No. 25 Virginia is still cruising, but Saturday brings a different kind of test.
The Cavaliers have handled their first two games with ease, and now they’ll face West Virginia in Charlotte, N.C. DraftKings Sportsbook opened the week with Virginia as a multi-score favorite, listing the Cavaliers at -9.5. The over/under sits at 55.5 points.
That number reflects a pretty clear read on where this matchup stands. West Virginia is a step up from Norfolk State, but the Mountaineers may not be as dangerous as NC State. They just beat an FCS opponent 52-7, and before that they escaped with a 31-24 win over Coastal Carolina at home.
That opener exposed some real issues on the West Virginia side. The Mountaineers ran the ball well, but their pass defense was shaky enough to be a problem. Coastal Carolina piled up 373 passing yards and three touchdowns in Morgantown.
That’s the part Virginia will try to exploit. The Cavaliers have looked big, physical, fast and experienced through the first two games, and they’ve been clicking on all cylinders. West Virginia’s defense has questions, and Virginia has the kind of balance that can make those questions hard to answer.
Still, the Mountaineers are not harmless on offense. Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. has given them a real spark, rushing for 199 yards and three touchdowns while also throwing for 287 yards and three more scores in his first three games. He’s become a true dual-threat option, someone who can create plays without help.
West Virginia also has Cam Cook, who has rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns to open the season. Hawkins and Cook are the engine of the Mountaineer offense. Beyond them, the only other player with more than 65 yards is DJ Epps, who has five catches for 148 yards and a touchdown.
Virginia, though, has spread the production around. The Cavaliers have six players with more than 65 total yards, and they’ve already shown they can hurt teams on the ground or through the air. That kind of versatility gives them plenty of ways to attack a West Virginia defense that has already shown cracks.
There’s also the bigger picture. This is Virginia’s penultimate non-conference game of 2026, and the stakes are obvious.
The Cavaliers need to keep winning to protect a perfect record and a strong postseason resume. A loss here would do real damage to their College Football Playoff hopes.
In Other News...
Virginia Still Has Something To Prove Before West Virginia
Virginia kept its place in the national picture after overwhelming Norfolk State, staying at No. 25 in both the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association polls. The Cavaliers were rewarded with more points than they had a week earlier, a sign that voters noticed the lopsided win, even if it did not push them up the ladder.
Now the focus shifts to West Virginia, and there is a little more at stake than just another early-season game. Both teams enter at 2-0, which should make this one a sharper test of where Virginia really stands, especially after a ranking bump that stopped short of a climb. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Is Building A Case Fans Havent Seen In Years
Virginias 59-3 win over Norfolk State did more than keep the Cavaliers unbeaten and tied atop the ACC. It also came with a wide spread of contributors, as several players found the end zone for the first time in their careers while the offense kept rolling behind a sharp outing from quarterback Pribula, who completed 12 of 14 passes for three touchdowns with one interception.
The larger theme, though, is that this is starting to look like a team with both momentum and depth. The defense held Norfolk State to just one score, continuing a run of dominant play that has helped carry Virginia through the early part of the season, and the program also got a milestone moment from Will Bettridge along the way, the kind of development that gives a team plenty to feel good about even before the schedule gets more demanding. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia's Hot Start Now Comes With A Bigger Tony Elliott Test
Virginias start has been as convincing as it gets, and the AP voters kept the Cavaliers in the No. 25 spot after the rout of Norfolk State. The bigger picture is even better for Tony Elliotts team: Virginia is 2-0 and has overwhelmed its first two opponents, putting up early numbers that have turned a tidy September opening into something that starts to feel more like momentum.
Elliott, though, has been careful not to let the ranking or the margin of victory change the message inside the building. His point has been simple enough for a team riding this kind of start: the standard and the focus have to stay the same. Virginia now moves into a tougher-looking test against West Virginia, and that is where a hot start starts asking a different kind of question. [Read more 🡒]