After a road trip for a win at Louisville and a bye week on the schedule, the Virginia football team returns to Scott Stadium on Saturday night to host Washington State. It's the fourth home night game of the season and the first meeting between the two programs.
So far in the Elliott era, UVA has played well when coming off a bye week. The Hoos are 4-0 after a bye in his tenure. Elliott said that the approach to the bye was similar this time around with maybe a little less full contact in some practices with multiple players dealing with the typical wear and tear of football season.
"This was a really good opportunity for us to reset midway through the season to say, when we are really focused on the little things, we play complementary football and we make it hard on the opponent," Elliott said. "When we don’t have quite the sense of urgency and the complete focus on the little things, then we create opportunities that make it much more difficult for us. So it’s going to be fun to see how the guys respond to this off week because there was some transparency."
That Elliott pushed his team to stay humble and focused is not surprising. The Hoos are one win away from bowl eligibility for the first time in his tenure. They are undefeated at home. They have risen to No. 18 in The Associated Poll and are getting more and more mentions in the ACC and College Football Playoff conversations. There are a lot of potential distractions that come with wins.
But Elliott expects Washington State to bring physical play and effort across the country to take on the Cavaliers. He knows his team has to be ready to meet that challenge head to head.
"They pride themselves on effort. So we're going to have to match that," Elliott said. "And that's what is really cool about this matchup in this particular game because I think a lot of people say that Virginia plays hard. When they watch the games, man, these guys play hard. Well, when you watch Washington State, they play extremely hard in all three phases. So it's going to be a battle of who can play the hardest but at the same time who can play sound and under control and that's going to be the challenge. ... We're going to have to play sound, (limit) mistakes, and we just got to match their energy, if not exceed it."
Check out more trends, keys, and picks for more on the Hoos vs. Cougars.
3 Trends To Know
1. Sacks. Virginia started slowly this season on defense with getting to the opposing quarterback. The Hoos came up with 1 sack in their first two games and they did not have a sack at all in the year's only loss to date at NC State. In the four games since, all victories, the defense has picked up steam, though. UVA has multiple sacks in all four games with 3 against William & Mary, 5 against Stanford, 2 against Florida State, and 5 against Louisville. That means the Hoos now have 16 sacks on the season, which currently is tied for 24th nationally. Washington State has allowed 12 sacks this season.
2. Washington State's QB Zevi Eckhaus With 2 TDs Per Start. Eckhaus moved into the starter's role the last three games, leading WSU to a win against Colorado State while putting a scare into No. 4 Mississippi in a 24-21 loss last week. In all three starts, Eckhaus has thrown 2 touchdown passes. He had TD completions of 8 and 12 yards against Washington, 35 and 2 yards against Colorado State, and 26 and 19 yards against Mississippi. UVA had some trouble giving up longer passes this season, allowing 22 completions of 20+ yards (tied for 107th nationally) but it will try to break Eckhaus' string of touchdown passing success.
3. UVA's Offense Better Inside The 10. The Cavaliers have surged up the scoring table this season - more on that below - and they've averaged 43.0 points per game through the first half of the season. At least part of the improvement can be traced to better play near the goal line. Virginia has scored 15 touchdowns in goal-to-go situations this year, matching all of last season with six games still to go in the regular season. In 2024, UVA posted 15 touchdowns in 24 goal-to-go situations (62.5% touchdown rate). This season, the Hoos scored on their first 10 chances and currently have 15 touchdowns in 17 total goal-to-go situations (88.2% touchdown rate). UVA has scored multiple goal-to-go touchdowns in five of six games this season.
3 Keys To The Game
1. Bounce Back On Offense. As noted above, Virginia exits a bye week averaging 43.0 points per game. That ranks No. 8 nationally. The Hoos have averaged 489.2 yards per game, which is ranked 11th in the country in total offense. They have scored 30 or more points in their first six games for just the second time in program history (1947). That offensive output has helped fuel the 5-1 start, particularly the 4-0 record at Scott Stadium where the Cavaliers have scored 48, 55, 48, and 46 points in those wins.
With that said, the last game entering the bye week was the offense's roughest of the season. UVA squeaked out a 30-27 overtime win at Louisville, but the defense contributed 2 touchdowns to the total. The offense had only 237 yards and scored only 1 touchdown in regulation before executing the game-winning drive on a short field in overtime. Offensive line injuries played a role in those struggles as starting center Brady Wilson missed his second straight game and McKale Boley exited in the first half. The Cardinals managed 2 sacks among 9 tackles for loss.
Virginia expects Boley to return to the lineup this week, while Wilson could be back as well pending how his return to practice progresses this week. Either way, the offense needs to get back on track to help get another game in the win column. Washington State will test the Hoos; the Cougars have 14.0 sacks and 37.0 tackles for loss this season (both tied for 47th nationally). UVA's offense will need to find a way to deal with linebacker Parker McKenna as well. He has back-to-back games with double-digit tackles, including 12 at Mississippi last week.
2. Keep Up The Run Defense. Virginia currently ranks 39th nationally in run defense this season, allowing only 118.5 yards per game on the ground. The Hoos kept Coastal Carolina (91), William & Mary (59), Stanford (35), and Louisville (54) under 100 yards rushing in those wins. NC State (216) and Florida State (256) both cracked 200 yards, though. If UVA can keep the running game under control, it allows the defense to do more on obvious passing downs and that has helped contribute to the sacks surge in some recent games.
Washington State, meanwhile, enters this game as one of the least productive rushing teams in the country. The Cougars average only 86.0 yards per game on the ground, which ranks 131st out of 136 teams at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. They did get more than 100 rushing yards in 2 of their 3 wins, though, posting 139 against San Diego State and 158 against Colorado State. They did get 127 yards against Mississippi last week too thanks in part to a 46-yard touchdown run from running back Kirby Vorhees. If Washington State can't run the ball to balance out the offense to a degree, it may not be able to put up enough points to pull off an upset.
3. Create Turnovers. Virginia is 4-0 this season when it posts a takeaway. That certainly played a big role in the win at Louisville as the defense returned both a fumble and an interception for a touchdown. Those takeaways have helped push UVA into the top 30 in turnover margin this season (tied for 29th) at +0.67/per game. Part of Washington State's 3-3 record has been a turnover problem. The Cougars have committed 9 turnovers this season as part of a -5 margin on the year. They had 3 interceptions in a 59-10 loss to North Texas and 2 more in a 59-24 loss to Washington and those opponents recovered 3 fumbles as well. On the flipside, WSU kept the score close at Ole Miss in part because it did not commit a turnover.
3 Virginia Picks
1. Offensive Player of the Game: Xavier Brown. Washington State's run defense has not been consistent and has allowed 35 runs of 10+ yards this season (tied for 113th nationally). Brown's burst around the edge could lead to some big plays.
2. Defensive Player of the Game: Mitchell Melton. Melton won back-to-back ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors heading into the bye week. A broken finger from the preseason is getting healthier, the cast is getting smaller, and Melton seems to be settling in. He could cause issues for the WSU O-Line.
3. Winner: Hoos 45, Cougars 27. Virginia extends its 2025 pattern at home with another high-scoring win. Season to date: 4-2
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!