Playing in front of program alumni Saturday, the 2023 Virginia football team produced some plays on both sides of the ball to entertain their fellow Hoos. UVA coach Tony Elliott said that competitive balance is exactly what you want to see in the team’s first preseason scrimmage of the season.

“For me as a coach, I saw some balance, which I wanted to see,” Elliott said. “You don’t want to go out there as a head coach and it’s one-sided. And a lot of guys got reps too. The good thing is we’ve got three weeks before we play. Some of the guys that have been nicked up a little bit early in camp are starting to come back so it was good to see evaluation. So I got evaluation, competition, and then I saw some balance.”

During a portion of the scrimmage open to the media, that balance was evident on the first two drives. With the second team units on for the second drive, running back Jack Griese broke through the line for a long touchdown run down the right sideline. That picked up right where he left off the last time fans saw the team in the Spring Game when he had 90 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Moments earlier, junior safety Jonas Sanker jumpstarted the day for the Cavalier defense with a pick-6 interception. On that play, quarterback Tony Muskett threw toward the left flats but it wasn’t clear who the target was for the offense with some speculation that a receiver may have slipped off the snap. Sanker finished second on the team in 2022 with 63 tackles and also had one of the team’s 5 interceptions.

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