Virginia

2024 Virginia Football Preview: A Make-or-Break Year for Tony Elliott

Published

2 years ago

August 25, 2024

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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Virginia

Obama calls on voters to help Democrats’ Virginia redistricting ahead of midterm elections

Published

8 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Obama calls on voters to help Democrats’ Virginia redistricting ahead of midterm elections

Former President Barack Obama is calling on voters in Virginia to support a ballot measure this spring that would change the commonwealth’s constitution and cause new congressional district boundaries benefiting Democrats to be used in this fall’s midterm elections.

In a video posted to social media on Thursday morning, Obama noted the surge of mid-decade redistricting started last year when Texas Republicans started work to shift five Democratic seats and make them more favorable to Republicans.

Since then, California Democrats were able to redraw the lines involving five GOP-held seats to try and offset Texas’ gerrymander. Republicans in North Carolina and Missouri last year also altered a Democratic-held seat in each of their respective states to try and help the GOP.

“In April, Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states,” Obama, a Democrat, said in the video. “This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall.”

Republicans hold a narrow majority in the U.S. House and are contending with the prospect of losing control of the chamber this fall when every seat is on the ballot.

Virginia Democrats’ redistricting effort has proven to be a lengthy process, and legal concerns have surrounded much of the work and thrown some uncertainty into the outcome. The commonwealth’s map in place at the moment resulted in six House seats for Democrats in the 2024 election and five for Republicans. Plans offered by elected Democratic leaders this year would try and shift those lines in a way that could result in sending 10 Democrats back to the House and just one Republican.

“Democrats’ illegal gerrymandering power grab is an affront to democracy and rigs our maps to turn Virginia into a one-party state,” the Republican Party of Virginia said last month on social media, adding “It is an intentional effort to silence and disenfranchise half our Commonwealth.”

After the 2020 Census, both Democratic and Republican led states indulged in the well-worn practice of gerrymandering, drawing districts that favored their own parties and lessening the chances of competitive races.

But the series of mid-decade redraws impacting the 2026 midterms essentially represent a break from tradition and have put Democrats in the position of having to backtrack on some of their past messaging on the issue. “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government,” Obama himself said on social media in 2020.

A statewide vote is set for April 21 on whether to change Virginia’s constitution and give the General Assembly the ability to change the maps just months before general election contests will be held. Early voting is set to start Friday.

Virginia is more of a purple state, and it’s unclear what will happen to the constitutional amendment in the April 21 special election. Republicans widely oppose the effort, and additional congressional redistricting in GOP-led Florida could lessen the impact of any changes made in Virginia.

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‘Explosions every day’: Virginia woman on her way to a wedding in India is stuck in Qatar

Published

20 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

‘Explosions every day’: Virginia woman on her way to a wedding in India is stuck in Qatar

Arlington, Virginia, resident Anjali Sharma — stuck in the Middle Eastern since Saturday — documents her story on social media from a hotel in Doha, Qatar.

“I think it really hit me when I saw black smoke coming from afar on one of the buildings, and it ended up being a missile that got defused, and the debris fell on the ground and caused an explosion,” Sharma said.

She was on her way to a wedding in India and had a layover in Qatar when Iran’s retaliatory strikes began. The airspace in Qatar and several other nearby countries is closed.

Sharma is alone. She says the rest of her family she was supposed to meet with had their flights canceled.

She says it’s incredibly unsettling.

“I hear explosions every day,” Sharma said. “I hear planes going outside. I mean, I still hear military jets, right now. I don’t really know what that means.”

She is one of several thousands of Americans stranded in the Middle East. The State Department said it’s assisted almost 6,500 Americans since the conflict began.

Sharma says she hasn’t been able to get any clear guidance.

“I would just really appreciate it if the U.S. government could get clear guidelines of what they’re going to do to get us out and when that even may be,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., has been critical of the Trump administration’s evacuation efforts. He says his office has heard from about 100 families whose loved ones are stranded abroad.

“The primary reason the State Department exists is to serve Americans living abroad, and they’re desperately failing at that, right now,” he said.

The White House said the secretary of state issued Level 4 travel advisories dating to January. But Qatar was not one of the countries given a do-not-travel advisory.

The State Department Wednesday created a new form for stranded citizens to fill out. They say it will provide departure information about available aviation and ground transportation options.

Sharma hopes it’s her ticket out.

“I just want to get out of here safely at this point.”

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Giants will hold 2026 training camp in West Virginia

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Giants will hold 2026 training camp in West Virginia

The New York Giants will be forced to hold their 2026 training camp, the first with John Harbaugh as head coach, out of state.

Per a report from the New York Post, the Giants will hold what will likely be the first two weeks of training camp in West Virginia at the Greenbrier Resort, located in White Sulpher Springs.

Part of the reason for the move is the fact that World Cup games will be held at MetLife Stadium this summer. There is also ongoing construction at the Giants’ facility at 1925 Giants Drive. The Giants are expanding their locker room, weight room, dining facility and office space at their headquarters, constructed in 2009. That work began before Harbaugh was named head coach.

NFL teams have used the Greenbier extensively since 2014, when it was first established to host training camp for the New Orleans Saints. The Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns have held training camps there, and other have practiced there during extended road trips.

The facility has two grass fields and a FieldTurf field, as well as all of the other accommodations an NFL needs.

The Giants have trained at their own Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J. since 2013.

Exact dates for NFL training camps have not yet been set, but the starting date is generally some time in late July. Per the Post, most practices at the Greenbrier are expected to be open to the public.

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