Kobe Pace could step into a bigger role for Virginia this season. ~ Photo by Kris Wright/TheSabre.com

With kickoff for the Virginia football team 50 days away, it’s time to start gearing up for the season. The Hoos open against Richmond on Saturday, August 31 at Scott Stadium at 6 p.m.

UVA enters year three under Tony Elliott with hopes of turning things around after two three-win seasons to start his tenure. To get there, Virginia will need to show improvements at some key positions and in some key areas such as sacks generated and turnover margin for example. That includes at least one piece of the offense if the program is going to start to look like the model Elliott envisions: running the football. The Hoos ranked 107th nationally (117.9 yards per game) last season and 102nd in 2022 (123.1), both of which landed in the bottom 30 of the 131 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

Let’s start The Sabre Summer Reading Series with the players that carry the football. The running backs.

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