Bronco Mendenhall said he was happy to see so many smiles around the locker room after Virginia’s 55-15 win over Abilene Christian on Saturday night, but there was also a downside to the Cavaliers victory.

UVA held Abilene Christian to 62 yards rushing. It is the 16th time in the Bronco Mendenhall era the Cavaliers have held their opponent under 100 rushing yards. UVA’s record is 15-1 in such games, including 3-0 in 2020.

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering when was the last time Virginia was favored by 39+ points over a football opponent …

While Virginia’s defense is dealing with the sudden unexpected loss of starting nose tackle Jowon Briggs, the Cavaliers offense is going to have to call the next man up as well as they prepare to face nonconference Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon.

Now that Jowon Briggs unexpectedly left the program, where does UVA defensive coordinator Nick Howell turn?

Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said Tuesday night that he was as surprised as anyone when he learned that starting sophomore nose tackle Jowon Briggs was leaving the team and entering the transfer portal.

Virginia’s football program received a major blow on Tuesday when it was learned that starting sophomore nose tackle Jowon Briggs has left the team and has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal.

If you feel like you know little about Abilene, join the crowd. Even Bronco Mendenhall professed little knowledge of Abilene except what he had reviewed on game film.

While Virginia was putting a licking on Louisville over the weekend, the Cavaliers got some good news off the field.

Virginia linebacker Noah Taylor has been named ACC Linebacker of the Week and Lavel Davis Jr. has been Named ACC Rookie of the Week for games played through Nov. 15.

Five things we learned from Virginia’s 31-17 win over Louisville:

Louisville came to Charlottesville with a lot of baggage in tow. Not only were the Cardinals shorthanded due to Covid-19 issues, but have been haunted by ball security.

UVA’s defense has 14 sacks over the last three games after having 10 through the first four games, with five of those 10 coming in the opener against Duke.

Brennan Armstrong believes he has things figured out, and that’s good news for Virginia football.

Virginia defensive coordinator Nick Howell knows how explosive Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham can be.

Robert Anae has studied Louisville’s game video from the Cardinals loss to Virginia Tech two weeks ago, but he’s not taking anything for granted.

Virginia’s new defensive line coach Clint Sintim knows talent when he sees it, and that was the case with the Cavaliers’ newest football commitment.

Louisville at Virginia is on for Saturday afternoon, Bronco Mendenhall said during his weekly presser on Monday.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today the start time for Virginia’s Nov. 21 home football game against Abilene Christian.

Virginia would have liked to have carried its momentum from upsetting 15th-ranked North Carolina from last weekend to this one, the Cavaliers could profit from its scheduled game against Louisville being pushed back to Nov. 14.