The Virginia football team got the Tony Elliott era off to a winning start with a 34-17 victory against Richmond on Saturday. The performance wasn’t flawless – two turnovers plus another uncostly fumble in the end zone and some periodic run defense troubles most notably – but most importantly it landed in the winner’s circle. Here are some observations from Scott Stadium and the season-opening win.

Brennan Armstrong Is Still Really Good

Plenty of this offseason’s chatter revolved around the offensive changes with a new coaching staff in town. Elliott and company want a more balanced offense (which they got in this game statistically with 259 rushing and 246 passing) so observers naturally wondered how that might impact Brennan Armstrong at quarterback after he threw it all over the yard last season. The season opener provided the first full-game look at Armstrong in the new system.

Much like the team performance overall, it wasn’t a crystal clean show. Armstrong threw the pick with a little bit of a late or questionable decision under pressure. He said after the game that he tried to force some plays instead of just taking what the defense showed him. He also noted that he is still getting used to the timing of this offense and was a little off rhythm with it in the opener. You could see that on some of his throws that were slightly off frame or off target or on some drops from receivers. The Hoo wideouts also saved a couple of incompletions by digging up some low throws. There were also a couple of outside carries where the ball was hanging out too much vs. protected near his body.

With that said, Armstrong made plenty of impressive plays and showed off his trademark competitiveness. Too much so, perhaps, for Coach Elliott. The new man in charge pulled his QB aside about a couple of unnecessary hits he took with the game in hand. The variety of throws he can make was on display during the win. He threw a couple of lasers in the seams and connected on a loop pass for a touchdown with Perris Jones as well.

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