Virginia is rolling into Saturday’s ACC opener with a roster built on miles, not mystery.
The Cavaliers will face NC State in Charlottesville, Va., in a game that was supposed to make history in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as the first college football matchup ever played on that continent. That plan was scrapped in June, and the conference clash was moved to Virginia instead.
For Tony Elliott’s team, the headline is experience. Virginia is coming off an 11-3 season and a 7-1 mark in ACC play, a run that ended with an overtime loss to Duke in the conference title game and a Gator Bowl win over Missouri. Only eight starters are back, but the Cavaliers rebuilt quickly through the transfer portal and now bring what CBS Sports says is the nation’s most seasoned roster by a wide margin.
Virginia’s 571 combined starts and 39,158 snaps lead all 138 FBS teams. The gap is massive: the next closest team, Houston, trails by 82 starts, while Texas Tech is 3,320 snaps behind. NC State, meanwhile, sits at 248 starts and 19,428 snaps.
“I think it's probably the deepest roster we've had," fifth-year Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott said. "...
We have all those guys rocking and rolling with more experience. ... I think we've got great competitive depth, which will serve us really well throughout the season."
NC State isn’t exactly short on veterans either. Dave Doeren’s team also returns eight starters from an 8-5 season that ended with a Gasparilla Bowl win over Memphis, and the Wolfpack list more than 30 players as seniors, fifth-year players or graduate students.
The Wolfpack also have the edge at quarterback. Junior CJ Bailey is entering his third season as the starter after throwing for 3,105 yards and accounting for 31 total touchdowns last year.
"The past couple of years, I was learning, learning from other leaders," Bailey said earlier this summer. "Those NFL guys helping me, teaching me how to lead, and you know, just practicing it, speaking a lot, using my voice, stepping out in front has just prepared me for this moment."
Virginia is turning to graduate transfer Beau Pribula at quarterback. After two seasons backing up at Penn State, he started 10 games for Missouri last season and finished with 1,941 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions, along with six rushing scores.
The Cavaliers and Wolfpack were picked sixth and seventh, respectively, in the ACC preseason poll, and NC State has had the better of the series lately. The Wolfpack have won four straight against Virginia, including a 35-31 victory last season in Raleigh, and they have not lost in Charlottesville since 2006.
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Virginia May Have One Answer For NC States Biggest Threat
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Robinsons value may be as much about matchups as volume, especially if Virginia wants someone who can help account for quarterback C.J. Bailey. The Cavaliers could lean on him in third-down and run-pass-option looks, using his quickness and past defensive versatility to help limit the kind of plays that can stretch a defense horizontally and force it into tough decisions. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Opens With An ACC Test That Could Reveal A Lot
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Virginia also has a meaningful early test waiting in that same opening weekend mix, and it comes with the kind of conference edge that can tell you plenty about where a team stands right away. With key storylines and players to watch across the league, these first games are less about settling things and more about offering an early read on who is ready to handle pressure from the start. [Read more 🡒]