UVA announces gameday enhancements for upcoming season at Scott Stadium

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Ahead of Saturday’s season opener at Scott Stadium against Coastal Carolina, the Virginia Athletics department has announced several fan experience enhancements for the 2025 Virginia Football season.

Many new initiatives were influenced directly from the recently formed Football Fan Experience Council, entirely comprised of Cavalier supporters representing a broad spectrum of fandom.

THEME DATES & GIVEAWAYS
Aug. 30 vs. Coastal Carolina – Paint the Town Orange – WEAR ORANGE!
Sept. 13 vs. William & Mary – UVA Strong – WEAR WHITE! *First 25,000 fans will receive a white UVA Strong Shirt
Sept. 20 vs. Stanford – Season Ticket Member Exclusive Gift
Sept. 26 vs. Florida State – True Blue Game – WEAR BLUE!
Oct. 18 vs. Washington State – Homecomings/Breast Cancer Awareness
Nov. 8 vs. Wake Forest – Heroes Appreciation/Family Weekend
Nov. 29 vs. Virginia Tech – Senior Day  

NOTE: Replica jersey giveaway for students will be at a game to be determined.

AFFORDABILITY INITIATIVES 

As part of Virginia Athletic department’s ongoing efforts to increase fan engagement and attendance across all sports, several affordability initiatives have been introduced for the 2025 season.  

• Family Four Pack: Starting at $520, fans can lock in four season tickets for just over $18 per game.
• Hoos Choice Flex Pack: Starting at just $99, fans have autonomy to select any combination of 3 games from any of Virginia’s first six home games.
• Cavman’s Crew: All-Star packages start at just $50 and include tickets to three home games for both a child and parent. Other benefits include discounted tickets to select men’s basketball games and free tickets to select women’s basketball and men’s lacrosse games as well as a holiday gift from Cavman.
• Fan First Games: The Coastal Carolina and William & Mary games have tickets starting at just $16.50 and Family Four Packs starting at $54, while the ACC opener vs. Stanford has Family Four Packs starting at $108.

 O-HILL: THE PREGAME EPICENTER 

• Cavalier Fan Fest will return to O-Hill for the second-straight season and feature tailgate games, inflatables, activations for kids and more!
• Full-Service Tailgating: Through Virginia Athletics’ partnership with REVELxp, fans can secure end-to-end tailgate support on both a full-season and single-game basis. Customizable packages include items such as tailgate tents, tables and chairs, TVs with cable hookups, catered meals and more. For more information, visit: https://revelxp.com/virginia-tailgating?selectedEvent=3717

SHUTTLES/PARKING 

Virginia Athletics has partnered with UVA Parking & Transportation to improve the efficiency of the gameday shuttle services. Shuttles will continue to operate free of charge from Fontaine Research Park, John Paul Jones Arena and North Grounds (Darden/The Park). Routes will now drop off directly at the Scott Stadium East and West gates. 

Additionally, all shuttle buses are ADA-accessible, so patrons requiring those services are no longer required to shuttle from The Park; All shuttles can accommodate ADA patrons. Shuttles will begin three hours prior to kickoff, run throughout the game and run for at least one hour postgame. 

Note: The Fontaine Garage will not be available for the Coastal Carolina game and is expected to open later in the season.

UVA’s defense bracing for Coastal’s ‘Air Raid’ attack

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: Coastal Carolina Athletics

Virginia defensive coordinator John Rudzinski may be packing a bottle of Visine for his film study of Coastal Carolina’s “Air Raid” offense this week.

Because the Chanticleers boast a new offensive coordinator, a new scheme, a new quarterback and lots of new personnel, Rudzinski’s film study on the backgrounds of this Saturday’s opponent has been exhausting.

Virginia hosts Coastal (6 p.m., ACC Network) and is an 11.5-point favorite, according to oddsmakers, for the season opener.

Just how extensive has Rudzinski’s research been? How about going all the way back to 2019 when he was the defensive coordinator at Air Force, when he faced Washington State’s “Air Raid” in the Cheez-It Bowl. The Cougars were coached by the late, great Mike Leach and Drew Hollingshead, who is now the offensive coordinator at Coastal. Hollingshead has since followed Leach to Mississippi State, then moved on to Western Kentucky the past two seasons after Leach’s shocking death.

