Trell Harris ready to roll

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s backfield was in dire straits in the second half of last Saturday’s loss to SMU. Kobe Pace was sidelined and Xavier Brown suffered a broken collar bone, leaving the Cavaliers to depend heavily on sophomore Noah Vaughn.

While Vaughn might be the most complete back of the three, he is certainly the most inexperienced, particularly when it comes to pass-blocking.

Tony Elliott is hopeful about getting Pace back this week and having Vaughn as a backup as the Cavaliers take on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg (8 p.m., ACC Network). Tech is a 7.5-point favorite according to oddsmakers.

Both the Hokies and the Wahoos need a win Saturday to become bowl eligible.

“Kobe will be more of an end-of-the-week type of decision,” Elliott said Tuesday in delivering UVA’s injury report to media during his weekly press conference.

With the shortage of experience at running back, Elliott was asked if he might press wide receiver Chris Tyree into service. Tyree, a wide receiver, was a running back at Notre Dame for a couple of seasons before moving to the receiver spot in 2023. He has run the ball a few times this season on the “jet sweep” as a Virginia wide receiver, but has deadly speed.

“He does have a skillset, but we also need him at wideout,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to rep the young backs (Vaughn and sophomore Donte Hawthorne) and find a way to generate some run game.

“We will consider Chris, but that’s a tough ask in one week for a guy that’s been playing wide receiver all year, just to make the switch. But all hands on deck. We’ll do whatever it takes.”

Virginia got better news on the other players who were banged up.

Defensive end Ben Smiley is day-to-day after returning to practice, and just needs to clear protocol. Left offensive guard Noah Josey (shoulder) should be good to go.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers should see the long-anticipated return of deep-threat wide receiver Trell Harris, who has played in only four games this season due to injury. Elliott said that Harris should be cleared and ready to roll by game time.

Harris, who was a standout early in the season, has speed and good hands. More importantly, this late in the season, Harris will have fresh legs, which should help him even more in the deep passing game.

Linebacker Kam Robinson, who has played with a banged-up shoulder all season, played “situationally” in the SMU game, but should be available for the entire game come Saturday, according to Elliott.

“Because of the amount of snaps he has played with [the injury], and then also some dislocations that have taken place throughout the course of the season, we wanted to look at it to make sure it wasn’t any worse than when he started the season,” Elliott said of his talented sophomore linebacker. “So last week, he was held out until we got confirmation from the doctors with the imaging, that it was safe for him to continue to play the remainder of the season.”

The coach said Robinson got a thumbs up from doctors late last week, but because he hadn’t gotten as many reps as some of the other linebackers, he was used in certain situations until he got into the flow of the game.

“This week, he will be turned loose and ready to roll.”