With the 2024 Virginia football season less than two weeks away, let’s take a look at this year’s team from a different lens, breaking down how the Cavaliers are portrayed in EA Sports College Football 25. Here are eight facts about UVA football in EA Sports College Football 25:

Anthony Colandrea is Higher Rated Than Tony Muskett 

Although the debate rages on as to who will be the starter in week one against Richmond, EA Sports has decided to give the nod to Anthony Colandrea. Colandrea received a 78 overall rating, which includes 83 speed, 90 throw power, and 85 throwing on the run. Comparatively, Muskett received an overall rating of 76. Gavin Frakes is the third quarterback on the roster at 69 overall. 

Virginia is Tied for the Worst Rating in the ACC 

The Cavaliers received an 80 overall ranking, tying them with Duke, Georgia Tech, and Pittsburgh for the worst rating in the ACC. As for specifics, Virginia received a 78 overall offense and 74 rated defense. With Virginia picked to finish 16th or second to last in the ACC Football Preseason Poll, this news does not come as much of a surprise. 

Brian Stevens is Virginia’s No. 1 Offensive Player 

Although probable to be a center for the Cavaliers this season, in the game Brian Stevens is listed as an 88 overall at right guard, the highest rating for a Virginia player on the offensive side of the ball. Close behind is Malachi Fields at 87, followed by Chris Tyree at 81 and Drake Metcalf at 80 overall, who is expected to miss most of the season with an Achilles injury that he suffered back in the spring. The four players are Virginia’s only offensive players rated higher than 80 overall. 

Virginia Football Injury Report: Updates on Tyree, Boley, Wilson, Jackson, Brown

Jonas Sanker is Virginia’s Highest Rated Defensive Player 

The strong safety is Virginia’s highest-rated player at 92 overall. Sanker’s best statistics include 90 speed, 91 acceleration, 90 hit power, 95 pursuit, 93 play recognition, and 94 toughness. To add, Sanker was ranked in the Top 100 players in the game.

The second-highest player on defense is Eastern Michigan transfer Kempton Shine, an 84-rated cornerback followed by sophomore linebacker Kam Robinson at 83 overall. Robinson earned freshman All-American honors last season per On3. 

Chris Tyree Receives High Praise on Special Teams 

EA Sports is predicting a big year for Virginia’s special teams, with senior wide receiver Chris Tyree receiving a 98 overall kick return rating and 97 overall punt return rating. The Notre Dame transfer returned a kick and punt for a touchdown during his time in South Bend and will inject speed and versatility into the Cavaliers special teams unit. 

JR Wilson and Sackett Wood are Most Notably Absent

With JR Wilson not present in the game, EA has Virginia’s wide receiver core as Malachi Fields (87 overall), Chris Tyree (81 overall), and Andre Greene Jr. (79 overall) as the top three, followed by Trell Harris and Suderian Harrison both at 76 overall. At tight end, Sage Ennis and Tyler Neville are both 78 overall rated and the top two in the depth chart, with projected starter Sackett Wood not listed in the game. 

Virginia Football Projected Depth Chart 3.0: Injuries Shake Up Starting Lineup

The Hill is Empty

In EA Sports’ first release of the game, as well as the most recent update, the hill in Scott Stadium in front of the scoreboard is empty with zero fans. The features of the empty hill only include the stairs in the middle and the Seven’s Society logo on the right side if you are facing the hill from the field.

Tyler Simmons is Virginia’s Highest Rated Freshman 

Left end Tyler Simmons, a three-star recruit from Windermere, Florida, is Virginia’s highest-rated freshman at 68 overall. Behind him, wide receiver Andrew Angulo, left tackle Ben York, and free safety Keke Adams are all listed at 67 overall.

With ratings expected to be updated frequently, the fate of Virginia’s ratings in EA Sports College Football now rests in the hands of the players’ performances and results on the field, which are, of course, all that matter anyway.

