For Virginia’s opponents, this spooky season has gotten even spookier thanks to a relentless ground game. The strides of this cavalry’s powerful steeds have buffeted these crisp fall winds in the No. 16 Cavaliers’ favor, with defenders trampled across the turf by the four horsemen of Charlottesville, a group of running backs who can just about do it all.
“They all have the ability to make plays for us in all aspects of the game,” Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings said during media availability.
Graduate running backs J’Mari Taylor and Harrison Waylee, senior running back Xavier Brown and junior running back Noah Vaughn have given defenders plenty of nightmares. Their exploits on the field, however, are not where the story ends — the Cavalier running back room is not just a unit of talented athletes, but a community of men who have grown closer in their time together. Taylor testified to the group’s comfort with each other before the season even began.
“We hang around each other outside of football, and do a whole bunch of things, actually,” Taylor said. “In meeting rooms, wherever we go, we travel as a group. So you never see one or two running backs … Y'all always see us as a group, so that's how we get our bond.”
Taylor emerged as the on-field leader of the room after rumbling for 150 yards and three scores in a close road loss to NC State, but Virginia’s 55-16 stampede of William & Mary marked when the rest of the cavalry rode onto the scene. The Cavaliers put up an incredible 379 yards on the ground, including touchdowns by Taylor and Brown, with two 100-yard rushers in Waylee and Vaughn. These back-to-back dominant performances showcased the comfortability these players have with each other and with their roles in the offense, a sentiment echoed by Waylee, the most seasoned runner of the group.
“Being a running back, we all just got together pretty easily and pretty fast,” Waylee said. “The guys welcomed me when I came in and welcomed J’Mari when he came in, so just like an easy community that we just built with each other.”
Waylee was the standout of the cavalry’s showing against William & Mary, rushing for 151 yards and three touchdowns, including a 97-yard breakaway for the longest run in program history. The Iowa native and transfer from Wyoming is the active career NCAA rushing yardage leader and has reached on-field speeds of nearly 22 miles-per-hour. In Charlottesville, Waylee’s experience and athleticism have manifested in his adaptability to a new environment.
“He’s very experienced,” Elliott said. “He’s a little bit bigger, so he runs more downhill with power … He’s starting to become more comfortable in this system, so you’re seeing his feet allow him to be more elusive.”
Brown, a career Cavalier, has taken the transfers of Taylor and Waylee in stride. Together, the trio, along with Vaughn, have adjusted to and accommodated each other.
“I think it's just a testament to us as a group, bringing two new guys in and just all of us meshing so well together,” Brown said. “No matter who's in the game, it's all support.”
Brown — “X” to his coaches and teammates — has made his presence known these past two seasons since missing 2023 with injury. Before the bye week, Brown was proving pivotal to the Cavaliers’ offense in close games — he caught an over-the-shoulder touchdown pass to tie the game early in the fourth quarter en route to an upset over then-No. 8 Florida State.
Taylor had his own clutch score this season, a game winner in overtime against Louisville. The graduate student came to Charlottesville by way of Durham, coming off of a season with nearly 1,400 total yards and 17 touchdowns at NC Central. He has become a player that Coach Tony Elliott feels he can rely on in tight situations.
“[He’s] an eraser type of back,” Coach Tony Elliott said. “He just has a knack for the big play.”
The evidence for this coaching staff’s belief in Taylor is more than just words, and the Carolina kid has more than justified the coaches’ trust. Taylor has six carries on fourth downs, which ranks second across the ACC in rush attempts on such plays. He has accumulated over 50 yards with these attempts — the next closest ACC rusher has only mustered 16.
Vaughn, who broke 100 yards alongside Waylee against William & Mary, has made the most of his role this season. Across other contests, Vaughn has produced a quiet breakout campaign — averaging 7.7 yards per carry, he has already exceeded his yardage total from last year whilst being the fourth option in the backfield.
The junior may be getting more work soon — in Virginia’s last non-conference clash, a close game against Washington State, Brown went down with a non-contact injury. After he exited the game, Taylor and Waylee rallied, churning away yards and first downs to get the Cavalier offense rolling in a come-from behind victory. According to Elliott, the outlook on Brown’s injury remains unclear, but if needed, the coach has expressed confidence in Vaughn’s ability to step up.
“I’ve said for a long time, prior to Harrison and J’Mari coming in, that I thought that Noah was the most complete back because he can do a lot of different things well,” Elliott said. “He’s just going to get better as he gets more experience.”
Injuries and all, the Cavaliers march on. The teams remaining on the schedule, save for North Carolina, all are in the top half of the ACC in most rushing yards allowed per game. Virginia, meanwhile, averages the third most yards per game in the conference. These defenses may, understandably, have a tough time sleeping at night — there is plenty to fear about the Four Horsemen.
Xander Tilock contributed reporting.
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