5 things to know about Virginia

DURHAM – Duke isn’t the same team that went to Virginia and lost 48-0 last season; Virginia isn’t the same team that was putting up those kind of offensive performances, either.

The Cavaliers are 2-2 with an offense that’s looked like a shell of what it was last season, when the 515.8 yards per game it averaged was third-best in the country.

At the same time in December that Duke was interviewing hiring its new head coach, who had never been a head coach before, Virginia was hiring its head coach who’d never been a head coach before. Tony Elliott took over after Bronco Mendenhall’s unexpected resignation.

Under Elliott, Virginia has lost at Illinois and Syracuse and needed a final-play field goal to beat Old Dominion.

Here are five things to know about Virginia ahead of Saturday night’s game:

Virginia has to give its fifth-year quarterback more time and we’ll get to that momentarily.

Armstrong has to find his groove from last season, though.

The 6-2, 210-pound lefty scored three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) in the season opener against Richmond and has one touchdown since then. He’s completing just above 50% of his passes (73 of 140) and has been intercepted four times.

Armstrong might not have been able to replicate the 404.5 passing yards per game he put up last season, but few would’ve seen him putting up 212 yards/game this season.

“Brennan Armstrong is a really talented quarterback, can throw the ball really well, can do things with his feet,” Duke coach Mike Elko said. “A really tough, gritty football player, so he’s a kid that we’ve got to pay a ton of attention to.”

Duke lost two of its top three receiving threats from last season with Jake Bobo’s transfer and Mataeo Durant’s departure.

Virginia returned all three of its top receivers from last season.

Keytaon Thompson led Virginia with 78 catches, and Dontayvion Wicks led the way with 1,203 yards and nine touchdowns. Billy Kemp IV had 74 catches.

They’re all back this season – plus Virginia got Lavel Davis Jr. back. He’s the 6-7, 219-pound monster on the outside who had 20 catches for 515 yards and five touchdowns in eight games of 2020 as a freshman.

Evidenced by Armstrong’s numbers, Virginia’s receivers aren’t having the same success this season. Thompson (26) and Wicks (17) are the only ones with double-digit catches; Davis is the only receiver averaging more than 12 yards per catch (nine for 207 yards, 23 yards/catch).

Kemp missed the last two games but is expected to return against the Blue Devils.

This is where it’s gone off the rails, at least in terms of Virginia’s passing attack.

Virginia has a 39.7 grade on Pro Football Focus for pass blocking, 126th of 131 FBS teams and the worst of any Power 5 team.

Armstrong has been pressured 71 times, second-most in the country to Indiana’s Connor Bazelek – and Bazelak’s 74 pressures have come on 213 drop-backs, while Armstrong has had 169 drop-backs.

Virginia’s offensive line has been overhauled since last season. All five starters from a year ago departed and the new batch has been a smattering of backups, transfers and young players.

The Cavaliers’ rushing game – nearly nonexistent a year ago – is actually decent. Virginia is eighth in the ACC in rush yards per game (169.8), with Perris Jones averaging 5.5 yards per carry (273 yards on 50 rushes).

It’s not all doom and gloom for Virginia, in large because of the Cavaliers’ defense.

Virginia is only allowing 19.3 points and 350 yards per game, the fifth- and eighth-best clips in the ACC, respectively.

Those ranks might not seem that great, but considering Virginia played a lot of defense-optional games last season and the numbers were 31.8 points and 466 yards allowed per game, the Cavaliers have come a long way.

It’s worth noting here: Virginia will be without linebacker Nick Jackson for the first half because of a targeting penalty assessed in the second half of last week’s Syracuse game. He led the ACC with 117 tackles last season and has 41 tackles this season.

If you’re looking for the ACC team with the most turnovers committed this season, look no further than Virginia.

If you’re looking for the ACC team with the most turnovers created this season … well, same thing.

The Cavaliers lead the conference in both, having committed 10 turnovers and recorded nine takeaways.

Virginia was a dogfight with Old Dominion in part because it lost the turnover battle 3-1. The Cavaliers got back into last week’s game at Syracuse because they forced four turnovers – but committed two themselves. Virginia turned over Illinois four times in a 24-3 loss, committing three turnovers in the process.

Duke, on the other hand, leads the ACC in turnover margin at plus-6, having committed two turnovers and notched eight takeaways.