“Golly, they had a good plan that day,” Coach Rud said of Washington State’s wide-open offensive attack in that Cheez-It Bowl battle. “We went all the way back to ‘19 when they (Leach and Hollingshead) were together. Shoot, him and the Pirate (Leach’s nickname) were putting schemes together.”

In fact, Rud remembers how Leach came out with a counter play in that game that he wasn’t prepared for, but after some adjustment, found a way to stop the play.

Rudzinski said he’s been driving Virginia’s football video guys nuts in researching extensive clips of Hollingshead’s offensive tendencies from that 2019 game to his career at Mississippi State and then to Western Kentucky. Certainly Hollingshead’s version of the “Air Raid” will provide a test for Coach Rud’s revamped defense.

“They do a great job schematically with regards to what they can do with their run game, and then also, the willingness to put the ball on the perimeter and get it into playmakers’ hands,” Rudzinski said Wednesday. “You’re going back into the archives, saying, ‘Hey, when did he call it? When? How many times did he call it? What are his two-point plays?’”

Virginia head coach Tony Elliott said Tuesday that facing an unknown offense presents challenges, even with some familiarity.

“They can get the ball out quick, they can get it on the perimeter,” Elliott said. “They have a ton of mesh concepts to free guys up if you play man coverage, so they’re going to stress you. And then, in the run game, if they need to, they can spread you out and still run it. They can bring in condensed sets and create edges and get the ball on the perimeter.”

Because Hollingshead didn’t call every play last year for Western Kentucky, that complicated Virginia’s research for tendencies, forcing staff to look at Mississippi State and even Washington State, where Leach primarily called plays, but Hollingshead was heavily involved.

“I remember watching that Western Kentucky offense get after Boston College, and I mean they got after them for a while, and then it was some late penalties that turned that game,” Elliott said. “So we’re anticipating that they’re going to have a similar plan to try and attack us.”

The Chanticleers also feature a new quarterback in transfer MJ Morris, who played at Maryland and NC State. Over three years, Morris passed for 1,717 yards and 19 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.

Coastal’s coaches have also had to do a little research. While the two teams met last year, a lopsided Virginia win in Conway, S.C., both teams’ personnel has vastly changed. The Cavaliers have brought in a ton of new players in the secondary and have some legitimate pass rushers who will try to pressure Morris into making mistakes.

Coach Rud said he was impressed with his pass rush during training camp for one simple reason.

“The ability to win one-on-one’s,” Rud said. “We’re going to have to win one-on-one’s Saturday. I think we’ve been really competitive against some good offensive linemen that we face every day from our offense. Being able to win some one-on-one’s and hopefully cut the pocket up a little bit and make quarterbacks uncomfortable.”

Elliott has been encouraged by the defense’s ability to pressure his own quarterbacks with a four-man rush, something Virginia hasn’t been able to do since his first year in Charlottesville when Rud’s defense produced 30 sacks. Since then, in ‘23 and ‘24, UVA has a combined 30 QB sacks (19 last season and only 11 in ‘23).

In the offseason, the Cavaliers have brought in some transfers with strong pass-rush skills, such as ends Fisher Camac (UNLV) and Cazeem Moore (Elon). UVA also may get more disruption from its interior defensive lineman such as nose tackles Jahmeer Carter and Anthony Britton, along with tackles Jason Hammond, Hunter Osborne and Jacob Holmes.

As Elliott pointed out, sometimes those rushers don’t always get home for the sack, but they’re getting close enough to move the quarterback off his launch point, sometimes making him pull the ball down and scramble.

Rud believes he has linebackers who can come on the blitz only to add to that pressure, guys like Landon Danley, James Jackson and Maddox Marcellus.

The early portions of Saturday night’s game will feature a lot of cat-and-mouse with coaches from both sidelines adjusting to some possible looks they didn’t anticipate, which should add to the excitement of opening night.

