The Virginia football team wrapped up its season with a 5-7 record and just shy of bowl eligibility. While the win total showed progress from back-to-back three-win seasons, the Hoos still had plenty of inconsistency issues and lost multiple lopsided games in 2024. The grades reflect that and more. Let’s take a closer look.

Virginia Tech Overview

  • Offense: 67.71 (D+)
  • Quarterback: 69.1 (D+)
  • Running backs: 62.2 (D-)
  • Wide receivers: 71.14 (C-)
  • Offensive line: 68.38 (D+)
  • Game Highlights: Virginia’s rushing game didn’t do much well but the offense went 5-6 on power rushes (rushes with 2 yards to convert a first down or TD) against the Hokie defense; UVA’s offense had a cumulative first down grade (combined average of passing and rushing yards on plays) of 92.35.
  • Game Not So Bright: Four of UVA’s last five opponents recorded 5 or more sacks in a game - the Hokies had 5. The Hoos scored over 24 points in their first five games, but the team scored 24 points once in their last five games and 17 or fewer in the other four.
  • Defense: 66.47 (D)
  • Defensive line: 68.82 (D+)
  • Linebackers: 66.41 (D)
  • Defensive backs: 64.19 (D)
  • Game Highlights: The Hoos recorded 4 tackles for loss against VT for an average loss of 6.25 yards per play, the highest per play average opponent loss of the season; UVA’s defense stuffed (runs stopped for zero or less yardage) 23% of Tech’s rushes.
  • Game Not So Bright: Virginia’s defense gave up 276 yards on 9 big plays - an average of 30.7 yards per play; Tech’s 202 rushing yards are the second most given up by the Cavalier defense.
  • Special Teams: 81.96 (B-)
  • Kickoff Return: 66.06 (D)
  • Kickoff coverage: 88.97 (B+)
  • Placekicking: 93.04 (A)
  • Punt Return: 62.29 (D-)
  • Punt Coverage: 99.43 (A+)
  • Game Highlights: Daniel Sparks may have had his best day as a Cavalier punter; he landed 2 punts inside the 20, booted 2 over 50 yards and averaged 52 yards per kick for a 99.43 game grade, the highest mark of the season.
  • Game Not So Bright: UVA’s kickoff return and punt return units averaged a combined 64.18 game grade.

Greg’s Grades & Notes - Season Edition

TEAM OFFENSE DEFENSE SPECIAL TEAMS
QB RB WR/TE OL ALL DL LB DB ALL KOR KOC PK PR PC ALL
RICH 88.33 89.74 89.84 83.78 87.92 91.46 88.77 89.45 89.89 93.07 73.73 81.1 66.55 98.96 82.68
WF 82.70 77.30 86.40 80.10 81.63 83.57 85.87 83.39 85.59 88.56 72.90 88.28 69.94 90.71 82.08
MARY 69.50 74.00 79.10 70.06 73.17 79.81 75.75 84.01 79.86 78.84 89.27 93.89 68.20 88.05 83.65
CCAR 86.30 90.40 82.20 83.62 85.63 82.88 78.70 71.31 77.63 72.34 89.65 98.74 84.65 90.10 87.10
BC 70.20 81.20 79.80 75.74 76.74 89.38 80.19 87.77 85.78 72.08 67.78 83.64 86.14 89.58 79.84
LVILLE 73.20 69.90 79.30 74.77 74.29 74.11 73.23 80.37 75.90 72.40 91.89 95.26 81.32 69.13 82.00
CLEM 79.70 77.40 81.60 73.73 78.11 73.77 70.16 63.48 69.14 73.91 93.86 93.30 79.87 94.89 87.17
UNC 62.50 64.01 69.02 54.97 62.63 73.42 70.56 65.91 69.96 73.05 80.91 93.04 95.30 82.60 84.98
PITT 73.10 80.16 80.69 79.53 78.37 83.96 85.92 89.21 86.36 68.30 94.73 95.18 74.23 74.80 81.45
ND 58.90 66.75 72.01 66.91 66.91 75.86 78.26 80.34 78.15 55.19 94.14 91.93 68.13 84.80 78.84
SMU 48.80 54.49 59.09 51.79 53.54 75.50 68.80 71.72 72.01 76.59 69.89 67.98 85.21 82.21 76.38
VT 69.10 62.20 71.14 68.38 67.71 68.82 66.41 64.19 66.47 66.06 88.97 93.04 62.29 99.43 81.96
SEASON 71.86 73.96 77.52 72.20 73.89 79.38 76.64 77.09 77.70 73.82 83.91 90.21 77.10 86.42 82.29

Make sure to check out Greg's Grades in the archives.

