Virginia
2024 Virginia Football Preview: A Make-or-Break Year for Tony Elliott
Simply put, winning hasn’t come easily in Scott Stadium as of late. The ‘Hoos showed flashes in the second year of Coach Tony Elliott’s tenure; however, late-game gaffes and several blowouts led to a 3-9 season and a 2-6 finish in the ACC. Nonetheless, one can dream of greener pastures in the upcoming campaign for the Cavaliers.
Let’s preview some of the personnel and make some predictions as to how the 2024 Virginia football season will shake out.
Notable Offensive Returners: Graduate Student C Brian Stevens, Junior OT McKale Boley, Junior OT Blake Steen, Senior OG Noah Josey, Senior OG Ty Furnish, Senior QB Tony Muskett, Sophomore QB Anthony Colandrea, Fifth-Year RB Kobe Pace, Senior WR Malachi Fields, Sophomore WR Suderian Harrison, Junior WR JR Wilson, Graduate Student TE Sackett Wood Jr.
Notable Defensive Returners: Graduate Student DE Chico Bennett Jr., Sixth-Year DE Kam Butler, Sixth-Year DE Ben Smiley III, Graduate Student DT Jahmeer Carter, Senior DT Michael Diatta, Sophomore DT Jason Hammond, Senior LB James Jackson, Sophomore LB Kam Robinson, Graduate Student DB Malcolm Greene, Sophomore CB Dre Walker, Senior S Jonas Sanker, Sixth-Year S Antonio Clary
Notable Offensive Transfers: Graduate Student OL Drake Metcalf (UCF), Graduate Student WR Chris Tyree (Notre Dame), Junior WR Andre Greene Jr. (North Carolina), Junior WR Trell Harris (Kent State), Graduate Student TE Tyler Neville (Harvard)
Notable Defensive Transfers: Fifth-Year LB Dorian Jones (Louisville), Graduate Student DB Kendren Smith (Penn), Graduate Student CB Kempton Shine (Eastern Michigan), Graduate Student S Corey Thomas Jr. (Akron), Junior CB Jam Jackson (Robert Morris)
Offensive MVP: Brian Stevens, Center
The anchor of the Virginia offensive line, graduate student Brian Stevens will hopefully shore up a unit that conceded 3.58 sacks per game in 2023 — good for 123rd out of 130 Division 1-FBS teams. Stevens, however, graded as the top ACC run-blocking center in 2023 and held the fourth-highest grade among all FBS centers (77.3) by Pro Football Focus. The former Dayton transfer spent most of the year recovering from a double-hip surgery last January, yet he should be ready to go for Week 1 against Richmond. A healthy Stevens — bolstered by a more experienced offensive line — will be vital for the success of both quarterbacks and expected bell cow Kobe Pace.
Defensive MVP: Jonas Sanker, Safety
Sanker, like Stevens, is the seasoned leader of his unit and a returning First-Team All-ACC selection, Virginia’s only defensive representative outside of defensive tackle Aaron Faumui (Honorable Mention). The Charlottesville native tallied a career-high 107 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, and 11 pass breakups in a season which witnessed few defensive bright spots outside of freshman linebacker Kam Robinson. While his numbers may dip with sixth-year safety Antonio Clary back in the fold, Sanker will provide a backbone to a defense sorely hoping for an improved year; after all, the Cavaliers finished 116th nationally in scoring defense last season with 33.75 points per game allowed.
Impact Transfer: Chris Tyree, Wide Receiver/Return Specialist
Landing Notre Dame’s Swiss Army Knife in the offseason was a massive get for the ‘Hoos. The Chester, Va. native appeared as a running back, wide receiver, kick returner and punt returner for the Irish in his four-year career in South Bend, totaling 3,284 all-purpose yards. While Tyree will immediately provide a spark for the special teams unit, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect him to fill a Malik Washington-esque slot receiver role in an offense that isn’t experiencing much turnover elsewhere. The 5’10’’ pass-catcher caught a career-high 26 balls in 2023 as a wide receiver and may be a safety valve for both quarterbacks in the Virginia offense. He may play some snaps in the backfield, as well.
