Virginia hosts Virginia Tech in Commonwealth Clash on Saturday

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (6-5, 4-3 ACC) renews its in-state rivalry with Virginia Tech (5-6, 3-4 ACC) on Saturday (Nov. 27) at Scott Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. on ACC Network

GAME COVERAGE

Information on providers of the ACC Network can be found on GetACCN.com. The game is also available to ACC Network subscribers via the ESPN App and ESPN.com.  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 is coming off three-straight losses, all against nationally-ranked opponents (No. 25 BYU, No. 7 Notre Dame & No. 20 Pitt). It marked the first time UVA has faced three-straight ranked opponents in the regular season since 2005.
• Virginia has squared off against seven bowl eligible teams this season – North Carolina, Wake Forest, Miami, Louisville, BYU, Notre Dame and Pitt. Virginia is one of seven teams nationally that have faced at least seven bowl eligible teams in 2021 and are bowl eligible themselves.
• Virginia is seeking its seventh win of the season and fifth ACC win of the year. A victory would mark the third seven-win season under Bronco Mendenhall and the second time in three seasons UVA has won five ACC games.
• Virginia is averaging 518.1 yards of total offense per game, the fourth highest in the country. UVA is one of only six teams nationally to average over 500 yards per game.
• Virginia is bowl eligible for the fifth time in six seasons under head coach Bronco Mendenhall thanks to a 48-40 win over Georgia Tech on Oct. 23. Mendenhall has been eligible for a bowl in 16 of the 17 years as a head coach.

THE CLASH

• Virginia and Virginia Tech will meet for the 103^rdtime on Saturday. The Hokies own a 59-38-5 advantage in the all-time series that was first played in 1895.
• The Cavaliers came away with a 39-30 victory against Virginia Tech in the last meeting at Scott Stadium back in 2019. The win snapped Virginia’s 15-game skid against its in-state rival.
• Virginia is looking to win back-to-back games at Scott Stadium against Virginia Tech for the first time since winning in 1989 and 1991.
• The two teams have met every year since 1970 and started alternating game locations between Charlottesville and Blacksburg in 1979.

REWIND TO 2019

• Up by three with 1:23 left in the game, Mandy Alonso forced a fumble by Virginia Tech Hendon Hooker in the end zone that was recovered in the endzone by Eli Hanback for a touchdown. The play put UVA up by two scores and Virginia’s first ever ACC Coastal Division Championship.
• Bryce Perkins accounted for 475 of 492 total yards for the Cavaliers. Perkins rushed for two first quarter touchdowns including a 67-yard scamper to put UVA up 13-3.
• WR Hasise Dubois had 139 receiving yards to lead UVA.
• UVA’s defense forced two fumbles, recorded six sacks and intercepted two Hokie passes in the contest.

LAST TIME OUT

• In a battle of the last two ACC Coastal Division champions, Pitt outdueled Virginia 48-38 at Heinz Field last Saturday to clinch the 2021 Coastal Division Championship.
• The Cavaliers set the tone early with a touchdown on their opening drive and led 7-0 after the first quarter. Despite getting outscored 24-14 in the second quarter, the Cavaliers tied the game up at 31 with a little over five minutes left in the third quarter. Pitt’s two touchdowns in the final stanza proved to be the difference, including a 62-yard strike from Kenny Pickett to Josh Addison with 2:10 left on the clock.
• The loss snapped Virginia’s four-game win streak against ACC opponents.
• Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong threw for 487 yards and three touchdowns in the contest. His touchdown pass to Jelani Woods in the second quarter was Armstrong’s second of the game and broke Virginia’s single-season touchdown previously held by Matt Schaub (2002).

QB1 RETURNS

• Brennan Armstrong saw his first game action in three weeks this past Saturday against Pitt after he suffered an injury in the BYU game.
• The 400-yard passing performance against Pitt marked the fifth time this season he has thrown for 400 or more yards. The 487 yards tied his own mark set against Louisville (Oct. 9, 2021) for the second most in a single game in UVA history. Armstrong now owns the three highest single game yardage totals in UVA history.
• Armstrong broke UVA’s single-season passing touchdown record with a 7-yard touchdown to Jelani Woods in the second quarter. His 30 for the season surpass Matt Schaub’s 28 in 2002.
• Armstrong now has 50 career touchdown passes, the third UVA quarterback (Matt Schaub – 56; Shawn Moore – 55) with 50 career touchdown passes.

MILESTONE WATCH

• Wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks needs 43 yards receiving to break Herman Moore’s single-season UVA record of 1,190 set back in 1990.
• Keytaon Thompson needs 101 yards receiving to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the season. UVA has never had two receivers with 1,000 yards in the same season. Thompson has put forth back-to-back 100-yard receiving performances going into Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech.
• Jelani Woods caught his seventh touchdown of the season, the second most by a tight end in UVA history. He needs two touchdowns to tie Heath Miller’s record of nine set in 2002.
• Running back Wayne Taulapapa needs 31 yards rushing to reach 1,200 for his career. A total of 40 Cavaliers have reached the 1,200-yard mark in their careers.
• Armstrong needs 20 yards of total offense to break Bryce Perkins’ single-season mark of 4,307 established in 2019.
• Virginia needs nine points for its 400^thof the season. In 132 years of football at Virginia, UVA has scored 400 or more points in a season, four times (2019, 1990, 1894 and 2002). The school record is 449 set in 2019.

ACC TOP PASSERS

• Brennan Armstrong is having one of the best seasons ever by an ACC quarterback. His season passing yardage total to 4,044 yards is the seventh most ever in a single season by an ACC quarterback. He is within 153 yards of fourth place (Chris Weinke, FSU – 2000).
• Armstrong has reached the historic numbers despite playing just 10 games. Everyone on the ACC’s top-10 single-season passing list has needed at least 13 games to go over 3,896 yards except Weinke in 2000 who threw for 4,167 in 12 games.
• Armstrong is averaging 404.4 passing yards per game. No quarterback in the history of the ACC has averaged over 347 per game in a single season.

NOTING THE DEFENSE

• Nick Jackson leads the ACC with 107 tackles and has eclipsed the 100-tackle mark or the second-straight season. He is the first Cavalier with back-to-back 100-tackle seasons since Micah Kiser in 2016 & 2017.
• Against Pitt, Jackson had 12 tackles, the sixth time this season he’s recorded double-digit tackles. On Oct. 30 against Pitt he matched with a career-high 16 stops.
• Joey Blount recorded a sack and an interception to go along with four tackles at Pitt. The sack in the second quarter was his first of the season and first since Oct. 30, 2019 against Clemson. In the 2019 season opener at Pitt he made seven tackles, had two sacks and intercepted a pass.
• The interception for Blount was his ninth of his career and his third of the season, matching his career-high total of three in 2019. Only 24 Cavaliers have recorded 10 or more interceptions in a career at UVA and the nine career interceptions are the 10th most among active FBS players.
• Blount has 48 solo tackles, the third most in the ACC.
• The Virginia defense has recorded an interception four of the last five games including two against Pitt’s Kenny Pickett. It marked only the third time in the two seasons that Pickett threw two or more interceptions in a game.
• Nick Grant has eight pass breakups in 10 games played, tied for the third most in the ACC.

COMMONWEALTH CLASH PRESENTED BY SMITHFIELD

The Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It was an all-sports points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions. The Hokies lead, 3-1 through four competitions.