When I looked at Virginia’s schedule, I said the opener against NC State was a pivotal game. Well, not only did Virginia win, but they dominated the Wolfpack. The Hoos are going to be one of the ACC’s most physical teams. They were last year, and they will be again.
They ran for 258 yards on the ground and held NC State to just 76. When I looked at the ceiling of Virginia, this is what I saw.
Will Go 10-2 (6-2) if:
They start the season 4-0. Virginia’s early season schedule is a challenge, but it’s not overly daunting. NC State and West Virginia are toss-up games, but Norfolk State and Delaware will be wins. After that, the only game I really don’t like Virginia in is a game at SMU. Games at FSU, and at Virginia Tech are 2nd half tossups, but I like Virginia in the rest of their games. The offensive line should be really good, and the Hoos should be able to control a lot of games with that unit. Outside of Miami, they could have arguably the best combined offensive and defensive lines in the ACC. If it plays out that way, Virginia could have another special season.
Well, Saturday, Virginia was every bit the team that could go 10-2 or better. It’s early, but that’s why Saturday was so pivotal. How would new QB Brett Pribula look? He only threw 11 passes, but completed 9 of them, and ran for over 100 yards. You are going to win a lot of games with a stat line like that.
This shouldn’t be a shock, though. Virginia is coming off an 11-win top 20 season, and Tony Elliot has Virginia built for sustained success. Early in his tenure, Elliot took some criticism, including from right here in his plan to build inside out. He was going to run the ball. At the time, it appeared Elliot was too inflexible to adapt to the talent the Hoos had, but his plan was longer term. It’s working now, and Virginia is grounding teams into submission with regularity.
Coming into 2026, they were being overlooked once you got past Miami, SMU, and Louisville. They shouldn’t have been, and they made a statement against the Wolfpack.
This is a dark-horse contender in the ACC, and you better not forget about them.
