Mention sophomore wide receiver Tavares Kelly to Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins and his eyes begin to light up with the thought of possibilities.

Stick around for the end of this show as Hootie interviews world-renowned ultra athlete Ray Zahab, who has run across the Sahara Desert (documentary with Matt Damon), 111 consecutive days with 40 to 45 miles per day; and braved minus-65 degree temperatures in races in Siberia and other frozen tundras. Hootie also talks UVA football with Dr. David Diduch, who explains the complications of “turf toe,” what it is, how it happens, and what are the recovery times for football players.

Jowon Briggs, a four-star defensive lineman out of Cincinnati, has practiced so well that he has been working with the starters.

NFL Preseason football kicks off for several teams Thursday night, and you can catch all of your favorite former Virginia players in action throughout the rest of the month.

With all the positives in Virginia’s training camp, including eight starters returning from a nasty defense, one of the ACC’s most dynamic quarterbacks, and having been picked as media favorite to win the league’s Coastal Division, the Cavaliers still have some problem-solving to do.

There’s not a linebacker in the country that got his hands on more pass attempts than Virginia’s Charles Snowden in 2018, and the third-year standout is hoping to translate that success over into another statistical category this season.

Bronco Mendenhall will always remember the whistle. Not a coaching whistle, mind you, one of the tools of his trade. Rather a distinct, shrill reverberation that pierced the air of stadiums from little league football to LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYU.

Virginia will be looking for its fifth straight victory against ACC Coastal Division rival Duke when the teams square off at Scott Stadium in October.

Miami hasn’t won a conference title in football since taking the Big East crown in 2003. The Hurricanes likely won’t end that streak this season in the ACC, but new head coach Manny Diaz vows that things will be different at “The U.”

Hopefully in September, I’ll get to fulfill a bucket-list item, in covering a game at Notre Dame when Virginia makes its first visit ever to South Bend for a showdown with the Irish.

For a football program that has only been resurrected for a decade, Old Dominion has come a long way. Head coach Bobby Wilder built the program from scratch as far back as 2007, a full two seasons before his Monarchs would take the field.

When Jimbo Fisher took Texas A&M’s money and ran, Florida State fans managed to get excited after Willie Taggart was named the new Seminoles’ coach.

UVA/NFL great Chris Long joins “The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” this week to share memories from his career and his excitement for UVA’s coming season. Also on the show: Cavalier RB PK Kier discusses how Jordan Ellis’ work ethic rubbed off on him, and Hootie joins Dr. David Diduch from UVA Orthopedics to touch on a number of topics.

There will be a familiar face occupying the opposing sideline at Scott Stadium in the home opener on Sept. 6, as first-year William & Mary head coach Mike London prepares his new team for battle.

Seconds after Jordan Mack’s mighty swing of the sledgehammer crushed the target on a sunny Charlottesville morning, the senior linebacker turned to his Virginia teammates surrounding him and shouted, “Beat Pitt.”

Pat Narduzzi doesn’t remember his exact message to his team immediately following a 42-10 lashing by Clemson in the ACC Championship game last December, but it wasn’t as depressing as some Pitt fans may have expected.

We are celebrating our official one-year anniversary of JerryRatcliffe.com on Aug. 1, and we want to thank all of those who have supported us via sponsorship of the site and readership.

For a couple of days in Charlotte last week at the ACC Football Kickoff event, Virginia’s Bryce Perkins was living the life of a gridiron king.

Virginia cornerback Bryce Hall has been named to the preseason All-ACC team, as determined by a vote of 173 media members credentialed for last week’s ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C.