The Virginia football team enters Homecomings weekend with a 2-3 record that resembles most of the recent seasons for the program with wins at home and losses on the road. The Cavaliers own a 23-5 mark at Scott Stadium since 2018, but a 5-14 record away from Charlottesville.
So while the Hoos are below .500 for just the second time since 2018, a lot of that statistic seems to be about where the road games fell on the schedule. In both 2020 and 2022, three of the first five games for UVA were road games. In both seasons, the Wahoos lost all three. It’s probably important to remember that even the 2019 ACC Coastal Division title team opened 1-3 on the road before a critical win at North Carolina gave the Cavaliers a shot at the division crown with two home games to close the conference schedule.
Regardless, the slow start seems to have rattled a lot of Virginia fans at the start of the Tony Elliott era. With expectations of continuing and growing the foundation left by Bronco Mendenhall, there’s a sense of ‘uh oh’ percolating around message boards and social media.
The team, meanwhile, is trying to stay the course, gain some confidence, and get back on track. In recent seasons, home games have become a panacea of sorts because regardless of the atmosphere the team felt more confident and performed better as a result. Remember, 2020 had no fans in attendance and that season’s team erased a 1-4 start with four straight wins at Scott Stadium.
That year’s team had a quarterback struggle out of the gates. He completed 55.1% (70-127) of his passes with nearly a 1-1 touchdown to interception ratio (7-6) for 777 yards, though he did miss a game and a half in there with an injury.
That quarterback was Brennan Armstrong. Those numbers look eerily similar to his current stats of 52.0% completion percentage with nearly a 1-1 TD-INT ratio (4-5) for 1,050 yards. He turned it around for the four-game winning streak that followed with a 65.3% completion percentage (62-95) and a 3-1 TD-INT ratio (9-3) for 1,081 yards. The 2020 season, of course, was abnormal but it was Armstrong’s first time as the starter and the offense had been slightly tweaked with Armstrong in place after Bryce Perkins.
Armstrong by all accounts – himself, his coaches, outside analysis like Pro Football Focus – turned in his best game yet last week at Duke. If he can continue that trajectory and get the offense on track, this season may have a chance for a similar turn-around as the Hoos return home for Homecomings. They play five of their next six games at Scott Stadium.
In the meantime, here are some of the fans’ thoughts on the team from the week on the message boards:
- We gotta somehow get Lavel Davis involved more. – Mo Better Hoos
- Weekly Power Index has Louisville as #56 and Virginia as #83. – HooWorldOrder
- Grim but arguably correct assessment of the Hoos. – zeropointzero
- He hasn’t yet demonstrated he’s ready and capable to be head coach. It could change in time. – TpkeHoo
- My perspective on Tony E. – HoosYourNatty
- Coaching tales … – NorthernExposure
- Concern of how Coach Tony Elliott’s temperament is impacting recruiting. – Wahoo62
- Sometimes I feel like wins and losses dictate the way people react to your coaching methods. – Ahmad
- I wonder what the Board would have looked like in Fall 1982. – TriplHoo
So who wins?
Who Will Win Saturday's Game?
- Virginia (67%, 47 Votes)
- Louisville (33%, 23 Votes)
Total Voters: 70
Loading ...Now it’s time to check out the weekly fan picks.
Fan(s) Of The Week
Sunny days watching the Wahoos.
Student Fan(s) Of The Week
Wahoowa!
Feature Photo Of The Week
All smiles after a home win.
