John Rudzinski didn’t dodge any bullets when it came to his defense’s shortcomings in last weekend’s loss to West Virginia. He didn’t pass the buck or blame players. Instead, he chose to fall on the sword.

Anyone entering the locker room at Virginia’s Hardie Football Operation Center can’t gain access without walking past the images of Lavelle Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry, the three players who were tragically lost in the campus shooting of 2022.

Week 3 of the 2026 ACC football season was another weekend of mixed results for the league.

When Virginia hosts nonconference Delaware this Saturday night (6 p.m., ACC Network), Tony Elliott expects to see the visiting Blue Hens adopt some of what West Virginia used against the Cavaliers over the weekend in Charlotte.

Virginia’s starting left offensive guard Noah Josey was forced to leave last Saturday night’s game against West Virginia with an injury and played only 20 snaps.

After having some of its warts exposed by an underrated West Virginia team last Saturday night in Charlotte, Virginia’s Cavaliers (2-1) return home this weekend for another night game (6 p.m., ACC Network) against their final nonconference opponent, Delaware.

Virginia football fans relax a bit.

Much to everyone’s chagrin, “The sky isn’t falling,” at least not yet.

Virginia laid an omelet big enough to feed the Queen City on Saturday when the Cavaliers were embarrassed by 10-point underdog West Virginia.

Rich Rodriguez has been around the block, having been head coach at West Virginia (twice), Michigan, Arizona with a few whistle stops in between, so when he talks about the challenges of going up against a veteran Virginia team (Saturday night, 7:30 p.m., ACC Network) in Charlotte, fans tend to listen to what he says.

The Mountaineers defense is coached by Zach Alley, a protege of defensive wizard Brent Venables, and once the youngest defensive coordinator in the country.

UVA has been difficult to run against for most of last season and two games into the ‘26 campaign, ranking No. 35 nationally in rush defense after two games.

There were a lot of knocks on Beau Pribula after his season at Missouri. Critics questioned his arm strength, his accuracy, his decision making because of interceptions, and said he was more of a running quarterback than a passer.

Every week it seems Virginia is facing yet another mobile quarterback and this week is no different when the Cavaliers take on West Virginia in Charlotte on Saturday night (7:30, ACC Network).

Virginia place-kicker Will Bettridge knew that coming into last weekend’s game against Norfolk State that he might have a shot at breaking the Cavaliers’ career scoring record.

While UVA is ranked 14th in the 17-team ACC in passing yardage per game (192 ypg), the story dramatically changes when ranking pass efficiency.

Virginia has lost veteran starting defensive Jason Hammond for the foreseeable future after the senior suffered an arm injury against Norfolk State last weekend.

When I was asked to speak at former Virginia football coach Dick Bestwick’s memorial tribute at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta a few years ago, I was told a great Bestwick story by one of his assistant coaches, Jack Daniels.

On Wednesday evening, we welcome a very special guest to “The Jerry Ratcliffe Show:” Mr. Sean Perry, father of the late D’Sean Perry, one of the three Virginia football players who were tragically taken in the November 2022 shootings.

Week Two was a mixed bag of results for the ACC. A couple of solid wins for the league, as both Wake Forest and Duke went into Big Ten country and secured victories.

The Mountaineers are coached by Rich Rodriguez, who was the offensive coordinator at Clemson when Tony Elliott was a wide receiver there.