The cupboard isn’t completely bare for Virginia’s first-year head coach Tony Elliott.
The former Clemson offensive coordinator, who was hired by UVA after then-head coach Bronco Mendenhall abruptly resigned at the end of the 2021 regular season, inherits a 6-6 team that has a lot of upside, especially at quarterback and receiver.
With the right adjustments and combination on the offensive line and throughout the defense, Virginia could be a tough team to beat in 2022. And it should improve on its six-win season from a year ago.
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That’s why UVA’s win total is set at seven this season, according to DraftKings. The Cavaliers’ odds to win more than seven games: +100, while the under is set at -120.
The ACC media predicted Virginia to finish sixth in the league and fourth in the Coastal Division, putting the Cavaliers right in the middle of the pack and pretty much on their win-total expectancy. Four of their last five regular-season games are at home, including three in a row against top ACC Coastal Division teams. Winning late will be the key for the Cavs.
FrontPageBets takes a deeper look at UVA’s regular-season schedule with predictions and some important games that will determine if they can get past seven victories.
2022 overview
Brennan Armstrong leads UVA from under center. Last year as a junior, the left-handed quarterback set program single-season records for passing yards (4,449), total offense (4,700 yards), touchdown passes (31) and completions (326). He is also third in school history for total offense (7,720 yards) and career touchdown passes (51).
Virginia’s trio of returning wide receivers could be the best in the conference, if not the country. Dontayvion Wicks was fourth in the ACC last season in receiving yards with 1,203 on 57 catches. His 21.1 yards-per-catch average was best in the conference and fifth in all of FBS.
Keytaon Thompson was seventh in the ACC in yards receiving (973), but was fourth in catches (77); while Billy Kemp IV had 75 catches (5th in the ACC) and 742 receiving yards (11th) to go along with six touchdown catches.
However, the Cavaliers do have some holes to fill on the offensive line. Keeping Armstrong healthy is paramount for UVA, as is developing a running attack.
Defensively, UVA returns five starters from a group that struggled with consistency last season.
Read more about UVA's first-year coach from Richmond Times-Dispatch veteran columnist and ACC sports writing legend David Teel.
Key games to determining O/U 7 wins: Syracuse, Virginia Tech
At Syracuse, Sept. 23
Of all the “winnable” games for Virginia this year, on the road at Syracuse could be the toughest. The Orange struggled last year throwing the ball. Running back Sean Tucker was the bright spot in another season where Syracuse missed a bowl and finished 5-7.
For Dino Babers to keep his job in his seventh season, the Orange need to win some games, especially at home. Virginia’s hopes at seven wins and another bowl game could get off to a great start with a win in the Carrier Dome, which follows winnable home games against Richmond and Old Dominion to start the season for the Cavs.
At Virginia Tech, Nov. 26
Coming off a gauntlet to end the regular season that has UVA playing Coastal foes Miami, North Carolina and defending ACC champion Pitt in a three-week stretch, the Cavaliers will have somewhat of a break against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 19.
All that is before heading to Blacksburg to face rival Virginia Tech on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The Hokies are also in a rebuilding phase with first-year head coach Brent Pry, who came from Penn State after serving as defensive coordinator. Tech will break in a new quarterback and try to find some answers after a 6-7 season last year that ended with a 54-10 loss to Maryland in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Virginia has only beaten VT once in the last 18 seasons. Winning this game would mean more to the program than just getting to seven victories.
Can Clemson bounce back after a down year? How will the four programs with new coaches do? FrontPageBets breaks down the ACC contenders.
Virginia’s 2022 regular-season schedule breakdown
Sept. 3 vs. Richmond: W
Sept. 10 at Illinois: L
Sept. 17 vs. Old Dominion: W
Sept. 23 at Syracuse: W
Oct. 1 at Duke: W
Oct. 8 vs. Louisville: L
Oct. 20 at Georgia Tech: W
Oct. 29 vs. Miami: L
Nov. 5 vs. North Carolina: L
Nov. 12 vs. Pitt: L
Nov. 19 vs. Coastal Carolina: W
Nov. 26 at Virginia Tech: W
Prediction: 7-5
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Conference realignment, NIL and scheduling format among storylines to watch during 2022 Big Ten Media Days
USC and UCLA join the mix
A year after Texas and Oklahoma stunned college athletics and shook up conference alignment once again after they announced they will soon leave the Big 12 and join the Southeastern Conference, USC and UCLA followed a similar path by announcing they’ll depart from the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024 to create a superconference that spans coast to coast.
The decision sent shockwaves throughout the sports world and will likely cause yet another domino effect for years to come. It also made people question the current NCAA model of athletics.
The Big Ten might not be done, however. Warren will likely address the possibility of more schools joining the conference and the reason for adding two West Coast programs despite the majority of the Big Ten schools residing in the Midwest and Northeast.
College Football Players Association
Led by Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, Big Ten players reportedly have had discussions with Warren about the changing landscape of college sports and how it impacts student-athletes. No Maryland players were part of those discussions, according to a team spokesperson.
Clifford released a statement Friday, saying, “In the last 90 days, the [College Football Players Association] presented interesting ideas to me and my teammates with the goal of joining their college football players association. However, at this time, I along with many players are committed to working at the campus and conference level to address complexities of collegiate athletics for student-athletes.”
The CFPA was founded in 2021 to make sure college football players are organized to have a collective voice in the decision-making within their sport. However, executive director Jason Stahl said the CFPA doesn’t classify itself as a union.
According to ESPN, Stahl spoke with Warren about having a representative on each campus who advocates for players during medical situations or other disputes, post-football health protections and players receiving a percentage of the media rights revenue.
Name, image and likeness — again
NIL was a major talking point during SEC media day last week. Alabama coach Nick Saban said he is for players creating value for themselves but thinks there should be guidelines to protect the competitive balance.
“The advent of collectives has created a way for third parties to make contributions to marketing organizations, who can create opportunities for players, which I think is a good thing,” he said. “When it’s used in recruiting and players start making choices based on promises made in name, image and likeness, I don’t think that’s a good thing. I think there needs to be transparency on how all that’s done. I think there needs to be some protection for players when it comes to people who represent them.”
Expect Big Ten coaches to answer questions regarding their school’s approach to NIL and how it has impacted college sports more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with college athletes in a decision that struck at the NCAA’s definition of amateurism.
Schedule format changes
According to the Athletic, Big Ten administrators have discussed dropping from nine conference games to eight beginning in 2023. They have also discussed the possibility of ending divisional play and instead schools would play three opponents annually and cycle through the other teams every other year or two.
In June, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced a new football schedule model starting in 2023. Under the new model, each team will play three primary opponents annually and face the other league teams twice during the four-year cycle, once at home and once on the road. It will also eliminate the Atlantic and Coastal divisions and all 14 schools will compete in one division.
Mike Szvetitz is the General Manager and Content Director for FrontPageBets.com. Szvetitz is a 22-year veteran reporter and editor, including serving 17 years as a sports editor in Florida, Alabama and Virginia, covering everything from preps to pros. His "View From The Lazy Boy" column won multiple state and national awards. He can be reached at mszvetitz@timesdispatch.com.