Virginia: Depth chart, injury report, and lots of transfer starters

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s football team will go into Saturday’s season-opening game against visiting Coastal Carolina with a healthy roster (6 p.m., ACC Network).

Releasing his team’s depth chart at his game-week press conference on Tuesday, Tony Elliott reported there are three players who will miss the opener, and one is questionable, but everyone else should be good to go (see complete UVA Depth Chart attached at end of article).

Wide receiver Suderian Harrison (hamstring) is listed as questionable by the coach, but linebacker Kam Robinson (collarbone), defensive end Mekhi Buchanan (ankle) and safety Antonio Clary, who has missed camp, will not play against Coastal Carolina.

“Sudi (Harrison) is close with the hamstring, but we don’t want to push it too fast, too hard,” Elliott said.

Team doctors are monitoring Buchanan’s high-ankle sprain, which potentially could have ligament issues, so they’re being careful with his case.

Robinson was cleared to return to the team on Monday, and Elliott said “the stitches and everything are all healed up,” but that it will hopefully be a couple of weeks before he’s back in the fold.

Clary is still a week to two weeks away from returning to practice.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Trell Harris has returned to practice, recovering from hamstring issues, while backup right guard Ethan Sipe (foot) has also returned, as well as defensive tackle Hunter Osborne, a transfer from Alabama, who has recovered from an ankle issue.

At least half of Virginia’s starting lineup will be players who arrived from the transfer portal:

Wide receivers Jahmal Edrine (Purdue) and Cam Ross (JMU), quarterback Chandler Morris (North Texas), center Brady Wilson (UAB), right guard Drake Metcalf (Central Florida/Stanford), right tackle Wallace Unamba (New Mexico), and potential starting tailback J’Mari Taylor (NC Central). Taylor and Xavier Brown are listed as possible starters at that spot.

Defensively, ends Fisher Camac (UNLV) and Cazeem Moore (Elon), along with bandit Mitchell Melton (Ohio State) or Daniel Rickert (Tennessee Tech), left cornerback Jordan Robinson (Kentucky), right cornerback Emmanuel Karnley (Arizona), Spur Ja’Son Prevard (Morgan State), strong safety Devin Neal (Louisville) and possible starting defensive tackle Osborne (Alabama), who is listed as a possible starter along with Jason Hammond and Jacob Holmes.

Key to turning UVA football around is winning at Scott Stadium

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Game week is here and Virginia has begun preparation for Saturday’s home opener against Coastal Carolina (6 p.m., ACC Network). Coastal is the first of four home games (out of five) in the month of September.

Tony Elliott has stressed defending Scott Stadium to his first three UVA squads, but hasn’t been successful. In fact, the Cavaliers are 6-12 at home in three seasons under Elliott, even worse at home against ACC competition, with a 2-10 record.

Certainly, that must change this season with seven home games on the schedule: Coastal (Aug. 30), William & Mary (Sept. 13), Stanford (Sept. 20), Florida State (Sept. 26, Friday), Washington State (Oct. 10), Wake Forest (Nov. 8), Virginia Tech (Nov. 29).

Five of UVA’s first seven games are at Scott, meaning only two of the last five are at home.

If the Cavaliers are to reverse their football fortunes and return to postseason play, then they must restore their ability to win at home, something that Elliott’s predecessor, Bronco Mendenhall, mastered during a four-year run from 2018 to 2021.

During that stretch, minus the final two home games of 2021 against No. 7 Notre Dame and against rival Virginia Tech, Mendenhall’s Cavaliers were almost unbeatable at Scott Stadium.

From 2018 until those two season-ending home games in ‘21, Virginia won 21 of 24 home games. If you want to throw in the Ohio U. game, which was switched from Charlottesville to Nashville due to hurricane threats, the Cavaliers were 22-3 for home games during that span.

Unbelievable, you say? Virginia was even 7-0 at home in 2019 when Bryce Perkins led the Cavaliers to their only Coastal Division championship, an appearance against powerhouse Clemson in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte, and a trip to the Orange Bowl against Florida.

Elliott discussed defending Scott last week, the final week of training camp.

