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As schools let out and summer revs up, it means kickoff isn’t far away for college football teams. The Virginia Cavaliers are only 85 days away from their season opener against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, August 30 at Scott Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the ACC Network.

That’s one of five kickoff times already announced for the season, meaning fans already know details for almost half of the games on deck this fall. In addition to the Coastal opener, UVA travels to NC State for a non-conference noon game on Saturday, Sept. 6. That game is set for ESPN2. The Hoos return home on Saturday, Sept. 13 for a noon game against William & Mary on the ACC Network.

The ACC opener comes against Florida State on Friday, Sept. 26. That night game is set to begin at 7 p.m. on ESPN. This year marks the 30-year anniversary of UVA’s win against No. 2 Florida State in 1995, the first ever win by an ACC program against the Seminoles. Finally, the Hoos also have another night game already on the schedule. That comes for Homecoming against Washington State on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m. That game will be carried on The CW.

With game times on the mind, it quickly brings fan discussion into play. Virginia fans shared message board thoughts on the kickoff times, the importance of this season for Tony Elliott, the importance for athletics overall, projected win totals, and attendance. On the latter question, this thread started with “how can we incentivize more locals to come” to games. While understanding that winning drives a lot of that equation, fans weighed in on some areas. Here are some highlights - do you agree or disagree?

  • “More 3PM and night games. Obviously, that's also tied to performance. But the noon kicks are virtually impossible for active families whose sports start on Saturday mornings and don't end until later. But more important than that, a buzz around the program will slowly bring people back. It has been a long while since there was much of a buzz going into a season.”
  • “It's really just consistent winning. We are back where we were pre-Welsh.
    The program has been a dumpster fire since Al Groh was fired, really. London - disaster. Bronco - meh. Elliott - brutal. You've got to give people a reason to go. If there's no expectation of a good time, people aren't going to invest the time and $$$ required, myself included.”
  • “Maybe this exists, but there should be a director of fan experience
    And their job should include coming to every home game, starting the day in every major driving market (NOVA; Richmond; Tidewater), to feel and experience what the fan bases from those areas feel and experience. They should return to that market after the game. Leaving can be as important as arriving. The optimistic side of me says UVA is a big enough economic draw that you could get the attention of local police departments to solve traffic inefficiencies that could be solved by manpower, and the DOT, to make capital improvements that would improve flow and efficiency. Once there, this person should sit everywhere in the stadium, to experience whatever frustrations and negatives that fans feel.”
  • “I'm Local and a season ticket holder. Not having a prepaid parking spot is
    what I hate. I try to get in the central ground parking Garage but some time it already full when I get there. I like to prepay and know where I can park before I leave the house. this is going on now with no one going to the games its just going to get worst when we start winning again.”
  • “It’s entirely fixable! If people pay to go watch 2-3 hours of minor league baseball in the summer heat in GA, they’ll come to 6-7 football games in the fall in Charlottesville. If it were up to me, I’d try to hire Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas, or collaborate with him, or worst case copy a lot of what he’s doing. To the extent possible. There’s no reason why UVA can’t make a home football game a lot of fun instead to the same old kiss cam, dance cam, 3 card monte.

Virginia created a fan council to address these types of issues. That group has started with multiple sessions scheduled as the season approaches. Below is the latest from Eric Ward, , on social media. Ward also appeared on the Hoos On Podcast this spring to talk about the Scott Stadium experience - listen here. You can submit feedback and see previous meeting notes here.

Fan(s) Of The Week

A Hoo fan rocks a Ryan Dunn jersey - the Phoenix Suns named him as their Dan Majerle Hustle Award winner this season.

Virginia Cavaliers

Student Fan(s) Of The Week

The Hoos brought home the bacon again this year, winning the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash against Virginia Tech, 15-7!

Feature Photo Of The Week

Jahmeer Carter returns for the Virginia football team this fall after starting the last 34 games.

Virginia Cavaliers