Virginia Football Preview 2025: Cavaliers Are WAY Overdue For A Break

Miami Herald

20-05-2025

This is Year Four of the Tony Elliott era, otherwise known as the Virginia Football Can NOT Catch Any Semblance of a Break period.No coach ever wants to hear excuses for an 11-23 start - college football coaches are emperors of all they survey, so it's almost always on them when things don't go well - but …
Virginia suffered the horrific tragedy of 2022, when three Cavalier football players were killed in a mass shooting. The team cut the season short, tried to pick up the pieces in an impossible situation going into 2023, and started 0-5, losing three of the games by a total of seven points. There have been nine losses by a touchdown or less over the last three seasons.Last year, Virginia had a seemingly winnable date against SMU in the home finale between road trips to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. That didn't go well.
And now, with things coming into place, and the biggest need filled at left tackle, super-transfer Monroe Mills suffered a knee injury.Even so, this is Elliott's best team yet in his four years, the schedule isn't too horrible, and at some point, a good-fortune break will come Virginia's way. It has to.
Virginia Cavaliers Preview 2025: Offense
X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN- The offense sputtered and coughed, scoring fewer than 300 points for a third straight season. The skill parts aren't bad, but they need time and room to work behind a line that couldn't do anything in pass protection and struggled in the ground game.On the plus side, tackle McKale Boley and guard Noah Josey are back on the left side, after that, it's a bit of a mess.Just when it seemed like everything was about to improve with the addition of Louisville star tackle Monroe Mills, he got knocked out for the year with a torn ACL. He's out, the versatile Blake Steen left for Mississippi State, and now it'll take all of fall camp to get the right starting five.
- Xavier Brown averaged over six yards per carry, finishing second on the team with 488 yards and a score, but NC Central transfer J'Mari Taylor might take over, coming off a 1,146-yard, 15-touchdown season.- The offense has its quarterback. Anthony Colandrea had a few moments, but he threw way too many picks. Now he's at UNLV, and in comes Chandler Morris from North Texas after throwing for almost 3,800 yards and 31 scores.Top receiver Malachi Fields left for Notre Dame, but the Cavaliers got deep threat Jahmal Edrine from Purdue to go along with Trell Harris and a decent group of targets in place. As long as Morris has time, the passing attack will work.
Virginia Cavaliers Preview 2025: Defense
- The defense was better than the 2023 version, but it was still among the worst in the ACC. The line, though, should be okay with Jahmeer Carter, Anthony Britton, and Jason Hammond a good group of tackles to work around.The pass rush is coming from the transfer portal. Mitchell Melton (Ohio State) and Cazeem Moore (Elon) should bring a big boost for a D that finished with just 19 sacks.
- The linebackers might be the team's biggest strength. Kam Robinson is an All-ACC talent who can get into the backfield from the middle. Trey McDonald needs to find a spot somewhere, and James Jackson was putting together a nice season before getting hurt. There's plenty of depth and lots of options to work around.- Devin Neal (Louisville) will be one of the team's leading tacklers at one of the safety spots next to big tackler Antonio Clary. Throw in veteran Caleb Henry, and the safeties are great. The corners are another story if top man Jam Jackson isn't 100% after suffering a knee injury. It'll take fall camp to figure out the rotation.
Virginia Cavaliers Key to the Season
The offensive line has to be great.Or, at least, it has to be functional. The pass protection was non-existent at times, and the push for the running game was missing against the good teams. Virginia ran for 170 yards or more three times and won all three times. The team went 2-7 when it didn't. That's why …
Virginia Cavaliers Key Player
Wallace Unamba, OT Sr.Virginia got its guy, and then came the cruelty. Monroe Mills was a shockingly great get from the portal, but the Louisville transfer's knee injury changed everything.There's more shuffling to do, but Unamba, a transfer from New Mexico, has 335-pound size and lots of experience. He now goes from being a good option to work with to the likely starter at one tackle gig.
Virginia Cavaliers Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: Chandler Morris, QB Sr.Lost in history, Morris started at TCU in the run to the national title game in the 2022 season, but suffered a knee injury early on and Max Duggan took over. Interceptions were a problem for Virginia last season, so it's a bit of a concern that Morris threw 12 picks for North Texas last season. He also bombed away in a pass-happy attack.Top Transfer Out: Malachi Fields, WR Sr.The Cavalier receiving corps is fine, but it would've been nice to still have an NFL talent like the 6-4, 220-pound leading receiver who caught 55 passes for 808 yards and five scores. Now he'll be terrific at Notre Dame.
Virginia Cavaliers Key Game
Virginia Tech, Nov. 29It's usually a bit too obvious to put the big rivalry game in as the Key Game, but 2019 is the last time the Cavaliers beat Virginia Tech. The Hokies are 19-1 in the last 20 games in the series, but this time it's a home game for the Cavaliers, and they get a week off to get ready.- 2025 Virginia Schedule Breakdown
Virginia Cavaliers Top 10 Players
1. Kam Robinson, LB Sr.2. Antonio Clary, S Sr. 3. Chandler, Morris, QB Sr.4. James Jackson, LB Sr.5. Jam Jackson*, CB Sr.6. Devin Neal, S Sr.7. Jahmeer Carter, DT Sr.8. Daniel Sparks, P Sr.9. Trey McDonald, LB Jr.10. J'Mari Taylor, RB Sr.
Virginia Cavaliers 2024 Fun Stats
- 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 130, Virginia 73- Sacks: Opponents 47 for 303 yards, Virginia 19 for 89 yards- Two Point Conversions: Virginia 4-of-7, Opponents 0-2
Virginia Cavaliers 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Expect a bit more of the same.Virginia might have gone 5-7 with losses in six of the last seven games, but there's a plus to all of that. Clemson, Notre Dame, and SMU accounted for three of those back half losses, and they're not on the schedule.It's a very, very manageable slate that a good team would rip through. Florida State might be the only sure-thing loss if it's back to normal, and going to Louisville leans loss, but there should be five wins baked into the schedule's cake.
There can't be any massive injuries, and both lines have to be far better, but let's put it this way. Virginia got a horrible year out of the offensive front, there wasn't any pass rush, and there were far too many mistakes. It still went 5-7; the best record in the Tony Elliott era.Virginia is due to go to a bowl.Set The Virginia Cavaliers Win Total At … 5.5Likely Wins: Coastal Carolina, Stanford, William & Mary50/50 Games: at Cal, at Duke, Florida State, at Louisville, at North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington StateLikely Losses: No sure-thing projected losses
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