Who would have ever expected Virginia’s defense would be the strength of this football team after the first month of play this season? OK, John Rudzinski, your vote doesn’t count.

Virginia fought back from a 16-point halftime deficit, but a late penalty wiped out a golden opportunity in a 22-20 loss at Syracuse in the ACC opener Friday night.

Scattershooting around Virginia’s athletic program before kickoff with Syracuse …

“The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” welcomes Chris Graham to preview the UVA-Syracuse game on Friday night. Jerry then provides updates on UVA basketball coach Tony Bennett’s efforts on the recruiting trail.

It will mark just the second meeting between the schools as conference rivals since Syracuse joined the ACC in 2013. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The obvious storyline of Virginia’s game at Syracuse on Friday night is the matchup between the Cavaliers and their former coaches Robert Anae and Jason Beck.

For the second game in a row, Virginia will be without one of the key figures in its pass-receiving corps, in slot receiver Billy Kemp IV.

Nobody is harder on Brennan Armstrong than Brennan Armstrong.

Virginia kicker Brendan Farrell was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Specialist of the Week on Monday. Additionally, Farrell was one of three kickers to be listed as a Lou Groza Award Star of the Week.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Monday the start time for Virginia’s Oct. 1 football game at Duke will be 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ACC Regional Sports Networks.

After not scoring a touchdown in a loss at Illinois a week ago, Tony Elliott quickly recognized something had to change.

Virginia kicker Brendan Farrell needed another chance. Actually, the Cavaliers were glad he had that opportunity after he missed a 36-yard field goal with 3:07 remaining in the game and the team nursing a 13-7 lead over Old Dominion.

After struggling to move the ball in last week’s deflating loss at Illinois, the Virginia offense got a much-needed spark from first-year running back Xavier Brown on Saturday against Old Dominion.

Photos from Saturday’s Old Dominion-Virginia game at Scott Stadium by JerryRatcliffe.com photographer Michael Bruder.

Brennan Armstrong threw for 284 yards, fellow senior Keytaon Thompson went over the 100-yard mark to lead the way, and the Cavaliers moved to 2-1 on the season on a walk-off, 26-yard Brendan Farrell field goal as time expired.

When U.S. Air Force Col. William “Bill” Nelson, MD steps on the field at Scott Stadium at some point this afternoon to be recognized by the UVA Football Alumni Club, his thoughts may drift back to his days as a young student athletic trainer under the guidance of the late Dr. Frank McCue and former longtime head trainer Joe Gieck.

Virginia football fans have been here before, when a lack of experienced offensive linemen has caused havoc with game plans.

Virginia returns to Scott Stadium to host Old Dominion Saturday, looking to get back into the win column after last week’s disappointing loss at Illinois.

UVA has its work cut out this weekend with ODU, which defeated Virginia Tech back in Week 1. “The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” welcomes Chris Graham to break down the matchup.

Established as a 9-point favorite for this Saturday’s return home with visiting Old Dominion, Tony Elliott and his coaching staff have been busy in practice this week in an attempt to correct what went wrong at Illinois.