Notes: Virginia hosts Wake Forest Friday night

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (2-1, 0-1 ACC) returns home on Friday night to host Wake Forest (3-0, 1-0 ACC) at Scott Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. and will air live on ESPN2.

GAME COVERAGE

In addition to the ESPN2 broadcast, fans can stream the game live on ESPN.com or the ESPN app. The contest can be heard on Virginia Sports Radio Networks around the commonwealth and live on VirginiaSports.com. A list of stations can be found here. Fans can follow along via live stats and the Virginia Mobile app and get in-game updates on the team’s official twitter account, @UVAFootball.

OPENING KICK

• Virginia will host Wake Forest at Scott Stadium for the first time since 2012. The Cavaliers are looking to snap a four-game winless streak against the Demon Deacons.
• The matchup features two coaches, Bronco Mendenhall and Dave Clawson, that rank in the top 16 in wins among active FBS coaches. Clawson ranks 15th with 133 wins while Mendenhall is right behind him at No. 16 with 131 wins.
• Virginia has won six-straight home games including non-conference wins over William & Mary and Illinois this season.
• Virginia will play its third night game of the season on Friday. Under Bronco Mendenhall, the Cavaliers are 8-1 at home in night games and have won eight-straight home games under the lights.

CLOSE CALLS AGAINST WAKE FOREST

• Six of the last eight games between Wake Forest and Virginia each have been decided by a touchdown or less.
• Virginia’s last win against Wake Forest came in 2007 at Scott Stadium. Mikell Simpson scored from one yard out with 2:18 left in the fourth quarter. It was Virginia’s fifth win by six points or fewer that year, a then-FBS record.
• The last three wins by UVA were by a combined eight points, including a one-point thriller in 2007 at Scott Stadium.
• After UVA won 20-of-21 meetings with Wake Forest (1984-2007), the Demon Deacons have won four-straight, their longest win streak of the series.

LAST MEETING

• With starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong out due to an injury, the Cavaliers used three different quarterbacks (Lindell Stone, Ira Armstead and Keytaon Thompson) and rushed for a total of 218 yards in a 40-23 loss at Wake Forest last season.
• Billy Kemp IV caught nine passes for 68 yards in the contest. Through four games last season he caught 36 passes, the most in program history over the first four games of a season.
• The two teams were tied 20-202 at the half before Wake Forest outscored UVA 20-3 in the second half.
• Demon Deacon running back Kenneth Walker III rushed for 128 yards and three scores and kicker Nick Sciba was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goal attempts including a long of 44 with 5:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.

WAKE FOREST CONNECTION

• Former Cavalier quarterback and coach Wayne Lineburg is Wake Forest’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach. A 1996 UVA graduate, Lineburg played quarterback and was part of three bowl teams and a member of UVA’s 1995 ACC Championship team.
• Lineburg was a graduate assistant at UVA from 1998-99 and returned to UVA as an assistant on Al Groh’s staff from 2007-09. He’s had previous coaching stints at Richmond and William & Mary.

UVA AT HOME 

• Since 2019, UVA is 14-1 at Scott Stadium. That is the seventh best overall home winning percentage in college football over the past two seasons and UVA’s 19-2 home record since 2018 ranks No. 2 among all ACC teams.
• In its recent 8-1 stretch at home since 2019, Virginia has won three-straight home games against ACC foes.
• Since 2018 season, Virginia is 19-2 at home. Last year’s loss against NC State in Charlottesville snapped a nine-game win streak at home, the third-longest of the UVA modern era.

NATIONAL/ACC RANKINGS

• Virginia enters Friday with the No. 2 passing offense in the country behind Western Kentucky (456.6). The Cavaliers are averaging 438.3 yards per game through the air.
• The Cavaliers enter the week averaging 559.3 yards of total offense, tops in the ACC and fourth most of any school in FBS.
• Brennan Armstrong leads the nation in passing yards per game (432.7). He ranks in the top five in the country in completions per game (2nd – 29), passing touchdowns (2nd – 11), passing yards (2nd – 1,298), points responsible for (3rd – 80), passing efficiency (4th – 188.7) and points responsible for per game (4th – 26.7)
• Virginia has 80 first downs this season, the third most in the ACC and the 13th most in the country.

RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE

• The Cavaliers broke the school single-game record for passing yards with 553 against North Carolina.
• It was the first time a UVA quarterback and a UVA offense accumulated 500 yards or more passing. It marked only the fifth time UVA has thrown for 400 or more yards as a team and the second time its passed for 400 or more yards in an ACC contest.

Most Team Passing Yards in a game (UVA history)

1. vs. UNC (2021) – 553
2. vs. Louisiana Tech (2012) – 480
3. vs. UConn – (2017) – 455
4. vs. Duke – (2010) – 417
5. vs. Abilene Christian – (2020) – 403

ARMSTRONG’S CAREER NIGHT IN CHAPEL HILL

• Brennan Armstrong passed for school-record 554 yards in UVA’s 59-39 loss at North Carolina. It was the third-highest single-game total in ACC History.