Virginia Football: Five Reasons for Optimism Going into This Season

Virginia Football Projected Depth Chart 3.0: Injuries Shake Up Starting Lineup

Virginia Football Position Overview: Analyzing UVA’s Pass Catchers in 2024

What ESPN’s Matchup Predictor Indicates For All 12 Virginia Football Games 

With Xavier Brown Injury, Jack Griese is Next Man Up in Virginia RB Room

FAIRLEA, W.Va. (WVVA) -Located in the West Virginia building there is a division that turns heads when walking by.

Filled with creativity and agriculture, kids decorate different types of vegetables and fruits to design something new.

From gum ball machines to birds, this Funny Things Division is used to inspire kids to get involved with the world around them.

The Agricultural Product Superintendent says this gets kids involved at a young age and hopefully keeps them involved for their lifetime.

“The earlier that we get exhibitors engaged, they become lifelong exhibitors. So, if we can get them interested in one item, then usually they come back the next year and they enter one more item. Then the next year they might enter five more items. And before you know it, we have exhibitors that are entering 50 entries at a time,” said Jennifer Sprouse, Agricultural Product Superintendent.

Copyright 2024 WVVA. All rights reserved.

It has not been easy to be positive on Virginia football the last couple of years. Since UVA head coach Tony Elliott’s arrival, the Cavaliers have gone just 6-16 overall and 3-12 in the ACC over the last two seasons. Virginia fans have not had a lot of wins to celebrate so far in the Elliott era, but there is plenty of belief in the program that this is the year where things finally take an upward turn. Not every fan might have the same level of hope, but let’s take a look at five areas of optimism for this year’s Virginia football team.  

More Playable Depth on the Roster 

Last year, Virginia did not have the depth to overcome the bad injury luck that plagued the team. Several key starters went down early in the year with season-ending injuries, forcing lesser experienced players into the fire. As a result, this year, the Cavaliers have much more playable depth throughout the roster and are much better equipped to overcome injuries. Talking about the depth of this year’s team, wide receiver Suderian Harrison said, “Last year, I felt like we were two-deep at every position. This year, I feel like we’re four-deep.” Even when UVA inevitably suffers injuries during the season, the Cavaliers are much better suited to play at a high level, especially with the experience of this year’s team and the additions made through the transfer portal on both sides of the ball.

An area where that depth will be most significant is the offensive line, where the Cavaliers return three players who started every game last season (Brian Stevens, McKale Boley, Noah Josey), one who started 11 games (Ty Furnish), and two more who started at least five games (Blake Steen and Ugonna Nnanna) as well a few other potential solid contributors who combine to give Virginia more depth up front than the team has had in years.

Promising QB Options 

Last year, Virginia’s top two quarterbacks had never played a snap of football at the FBS level going into the season. Both Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea started six games and ended up playing meaningful snaps throughout the year, but only combined to throw 19 touchdowns to go along with 14 interceptions. While the play from both guys was up-and-down, the Cavaliers are in a much better spot at the QB position this season. Currently, both Muskett and Colandrea are competing for the starting job in fall camp and are splitting first team reps in practice. Whether it’s Muskett or Colandrea, the good news is that they both come into this season with meaningful starting experience and good health. Muskett comes into this season as healthy as he’s ever been. On Muskett, Elliott said before fall camp, “You’ll be able to see more of the athleticism out of Tony because he just feels good about his body, feels that he can run and take a shot and be able to get up.” Even when Muskett returned from injury last year, he was still battling injuries and ended up getting offseason surgery on his shoulder. 

On the other hand, Colandrea comes into the season after having an inconsistent 2023. Despite making plenty of mistakes, Colandrea had a lot of positive moments on the field, showing his potential to be a quality starting quarterback for the Hoos. With a year now under his belt, Colandrea should be much more comfortable in the offense and ready to take a leap forward. Regardless of who wins the job, UVA has the best insurance against injury at the most important position on the field and should feel good about both guys going into the season.