Ceiling: 7-5
Call this a lofty ceiling after a 3-9 season, but it’s not far-fetched to foresee a major bounce-back from the Cavaliers with both quarterbacks intact, a defense returning several key starters, and a transfer class poised to contribute immediately. The schedule features several high-caliber road games against potential Top-25 teams — at Clemson, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech — yet the home slate is manageable. Notable, moreover, is Virginia’s slim margin of defeat last season, as the Cavaliers were tied or leading in the fourth quarter against Boston College, NC State, Miami, and Louisville. The Cavaliers must avoid late-game lapses (a late 73-yard TD conceded against the Cardinals comes to mind) so as to flip the script this season. Stealing only two of those games away would have resulted in a 5-7 year for the ‘Hoos.
Floor: 2-10
Assuming the same woes — a lackluster pass rush, costly turnovers, and late-game management — plague Virginia, we can expect another rough season in Charlottesville. Outside of the three uber-difficult road games, the Cavaliers will travel to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest, a team they haven’t beaten since 2007. Exercising demons may be a theme for this year’s team. Some under-the-radar games will come against the Sun Belt’s Coastal Carolina and the FCS’ Richmond, the latter of whom shocked Virginia in the ‘Hoos’ 2016 home opener, 37-20. I don’t believe that Coach Tony Elliott will go quietly in a make-or-break season, but he absolutely cannot afford a loss in either of these two contests.
Elliott’s Dilemma:
Coach Tony Elliott’s seat is scalding. So, what kind of a performance from his team will merit a longer leash, and which will result in an immediate firing? With only six total wins in his first two seasons, Virginia’s head coach must win at least five games this year to keep his job and reassure the fanbase, administrators, and boosters that this program can reach bowl eligibility status in the near future. Five is iffy, though, and true safety might mean six games won. Elliott‘s situation is unique — considering the tragedy which befell the program in 2022 — and it’s important to consider that he now has some help from the University in the form of a revamped, state-of-the-art facility. I do believe, however, that less than five wins should be reason for Athletic Director Carla Williams to move on from Elliott.
Richmond: Win
@ Wake Forest: Loss
Maryland: Loss
@ Coastal Carolina: Win
Boston College: Win
Louisville: Win
@ Clemson: Loss
North Carolina: Win
@ Pitt: Win
@ Notre Dame: Loss
SMU: Loss
@ Virginia Tech: Loss
The schedule gauntlet ramps up significantly after a home game against Louisville, so it’s imperative that Virginia takes care of business in the early stages (v. Richmond, @ Coastal, v. Boston College) and try to steal one against Louisville and/or North Carolina. While this program hasn’t since enjoyed a season remotely as successful as the 2019 campaign, the veteran leadership within this group may bring Virginia faithful a bowl appearance and a glimmer of hope. The stakes are higher than ever.
Oh, if the Adventures of CavMan makes a return (on the new JumboTron at Scott Stadium), this team might not lose a home game in 2024.
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CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia has plenty of state symbols, be it the black bear as the state animal, the cardinal as the state bird or the rhododendron as the state flower, but did you know that the Mountain State also has its own official gun?
The Hall Flintlock Model 1819 was first manufactured in Harpers Ferry by John H. Hall in 1811 and was adopted by the United States Army in 1819, making it the first breech-loading rifle ever adopted by a country’s military.
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Model 1819 Hall Breechloading Rifle presented by Congress to Gustavous A. Bird for his participation in the Battle of Plattsburgh 9/11/1814 by John C. Bird via the Smithsonian Institution -
Model 1819 Hall Breechloading Rifle presented by Congress to Gustavous A. Bird for his participation in the Battle of Plattsburgh 9/11/1814 by John C. Bird via the Smithsonian Institution
All of this information is listed in Senate Concurrent Resolution 7, which was introduced and passed during the 2013 West Virginia Legislative session, and officially recognizes the Model 1819 as the official firearm of the State of West Virginia.
On top of being created in West Virginia, the resolution also points out that the rifle saw use during the Civil War, an event that directly led to West Virginia’s statehood.