Top ACC Passing Games

1. Deshaun Watson (Clemson) – 580 vs. Pitt in 2016
2. Stephen Morris (Miami) – 566 vs. NC State in 2012
3. Brennan Armstrong (UVA) – 554 vs. North Carolina in 2021
4. Rusty LaRue (Wake Forest) – 545 vs. NC state in 1995
5. Chris Weinke (Florida State) – 536 vs. Duke in 2000

• Armstrong is the first Cavalier quarterback to pass for 300 yards in consecutive games.
• Armstrong accounted for 538 yards of total offense, breaking the program’s single game record previously held by Bryce Perkins (490 yards) against North Carolina in 2019. It was the seventh highest single-game total in ACC history.
• The 538 yards of total offense and the 554 yards passing are the most by any FBS player this season.
• Armstrong established career-highs in completions (39), attempts (54), passing yards (554), total yards and (538). It marked the second-straight week he established new career highs in completions and passing yards.
• The 554 yards passing was the most ever by a quarterback against North Carolina. Dave Brown of Duke set the previous record of 479 in 1989.
• Armstrong also set a UVA first half record, 364 yards in the first half.

550 Yard Passing Performances vs. Power 5 Opponents (Since 2015)

734 – Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech)  Texas Tech (2016)

623 – K.J. Costello (Miss. St.) vs. LSU (2020)

606 – Anthony Gordon (Washington St.) vs. Oregon State (2019)

598 – Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma) vs. Oklahoma State (2017)

580 – Deshaun Watson (Clemson) vs. Pitt (2016)

572 – David Blough (Purdue) vs. Missouri (2018)

570 – Anthony Gordon (Washington St.) vs. UCLA (2019)

554 – Brennan Armstrong (UVA) vs. North Carolina (2021)

550 – Sam Howell (UNC) vs. Wake Forest (2020)

ON THE RECEIVING END

• Wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks established career-highs in receptions (7) and yards (183) on Saturday against North Carolina. His 183 yards receiving were the sixth-highest single-game total ever by a UVA receiver. He caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, the second TD reception of 40 or more yards in his career (44 vs. Liberty in 2019).
• Wicks was the first UVA wideout with 150 yards in a game since Olamide Zaccheaus’ school record 247 against Ohio in 2018.
• After three weeks of action, Wicks is second in the ACC in yards receiving with 346. He ranks in the top-10 in all purpose yards per game (7th – 115.3), receiving touchdowns (T-3 – 3) and yards per reception (T-2 – 24.71)
• Billy Kemp established career highs in yards (106) and touchdowns (2) against North Carolina. Kemp had a 32-yard reception in the 2nd quarter, a career-long.
• Virginia had two wide receivers with 100 or more receiving yards (Wicks-183, Kemp-106) against North Carolina, the first time since 2019 when Hasise Dubois (143) and Joe Reed (107) vs. Notre Dame in 2019.
• Armstrong and Keytaon Thompson found 11 different receivers against North Carolina. Jacob Rodriguez and Malachi Fields hauled in the first receptions of their careers against North Carolina.
• Virginia has five players ranked in the ACC’s top 17 in receiving yards (No. 2. Wicks, No. 7. Kemp No. 11. Thompson, No. 15. Woods, No. 17. Henry)

HISTORIC OFFENSIVE START

• The Cavaliers have amassed 1,678 yards of total offense through the first three games, tops in the ACC and the sixth most in the country.
• This season marks the second time in program history Virginia has started the year with 500 yards of total offense in its first three games. UVA started the 2004 season with 504 yards at Temple, 549 yards against North Carolina and 522 yards against Akron.
• Through three games this season Virginia has posted total offense figures of 545 (vs. William & Mary), 556 (vs. Illinois) and 577 (at North Carolina).

MILESTONE WATCH

• Billy Kemp currently ranks 14th on UVA’s all-time receptions list and is nine catches away from entering the top-10 and can move up to 13th with two catches to tie Germane Crowell (1994-97
• Left tackle Ryan Nelson is poised to make his 41st-straight start for the Cavaliers, the most career starts and most consecutive starts of anyone on the team.
• Wayne Taulapapa needs 51 more yards rushing to become the 45th Cavalier to eclipse 1,000 yards for his career.

DEFENSIVE/SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

• Linebacker Noah Taylor was credited with a career-high 12 tackles against North Carolina, the first double-digit tackle effort of his career.
• Fentrell Cypress recorded his first career interception picking off a Sam Howell pass in the end zone and returning it 66 yards. The return was the 11th longest in program history.
• Virginia special teams has not fielded a kick return since week one against William & Mary. Opponents have kicked 13-straight touchbacks, including 10 by North Carolina on Saturday.
• The Cavaliers did not give up a red zone score this season until the second half against North Carolina. The Cavaliers rank third in the ACC and 17th in the country in red zone defense (0.600)
• Kicker Justin Duenkel has 14 touchbacks this season. Virginia is ranked 15th in the country in kick return defense (12.5 yards per return).