Return of Key Defensive Players

Virginia’s defense took a big step back last year after a solid first season under defensive coordinator John Rudzinski in 2022. Losing several key players from that team, the Cavaliers defense struggled last year, giving up 33.8 points per game. UVA had the worst scoring defense in the ACC and gave up over 400 yards of offense per game. Fortunately, Virginia will have much more continuity on the defensive side of the ball this year with several key starters returning. On the defensive line, Kam Butler, Chico Bennett Jr., and Jahmeer Carter are all back. At linebacker, James Jackson and Kam Robinson both return. Finally, the Hoos also return Jonas Sanker and Antonio Clary in the secondary. Sanker was named to the 2024 Preseason All-ACC Team and to the Chuck Bednarik Watch List. 

Last year, freshmen accounted for over 1,400 snaps on the Virginia defense. With several key starters back, Virginia’s defense will be much more experienced and should be able to take a big step forward this season.

Talented WR Room 

This season, Virginia arguably has one of the deepest and strongest wide receivers rooms in all of the ACC. Led by Malachi Fields, UVA’s wide receiver room might be the strongest position group on the team.  The Cavaliers lost Biletnikoff Award finalist Malik Washington to the NFL but have reloaded in the offseason in a major way. 

Malachi Fields was named to the preseason Biletnikoff Award Watch List after a season that saw him finish second on the team in receiving yards and he is poised to have an even bigger year in 2024. On Fields, Elliott said before fall camp, “He’s been productive. He’s made a lot of plays, but he’s a mild-mannered guy. What I have seen is he’s taken ahold of that receiver room, inserted more leadership from a vocal standpoint. So, I’m excited to see him take that next step and really just have the mindset of being a dominant player.”

UVA also brought in three transfer receivers in the offseason that will all play pivotal roles in Virginia’s passing attack. Notre Dame graduate transfer Chris Tyree should bolster UVA’s passing attack from the slot immediately with his playmaking and speed. In the offseason, Virginia also brought in Andre Greene Jr. from the portal. Another Virginia native and former four-star recruit, Greene played sparingly for North Carolina in two years but should make an instant impact in Virginia’s offense. Finally, the Cavaliers brought in Trell Harris, a transfer from Kent State. Harris is another productive transfer that should come into Charlottesville and improve the passing game. With the return of Suderian Harrison and the addition of freshman Kameron Courtney as well, this UVA receiving group should be well-balanced with several players ready to make meaningful contributions.

Avoid Three of Top Four in Preseason ACC

It will not be easy for Virginia to make a bowl game this season, but there are some advantages with UVA’s schedule. Elliott will certainly want to start out strong in non-conference play, as many of Virginia’s more winnable games are in the first half of the season. Nonetheless, the Cavaliers will have their fair share of opportunities for wins throughout ACC play. 

Despite road trips to Clemson and Virginia Tech in the second half of the season, the Hoos avoid three of the top four teams in the 2024 ACC Football Preseason Poll this season. UVA avoids preseason favorite Florida State, who is ranked No. 8 in the AP Preseason Poll. Virginia also misses No. 19 Miami and No. 24 NC State. Miami was picked to finish third in the ACC, while NC State was picked to finish fourth. While Virginia does draw No. 5 though No. 8 in the ACC Preseason Poll, the good news is that those are more winnable games than having to play some of the top teams in the ACC. Even though the Hoos were picked to finish second to last in the conference, Virginia has a reasonably favorable ACC schedule, which should provide them with plenty of winnable matchups.

Virginia Football Projected Depth Chart 3.0: Injuries Shake Up Starting Lineup

Virginia Football Position Overview: Analyzing UVA’s Pass Catchers in 2024

What ESPN’s Matchup Predictor Indicates For All 12 Virginia Football Games 

With Xavier Brown Injury, Jack Griese is Next Man Up in Virginia RB Room

Virginia Football: Five Keys for UVA to Make a Bowl Game in 2024