It’s been almost two weeks since the Virginia football team opened its season with a 34-8 demolition of NC State. As UVA prepares to host Norfolk State on Friday night at Scott Stadium, there still has been some chatter about the Hoos. The Sabre social sweep dives in.
The biggest topic: is Virginia a real contender in the ACC again? The Cavaliers finished 7-1 in league play last season to earn a spot in the ACC Championship Game and posted a program record 11 wins overall. After that lopsided victory in Week 0, the the Hoos moved back into the rankings at No. 25 in both major polls.
First up, Andy Staples & Ari Wasserman from On3 welcomed UVA coach Tony Elliott to their show during the bye week. The video is titled “Are the Virginia Cavaliers CONTENDERS for the ACC?” Elliott discussed the offensive line, coaching staff continuity, Beau Pribula, Virginia’s culture, and more.
The Locked On ACC podcast ran a “Real or Fake” segment and it started with Virginia. One of the hosts Kenton Gibbs noted that UVA’s “physicality” is real and will carry them week to week. He said that the Hoos are for real if you mean 8+ wins this season.
Beyond the overall reactions - there are plenty in last week’s sweep - there has also been a spotlight on Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula. The Sabre featured him in this article so make sure to check that out.
It’s understandable that he’s gotten some attention after his Cavalier debut. Pribula rushed for 110 yards on 15 carries and completed 9 of 11 passes for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns. Among those plays were some highlight cuts in the running game, the seam throw to Xavier Brown that scored, and the long pass over the top to Da’Shawn Martin for a touchdown.
Pribula joined The Heisman Trophy Podcast with host Chris Huston for a one-on-one interview during the bye week. He also made an appearance on the Brandon Walker College Football Show (set up at 01:26:48 in the video below). Topics included his play in Week 0, the running game, how he got to Virginia, and more.
Pribula was also the focus of this video below from Adam Breneman’s College Football Show. Titled “Has Beau Pribula Finally Found The Right System?”, Breneman dives in for some analysis on Pribula’s journey from Penn State to Missouri to UVA.
Finally, here are a couple of videos from inside the football facilities. First, Pribula also gets a short segment on The 5th Side show from the Corner Media Company. This episode is hosted by UVA defensive tackle Jason Hammond as he interviews running back Jekail Middlebrook. The Pribula part comes up at 7:12 in the video, but the interview covers the running back room, why Middlebrook chose Virginia, and his life outside of football. Lastly, there’s a short video joking about the age of UVA’s offensive line and how the linemen spent the bye week.
Waterboys
Chris Long, Virginia football star and NFL Super Bowl Champion, founded his charity Waterboys after hiking Mount Kilimanjaro. Now celebrating 10 years, the organization has continued to raise awareness and funds throughout 2026 for a “Built By Water” campaign. “Built by Water is a celebration of what clean water makes possible - in sports, in communities, and in people’s lives,” Long told CBS19 news earlier this year. The organization has helped with 140 solar-powered deep borehole wells in East Africa, 25 domestic wells for low-income families in the United States, and water bottle filling stations and filtration systems in 30 under-resourced U.S. schools.
Waterboys has helped provide 635,000 people with clean water in its history and has a new goal of 1,000,000 as it moves forward.
As part of its social media this week, Waterboys introduced a jerry can mascot. Jerry cans are flat-sided containers designed to safely store and transport liquids. The mascot will travel to multiple locations and plans to be at Super Bowl LXI, but it got started this week in Charlottesville. That included some time spent with the Virginia football and cheerleading teams, CavMan, and the legend Ralph Sampson. There were also stops around town.
Welcome Back
Speaking of Virginia players from the past, The Sabre’s own Instagram shared a Wayback Wednesday post this week. With UVA hosting Norfolk State on Friday night at Scott Stadium, it means that a pair of former Wahoos will be back in Scott Stadium. Elton Brown and Tim Smith coach the Spartans’ offensive line and receivers, respectively.
This post dove into the archives from 2004 and 2013 to welcome those players back to Grounds.
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