On the final drive of Virginia’s runaway win over Norfolk State, Xay Davis broke off a 44-yard run around the edge to put the second-year running back over 100 yards for the first time in his young collegiate career. The Hoos took a knee in the victory formation a few moments later to seal the 59-3 victory.
Davis became the second UVA player to cross the century mark in a single game this season, behind quarterback Beau Pribula’s 110 yards against NC State. But in a backfield running at least five players deep, Davis might have been one of the least expected to make an early impact.
“I feel like with us, we just put our heads down and work,” Davis said postgame. “Not even just for me, for everybody, our hard work is just paying off.”
Competitive depth is often the buzz word around fall camp, but it’s more than a buzz word when looking at the Cavalier running back room. Tony Elliott and assistant coaches have maintained that all five running backs - Jekail Middlebrook, Xavier Brown, Noah Vaughn, Xay Davis and Peyton Lewis - are in the mix for snaps at any time in the game.
“I think it's probably less holding back as much as it is figuring out what we got,” Elliott said. “We got five running backs that we’re still trying to figure out. X is back, but Noah’s continuing to progress, you got Peyton, you got Middlebrook. I mean, you got Xay Davis.”
Through Virginia’s first two games of the season, all five running backs have received snaps with the first team offense. Middlebrook, who has started both games, leads all running backs with 19 touches (carries and catches combined), while Davis has 18. Vaughn and Brown are at 15 and Lewis has 10.
In the season opener against NC State, Middlebrook led the way with 15 carries with Brown just behind with 10 touches. Against Norfolk State both Middlebrook and Brown started the game, while Davis and Vaughn led the team in touches. In a five running back committee, it’s a toss-up for who will lead the backfield on any given day.
“It all depends on kind of the flow of the game, the practice week, because it’s competition,” Elliott said. “They’re all competing to get on the field and so far, it’s been all of them have earned the right to play. Let’s just figure it out as we get into the game.”
For the most part, each running back has proven effective with the snaps given. Middlebrook was Virginia’s highest-graded running back and fifth-highest offensive player against NC State with a Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of 68.8, while rushing for 64 yards on 15 carries. Meanwhile, Brown stole the show that day with 98 total yards and 2 touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 receiving) in his return from an injury last season.
Then against Norfolk State, Davis averaged 9.7 yards per carry on his 107-yard rushing day. Davis logged an 88.7 overall PFF grade in 20 snaps as Virginia’s highest-graded player on offense against the Spartans. Vaughn wasn’t far behind with an 83.7 overall grade as he averaged 10.1 yards per carry to finish with 81 yards.
“I know it may not be easy if you’re the fourth one to go in there, because you’re chomping at the bit,” Elliott said. “But they have confidence that they are going to get their opportunity.”
For now, the by committee approach is working for the Cavaliers. Elliott pointed out last season’s backfield began as a committee between J’Mari Taylor, Harrison Waylee, Brown, and Vaughn, but Taylor eventually took command and went on to earn First Team All-ACC honors. That result came, in part, due to injuries for Brown and Vaughn that put them on the shelf.
An opportunity to is available to any running back this year proving worthy of a heavier workload.
“If somebody wants to take it and emerge, he’ll take it and emerge,” Elliott said. “If it’s a by committee deal, for me, it’s all about the expectation of what the position is responsible to do, play in and play out. To me, it doesn’t matter kind of who’s in there.”
Three factors have made the rotation flow effortlessly so far this season: the versatility to handle situational football, an experienced offensive line, and overall performance. Typically, Virginia has crafted its game plans to certain players abilities, but offensive coordinator Des Kitchings says the Cavaliers feel comfortable with any of their running backs on any given down or situation.
From third down to short yardage, each of the five backs has played reps in these first two games.
“Right now, our belief is that if you’re in a rotation, you’re in the game, like play ball,” Kitchings said. “We don’t feel like we have to necessarily sub a guy in and out based on the situation.”
One of the concerns with rotating players so frequently is the lack of rhythm they can establish. Elliott feels this is partly mitigated by the veterans up front. It’s well-established that Virginia has one of the oldest offensive lines in college football with an average age of 23.6 years old, while also led by All-ACC talents like McKale Boley, Noah Josey, and Monroe Mills.
“The way that we practice, we try to rotate them that way in practice, so that they have the ability to try and find their rhythm as quick as they can and I think it’s also a reflection of the offensive unit as a whole,” Elliott said. “That the guys up front are consistent, so it helps those guys quickly get into a rhythm and when you can jump in there, and the offensive line is creating running lanes, and you can pop a good positive gain, then you quickly settle in.”
Sometimes a position battle comes down to not being sure about a single option through fall camp, but Virginia has the opposite problem.
Middlebrook was one of the standouts of spring practice after transferring from Middle Tennessee with running backs coach Keith Gaither giving him the lofty comparison to J’Mari Taylor. Brown has led the team in total yards through two games with 123, while contributing as one of the team’s best receiving threats out of the backfield. Coaches also raved about Vaughn’s performance in fall camp, which they felt put him in prime position to contribute this season.
In a crowded room that also includes Lewis, who was a four-star recruit out of high school and high priority pickup in the transfer portal from Tennessee this past offseason, many would think Davis would sink into the background. But the second-year running back has risen to the occasion.
“His offseason was probably one of the better offseasons of anybody, particularly offensively, in the maturation of his body and mentally,” Kitchings said. “He’s been very conscientious about doing things the right way and he was one of the guys that had probably the best fall camp of guys in that room.”
Davis arrived at Virginia last fall with few other FBS offers, let alone Power 4 ones outside of UVA. The Richmond native played in three games during the regular season to preserve a potential redshirt, which now no longer matters in the age of five years to play five seasons. While in the background throughout most of the 2025 campaign, Davis was handed a golden opportunity in the Gator Bowl after Taylor opted out of the game with Waylee the only other option in the backfield.
“I’m extremely grateful for that game because I feel like it just puts some experience under my belt, being a young guy,” Davis said. “I feel like that had brought me a little bit of confidence.”
Davis carried the ball a career-high 12 times for 41 yards, playing a critical role in the program’s record-breaking 11th win over Missouri.
“He made a tremendous amount of growth throughout the course of the season,” Elliott said about Davis. “I think he came in as a guy that’s, okay, he’s got a ton of upside, got some developing to do to now he's playing against Missouri carrying the ball in critical situations. It’s like, all right, here we go. The moment wasn’t too big, and then you just saw him continue to make progress.”
Coaches challenged Davis to capitalize on that opportunity by becoming stronger and more explosive this offseason. Davis responded by gaining 10 pounds in the weight room and coming back a more complete running back. The growth this offseason positioned Davis well to compete in a loaded backfield for snaps and carries.
Davis has described the atmosphere in the running back room as competitive, but incredibly supportive.
“We all have our strengths and weaknesses,” Davis said. “Every practice we all work on things that we need to work on, get better at. We call each other out on things that we miss, things like that. We all want to just help each other out to be the best people.”
Virginia’s matchup against West Virginia at Bank of America Stadium will square off two of the country’s top rushing attacks with the Cavaliers ranked 19th and the Mountaineers 9th in rushing yards. West Virginia has a clear 1-2 pecking order with quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. and Jacksonville State transfer Cam Cook.
On the other hand, it’s a mystery who will line up in the UVA backfield next to quarterback Beau Pribula on any given play. They’re all expected to be ready to deliver, though.
“At the end of the day, we want to run the ball, we want to be effective, we want to protect the quarterback, and then we want to make plays out of the backfield in the passing game,” Elliott said. “I think we got five, six guys that can do it, and they’ll figure it out.”
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