“So this is a whole different team because there’s 54 new ones that have never been in Scott Stadium, other than the (two preseason) scrimmages,” Elliott said. “I haven’t talked about it as much yet, other than the days we were over there, and just really trying to create the mindset that the grass is sacred, that there’s blood, sweat and tears equity from a lot of guys that came before us that have created a standard that we have to uphold.”

The coach said that as camp ends and game week begins and the focus shifts to Coastal Carolina, he plans to talk more about the necessity to win home games, to defend Scott Stadium.

Elliott believes one of the reasons UVA has been unsuccessful at home the past three seasons has been a lack of depth and a lack of discipline, things he thinks the program has corrected heading into this season.

“I think the difference in defending Scott Stadium is in the fourth quarter, finding ways to win and not beat yourself, so we’ve got to be a more disciplined football team,” the coach said. “I think depth will help us be a football team that can finish better in the fourth quarter.

“We have guys that haven’t played 100 snaps, right? As much as we’re talking about building competitive stamina, the body is going to slow down after about 100 snaps. So I think depth will help us, we’ll be a little fresher. You notice that the teams that are really good in the fourth quarter a lot of times, is because they have a lot of depth and can play guys, and they’re the fresher team in the fourth quarter. They can lean on people.”

Elliott believes his team is going to take pride in winning at home and will be a better disciplined team — particularly in the fourth quarter — and will be fresh, which should lead to fewer mistakes during critical late-game stretches.

Is this the year Virginia finally breaks through with a running game?

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo by Nikolozi Khutsishvili

Virginia’s struggles with the running game have been well documented for years now, but Tony Elliott is hoping this year’s ground attack will put that discussion to rest.

Armed with four capable, experienced running backs and the program’s most solid offensive line since the Coastal Division championship team of 2019, Elliott says his backs are ready to go to football war. Results from UVA’s most recent scrimmage at Scott Stadium only solidified Elliott’s belief.

“That was something that was positive about the scrimmage, us being able to establish some efficient run game,” the coach said this week. “I think we’ve got a chance to be much bigger than we’ve been in the past with the additions up front, so we have a little more size where we can lean on some people with some double teams and create a new line of scrimmage.”

UVA has four solid running backs in returnees Xavier Brown and Noah Vaughn, along with two transfers in J’Mari Taylor (NC Central) and Harrison Waylee (Wyoming).

“J’Mari shows a little something, a little bit different, and then X (Brown) is as good as X has been, and I’m really happy for him and proud for him because he’s been there, available every single day,” Elliott said.

Brown was plagued with durability issues in the past, and the catch phrase for 2025 in football camps across America is “the best ability is availability.”

Elliott reported that Waylee and Vaughn have both been solid in camp, so he has plenty of options to choose from and to keep fresh legs in the game.

As Coach Al Groh once said to this reporter, “All backs run the same when there’s no hole,” so the offensive line, which has been the program’s weakness since that Orange Bowl year, should be the best it has been since that season, thanks in part to some experienced returnees and a plethora of experienced transfers to add unprecedented depth.

“With Josey (left guard Noah Josey) and Boley (left tackle McKale Boley) on the left side, I mean, you just feel like that left side has been kind of steady for us the last couple of years,” Elliott said of those veterans. “Then, Brady (Wilson) has been a great addition.”

Wilson is a sixth-year center transfer from UAB, where he took 863 snaps last season in 12 starts and received the No. 4 offensive blocking grade among all FBS centers. With Wilson’s athleticism, it allows Elliott to run the wide zone.

On the right side, there’s Ethan Sipe (6-5, 320, sixth year), along with Wallace Unamba (6-6, 348), although Elliott is hoping Big Wall drops a few pounds.

“So we’ve got some size, and now we’re athletic enough to be able to reach some people with our flexibility,” Elliott said. “So I like the potential that we have now. We’ve got to go see it against other people in different schemes. All of those guys have taken ownership of this scheme.”

The coach also likes the fact that the wide receivers have bought into the downfield blocking aspect, which should create more explosive plays with the run game. UVA has had some explosive runs from different backs in the two scrimmages, which tells Elliott there’s more consistency up front.