Virginia Offense Grades

  • Total Offense: 73.88 (C)
  • Quarterback: 71.86 (C-)
  • Running backs: 73.96 (C)
  • Wide receivers: 77.51 (C+)
  • Offensive line: 72.20 (C-)
Offensive Trends
  • After scoring 4 red zone touchdowns against Coastal Carolina, the Hoos never scored more than 2 red zone TDs in another game (8 games).
  • The UVA offense posted its lowest two total offense games against Southern Methodist and Virginia Tech to end the season.
  • The Cavalier offense posted 654 yards passing in their first two games of the season. They managed just 628 yards (157/game) in their last four games.
  • Despite the offensive line struggles and Anthony Colandrea’s run-out-of-bounds sacks, the Wahoo offense produced the most yards rushing (1,583) since 2020 (1,627).

Virginia Defense Grades

  • Total defense: 77.70 (C+)
  • Defensive line: 79.37 (C+)
  • Linebackers: 76.64 (C)
  • Defensive backs: 77.09 (C+)
Defensive Trends
  • UVA’s defense allowed 108 points in their first five games of the year. They surrendered 105 in the final three.
  • The Wahoo defense recorded 177 tackles for loss in 2024. That’s 37 TFL higher than 2023. The Hoos also delivered 19 sacks compared to only 11 last year.
  • Following an abysmal run defense effort in 2023 (ranked No. 117), the Hoos improved 57 spots to rank No. 60 in 2024. Definitely a move in the right direction. Pass defense went the other way going from No. 66 last year to No. 124 in 2024.
  • Virginia’s defense allowed eight opponents to score on 100% of their red zone chances. Here’s the more interesting stat - the defense finished No. 43 nationally allowing just a 55.77% TD scoring percentage.

Virginia Special Teams

  • Total Special Teams: 82.29 (B-)
  • Kickoff Return: 73.82 (C)
  • Kickoff coverage: 83.90 (B)
  • Placekicking: 90.21 (A-)
  • Punt Return: 77.10 (C+)
  • Punt Coverage: 86.41(B)
Special Teams Trends
  • Daniel Sparks finished the 2024 season ranked 23rd nationally with a 44.61 yards per punt average. Sparks finished 2023 ranked 40th in the NCAA with 42.41 per punt average.
  • The UVA special teams had an average grade of 83.37 through the first nine contests, but finished with a 79.06 average in the last three outings.

Superlatives & Unextraordinary Grades

Superlatives Offense

  • Top Offense Unit (Games 1-6) - WR & TE (82.77)
  • Top Offense Unit (Games 7-12) - WR & TE (72.25)
  • Top Offense Unit 2024 - WR & TE (77.51)

Superlatives Defense
  • Top Defense Unit (Games 1-6) - Defensive Line (83.53)
  • Top Defense Unit (Games 7-12) - Defensive Line (75.22)
  • Top Defense Unit 2024 - Defensive Line (79.37)

Superlatives Special Teams
  • Top Special Teams Unit (Games 1-6) - Placekicking (91.35)
  • Top Special Teams (Games 7-12) - Placekicking (89.07)
  • Top Special Teams 2024 - Placekicking (90.21)

Unextraordinary Grades Offense
  • Bottom Offense Unit (Games 1-6) - Offensive line (78.01)
  • Bottom Offense Unit (Games 7-12) - Quarterback (65.35)
  • Bottom Offense Unit 2024 - Quarterback (71.86)

Unextraordinary Grades Defense
  • Bottom Defense Unit (Games 1-6) - Linebacker (79.93)
  • Bottom Defense Unit (Games 7-12) - Defensive back (72.47)
  • Bottom Defense Unit 2024 - Linebacker (76.64)

Unextraordinary Grades Special Teams
  • Bottom Special Teams Unit (Games 1-6) - Punt return (76.69)
  • Bottom Special Teams Unit (Games 7-12) - Kickoff return (68.85)
  • Bottom Special Teams Unit 2024 - Kickoff return (73.82)

Most Improved Units: This is the first time I can recall when zero units from the offense and defense improved from the fist half of the season to the second. So, I give you the units who had their grades drop the least.