Elliott’s game-week message: ‘We’ve got to run the ball’

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Elliott was adamant concerning Virginia’s rushing offense during his first game-week press conference on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to run the ball,” Elliott said emphatically.

It is an intention that Elliott and his offensive coaches have dwelled on for the previous two years without a lot of success. Last season, the Cavaliers ranked No. 105 out of 130 FBS schools in rushing offense, averaging a mere 117.9 yards per game en route to a 3-9 record.

If UVA is to smell an improvement over that mark, Elliott’s desire to produce a reliable running game must become a reality. The Cavaliers open the season on Saturday night (6 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+) against FCS Richmond. Virginia is a consensus 18.5-point favorite over the Spiders, who finished 9-4 last season and made the postseason playoffs.

Richmond returns the bulk of a defense that allowed a mere 112.7 yards rushing per game last season and created havoc by forcing teams to throw the ball, recording 39 sacks and picking off 16 enemy passes.

If Virginia is to live up to point-spread expectations from the boys in Vegas, then it must dominate the line of scrimmage and establish a running game to take pressure off the passing game.

“I think it starts up front and goes to the back,” Elliott said. “And truth be told, developing a mindset that a good back is an eraser and can erase a lot of mistakes up front.”

The five offensive starters — left tackle McKale Boley, left guard Noah Josey, center Brian Stevens, right guard Ty Furnish and right tackle Blake Steen — have a collective 86 starts, led by Stevens’ 31 (23-game streak) and Furnish’s 20 (starts).

Elliott said he has seen more cohesion among the unit, but that the line has to get better technically across the board in order to win the one-on-one matchups when the game is on the line.

“The offensive line is a tough job,” the coach said. “Not many people understand — especially people outside of their coaches — understand what they do, how hard it is, but they’re quick to get the blame for everything.”

The coaches will depend heavily on starting tailback Kobe Pace, a 5-foot-10, 215-pound grad student who transferred from Clemson after the 2022 season. He’s backed up by Jack Griese (6-0, 214, junior) and Xavier Brown (5-9, 196, junior).

“We’ll lean on Kobe to set the tempo in the (running backs) room,” Elliott said. “He’s had a great fall camp and I see his mentality is in the right place.

“Can he stay healthy is the question, and that’s for any running back, not just Kobe. Griese has done a good job of taking advantages of opportunities and X is a changeup kind of guy. He’s not as big as the other guys. He’ll run hard for 195 pounds, but it’s a little different when you’re carrying 205, 210.”

Elliott said if one of the guys wants to separate from the others and become a workhorse, then it’s up to the individuals. Running backs coach Keith Gaither said recently that in his opinion, Pace is as good a running back as any in the ACC.

Ellliott also pointed out that sophomore running back Noah Vaughn (5-8, 199) is probably the most complete of all the backs, but after getting off to a good start in camp, he had a stress reaction in his leg and doctors and trainers are treating with caution.

“Noah’s body looks good, real quick, good feet, can make all the cuts. He’s got a little bit of juice. If he breaks it, he’s not a burner-burner, but he’s going to run better than people anticipate,” the coach said. “He’s really started to take to pass protection and he’s got soft hands out of the backfield, so he’s got a ton of upside.

“He’s got to learn, but hopefully when he’s back fully going off of the leg injury, then I think folks will see him kind start to make an impact on what we’re doing.”