“I’m really encouraged about our ability to effectively run the football as opposed to years past,” Elliott said.

The Cavaliers haven’t featured a 1,000-yard back since Jordan Ellis in 2018 (1,026 yards). No one else has cracked the 770-yards in a season mark since. In fact, quarterbacks have picked up the bulk of rushing yardage since Bronco Mendenhall’s “Thorterback” philosophy kicked in with Bryce Perkins and Brennan Armstrong.

Kevin Parks reached 1,000 (1,031) in 2013 and Alvin Pearman cracked 1,000 in 2004 (1,037) while splitting time with Wali Lundy.

Perhaps this is the year for a breakthrough.

Brown led UVA backs in rushing last season with 488, but 171 of that came on only 9 carries against Coastal Carolina.

At NC Central, Taylor posted 1,146 last season, fourth-best in school history, when he became the Eagles’ first 1,000-yard man since 2005. Taylor is 5-9, 204, and in his fifth year of football.

Waylee is 5-10, 212, in his sixth year of college, has 24 combined starts at either Wyoming or Northern Illinois, and 36 appearances. He has 13 games with at least 100 yards rushing, including a career-high 230 vs. Ball State in 2022 while playing at NIU. Waylee also posted a 75-yard run at Texas last season (he had 110 yards rushing in the game) and a 191-yard day against New Mexico.

Quarterback Chandler Morris said earlier this week that Virginia has been working hard on successfully running the ball in the Red Zone, particularly down inside the 10- and 5-yard lines where several Cavalier drives stalled last season, unable to physically punch the ball in with the run.

That could prove to be the difference in some of the close ACC games the Wahoos are expected to engage in this fall.

In addition, a good running game will allow Morris to do more things with this offense, particularly with the play-action, which will prevent defenses from loading up the tackle box and open up the playbook for the experienced QB.

Preseason honors continue to roll in for Wahoos

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia’s Chandler Morris (Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award), Antonio Clary (Comeback Player of the Year) and Jahmal Edrine (Senior Bowl Top 300) have been named to various preseason watch lists.

Morris was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watch list, which annually recognizes the nation’s top offensive player from the state of Texas or currently plays for Division I institution in Texas. Morris transferred to UVA in January after a prolific 2024 season at North Texas, where he started in all 13 games and quarterbacked the nation’s No. 3 offense in yards per game (488.7).

A native of Highland Park, Texas, Morris completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 3,774 yards and 31 touchdowns for the Mean Green. His 31 TD passes were good for fourth among all players nationally.

Morris also led the country with four 400-yard passing performances and also set UNT single-season records for passing attempts (512), passing yards per game (314.5), total offense (4,104) and TD responsibility (35).

For his career, Morris has completed 526 passes, including 47 touchdowns, and accumulated 6,207 yards through the air. Prior to his tenure at UNT, Morris played at TCU (2021-23) and Oklahoma (2020). 

This fall camp, Morris was also named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch lists. 

Clary was named to the College Football Comeback Player of the Year preseason watch list by College Sports Communicators in association with The Associated Press and Fiesta Sports Foundation.

Clary, who has overcome multiple injuries throughout his college career dating back to 2019, missed six games last season, including the final three due to season-ending surgery.

Prior to sustaining his injury in 2024, Clary averaged 10.3 tackles per game, good for second in the ACC and 11th among all FBS players. He also led or co-led the Cavaliers in tackles in each of their first four games last season.  

Edrine is one of 42 ACC players to be named to the first-ever Senior Bowl Top 300 List. The Panini Senior Bowl is widely regarded as the preeminent college football all-star game and the first stage in the NFL Draft process. The longest continual-running all-star game has taken place in Mobile, Alabama the past 76 years and is slated for Jan. 31, 2026.

Edrine enrolled at UVA in January after stops at Florida Atlantic (2021-22) and Purdue (2023-24). Last season, Edrine averaged 15.9 yards per reception, the seventh highest among all Big Ten players. He finished second on Purdue’s 2024 squad in receiving yards (365) and third in receptions (23). In 2022 at FAU, Edrine hauled in 39 receptions, including six TDs, for 570 yards.