During the ACC Kickoff Event last week, media cast votes in the ACC Football Preseason Poll and the conference released the results on Tuesday. In its first season under Tony Elliott, Virginia was picked fourth in the Coastal Division.
That’s not a surprising placement for the Hoos. They have on the division only once (2019) and they must replace all starters on the offensive line while also improving one of the lowest ranked defense’s in the country from 2021. Plus, the media generally has not favored UVA to finish toward the top of the conference standings in these polls.
Here is the year by year breakdown from the Bronco Mendenhall era and where Virginia actually finished.
- 2016 – 7th in the Coastal | tied 6th in the Coastal
- 2017 – 7th in the Coastal | tied 4th in the Coastal
- 2018 – 7th in the Coastal | tied 3rd in the Coastal
- 2019 – 1st in the Coastal | 1st in the Coastal
- 2020 – 9th in the ACC | 9th in the ACC
- 2021 – 5th in the Coastal | 4th in the Coastal
While the Hoos were picked fourth this preseason, there were some positive votes in there. The Cavaliers picked up six first-place votes in the Coastal Division race and three votes to win the ACC overall.
What about everyone else? Clemson was the pick to be the Atlantic Division and ACC Champion, while Miami topped the Coastal Division list. The Tigers have won at least 10 games for 11 straight seasons and were picked as the league champ on 103 ballots. The full standings can be seen here:
⭐️ 2022 ACC Football Preseason Poll ⭐️
Who do you think wins the Atlantic and Coastal? 樂
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— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) July 26, 2022
An Easy Schedule For Virginia?
As kickoff inches closer (Sept. 3 vs. Richmond at Scott Stadium), fans and media members have picked up the chatter about the Cavaliers’ chances in 2022. They face Richmond, Illinois, Old Dominion, and Coastal Carolina in non-conference games. The ACC games include Louisville, Miami, UNC, and Pittsburgh at home plus Syracuse, Duke, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech on the road.
That slate received the “Easiest overall Power 5 schedule” tag from ESPN writer Chris Low. Based on ESPN’s way too early top 25, the Hoos face just one team from that preseason list with Pitt on Nov. 12. The Panthers were picked second in the ACC’s Coastal Division.
From a Virginia fan perspective, there seems to be a certain degree of mixed expectations for Tony Elliott’s debut campaign. The schedule does not appear too daunting even if you don’t consider preseason rankings. Richmond (FCS), ODU (picked to finish seventh, aka last, in the Sun Belt’s East Division), and Illinois (UVA won 42-14 last season) combined for 17 wins last season. Coastal won 11 games, but has defeated only one Power 5 program in its history (Kansas). The Cavaliers get the preseason Coastal favorites (Miami, Pitt, UNC) all at home.
However, some fans see the Power 5 road game at Illinois plus road games at the Techs as tricky challenges. The Hoos’ last non-conference road win came in 2017 at Boise State and the last non-conference Power 5 road win came in 2011 at Indiana. They haven’t won in Atlanta since 2008 when Al Groh was still the coach and haven’t won in Blacksburg since 1998 when George Welsh was the coach. So while the two Techs were picked lower in the preseason Coastal poll, those aren’t friendly trips necessarily.
It all adds up to some interesting message board conversations. Check out threads here and here this week where posts ranging from “Weird, but it does not look THAT easy to me” to “6-6 with this schedule would feel like ‘stuck in neutral’” to “Floor should be 7 wins” can be found.
Dakota Twitty Out For Season
UVA fans will have to wait to see the highest rated recruit in the 2022 recruiting class. Receiver Dakota Twitty, a four-star prospect, suffered a knee injury during summer training and will miss the season. WLOS News 13 out of North Carolina reported the injury.
The No. 9 overall recruit from the state of North Carolina per 247Sports, Twitty recorded 2,200 yards receiving with 35 touchdowns in his high school career at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy. He had 693 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior. That included 2 touchdowns in the first round of the state playoffs in a win.
The Cavaliers have a deep receiving corps and Twitty would have been battling to break in as a true freshman. Dontayvion Wicks, Keytaon Thompson, and Billy Kemp IV all had big 2021 numbers, while Lavel Davis Jr. did the same in 2020 before sitting out last season with his own injury. Throw in Demick Starling, Malachi Fields, and incoming transfer Devin Chandler as other players with at least some experience and this looks to be one of the strongest position groups on the team.
Virginia On Preseason Watch Lists
Preseason watch lists provide another hint that kickoff is approaching fast. The Cavaliers have landed several players on lists already this summer.
Quarterback Brennan Armstrong is a candidate for both the Maxwell Award, honoring the college player of the year since 1937, and the Davey O’Brien Award, presented to the nation’s top quarterback. Armstrong was one of seven semifinalists for the Maxwell Award and was also an O’Brien semifinalist last season. He set single-season program records for passing yards (4,449), passing touchdowns (31), completions (326), and total offense (4,700) in 2021.
Receiver Dontayvion Wicks is also a Maxwell candidate. He’s also on the list for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding FBS receiver. Wicks made First Team All-ACC in 2021. He recorded 1,203 receiving yards last season to set a new school single season record. He led the ACC with a 21.1 yards per catch average last season and also had 9 touchdown receptions.
Receiver Keytaon Thompson also made the Biletnikoff list. He led UVA with 78 catches last season and tallied 990 receiving yards with 1 touchdown. He also had 247 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground. He had five straight games at the end of last season with 5 or more receptions.
Defensive back Chayce Chalmers is on the watch list for the AFCA Good Works Team, which recognizes student-athletes with exemplary community service, academic dedication and impact on and off the field. Chalmers has played in 21 games in his career. He received an ACC Top VI Award and the UVA Distinguished Student-Athlete Scholarship Award last season for his work in the community.
Finally, Nick Jackson is a candidate for the Butkus Award, presented to the nation’s top linebacker, for the second straight season. Jackson led the ACC last season with 117 tackles. He also had 2.5 sacks and 6 quarterback hurries. At 9.8 tackles per game, he ranked 14th in the nation last season.
4th is actually a decent prediction, all things considered (new HC, staff, scheme, lost O-Line, bad D, etc.). Virginia has to find a way to be productive and balanced offensively in order to take the pressure off of its defense. This has always been the requirement for the Hoos — a solved problem, more or less, in the good Welsh years before things got squandered from Groh on through. You have to run the ball in the ACC, on balance. Sure, there can be some outliers, but exceptions prove rules. 60-40 run-to-pass ratio. It won’t move the needle for the ADHD crowd or the fantasy-based “fans”. But you can’t serve two masters: winning or entertainment? I hope this new coach is a builder, not a pleaser.
The long history of draughts in road games against NC foes, against Power 5 teams, and against the two techs (GT, VT) came as something of a shock, collectively rather than individually. The fact that we haven’t won in Bleaksburg since George Welsh roamed the sidelines is extra depressing. The Hokie faithful must think a win at home is a slam dunk given. Got to reverse that, Tony!
Loss of Twitty for the season comes as a blow, especially given the small size of this class to begin with (although Tony & Co. have done some patching with transfers and late commits). On the other hand, as the article notes, we have exceptional depth and experience at WR so we can handle an injury loss. I hope that missing the season does not diminish the North Carolinian’s enthusiasm for making Virginia his college home. He can still soak up a ton from Coach Hagans and the highly capable returnees at the position.