While having an officially recognized state firearm may seem far-fetched, West Virginia is not the only state that has one. As a matter of fact, a fifth of the states in the country have officially designated a state firearm, including West Virginia’s neighbors in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In this world of college football, with the transfer portal and recruiting battles, bad blood is present more than ever before between head coaches.
That’s not the case between the Virginia Tech head coach and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, however. In fact, Franklin revealed at ACC Kickoff on Thursday that the two are actually close friends, dating back to their time at the Nike trip that various coaches take over the summer.
“Dabo’s my guy,” Franklin said on Thursday. “We go way back. We’ve been on the Nike trip for a long time. His wife and my wife are friends.”
The long-time Penn State head coach is making the move to the ACC after being fired from the Nittany Lions in October. 12 seasons of being with the program had Franklin hold a 44-21 record against top 10 opponents, an impressive record for a new conference foe of Swinney’s.
But when that trip comes around, there’s a camaraderie between Swinney and Franklin and both of their wives. In fact, the two hang out with each other instead of the other coaches at times. It simply comes to an “edgy” time in college athletics that raises tempers.
“I’m going to be honest, I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily like the type of people that love a lot of other coaches and a lot of other programs,” Franklin said. “It’s hard when you just compete year-round.”
On Swinney’s end, there are a few who could immediately come to mind among Clemson fans. Perhaps the most recent would be Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, who played the most significant role in the tampering of former linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
It’s a select list of coaches who make the good side of the Tigers’ head coach, and Franklin is certainly on that list. On the other hand, Hokies’ head coach has Swinney on his own shortlist.
“Obviously, tremendous respect for what he has built at Clemson and what he’s done at Clemson, and what he’s done for the ACC,” he said.
The two will see that close relationship face off at Memorial Stadium this upcoming season. Clemson will host the Hokies on Oct. 24 in what could be a potential title-eliminator for the ACC Championship.
Of course, the last game that we’ve seen the Tigers play in was against Franklin’s former team in Penn State at the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. That game ended in a 22-10 contest that saw a foundation of Franklin players end Clemson’s season in disappointment.
Swinney will see many of those players once again in October, including starting quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, in that contest. The anticipated Hokie starter recorded 260 yards and two passing touchdowns on the Tigers in the Bronx that day.
Although friends become foes, another ACC coach has given Swinney his flowers for what he’s been able to do for the conference. In the upcoming moments, Franklin will look to prepare his team to prove itself on one of the biggest stages in the ACC, while Swinney looks to put his team back at the top of a conference he’s dominated for over 15 years.
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WSET) — Extreme drought conditions in parts of Virginia have prompted an emergency drought warning for a wide swath of the region, including Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Roanoke counties, along with the cities of Danville, Roanoke, Salem and Martinsville.
The governor has warned that if conditions worsen, she will activate mandatory nonessential water-use restrictions.
In Martinsville, city leaders have issued a voluntary water conservation notice and are urging residents and businesses to cut back where they can. The request comes as local businesses that rely heavily on water say the drought is already affecting day-to-day operations.
SEE ALSO: Botetourt County residents adjust daily routines as voluntary water restriction continues
John Hughes, owner of John’s Car Wash, said the dry conditions have hit his business hard in recent weeks. “For the last 3 weeks, it’s been hitting pretty hard. We done three yesterday and haven’t done anything today with the drought and hot weather. Yeah, I’m really concerned about it,” Hughes said.
Restaurants are also feeling the strain. David Kitzmiller, an owner of Be Wiched, said water is essential for routine tasks such as washing dishes and preparing some menu items.
“We use a lot of water for washing dishes and some of our recipes if they limit us in anyway defiently can’t produce and its a scary aspect,” Kitzmiller said.
Kitzmiller added that cutting back is not always realistic for businesses that must meet sanitation needs. “Not really feasible for a business that depends solely relies on water to wash their dishes, so that can’t definitely be an impact there,” he said.
City leaders emphasized that the conservation request is voluntary for now, but they are encouraging everyone to do their part by taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet when it is not in use, washing only full loads of laundry, and limiting outdoor watering whenever possible.
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