For the first time since Nov. 29, football returned to Scott Stadium with fans in the stands. The Cavalier Marching Band was not present to grace fans with its post-score renditions of “The Good Old Song.” Public seating was largely restricted to the sun-exposed east bleachers. But on a sweltering Saturday in Charlottesville, a football game was played for the Virginia faithful to witness.
The Cavaliers scrimmaged in a “blue team” of defenders and a “white team” of offensive players with a unique set of scoring rules, rather different than a standard football game. Under this format, every drive resulted in points based on select actions, such as the defense forcing a punt, or a three-and-out. The defense won with a final score of 59-40.
However, in the spring game, statistics matter far less than the effort, attention to detail and team adjustment to a pseudo-game environment. Coach Tony Elliott spent his afternoon observing on the field a few yards behind his quarterbacks, not the sidelines. With a bird’s eye view from the Scott Stadium press box, two beat writers provide their observations post-scrimmage.
Elliott’s message — maximizing every day
Virginia’s head coach was asked about the difference between this spring season compared to years past. Elliott’s answer? “Maximiz[ing] every day,” thanks to his team coalescing well. Elliott and his staff can prioritize more advanced details instead of chasing the football or running off the field.
“It seemed like they just seamlessly transitioned very, very well,” Elliott said. “So I think that helped us to maximize every day, which I think has helped us from a depth standpoint too. Like a lot of guys got a lot of reps and have improved. So I like where we are.”
When the Cavaliers finished 2025 with a school record of 11 wins, external pressure grew exponentially. While he has never been one to pay attention to outside noise, Elliott has often said that handling success is more difficult than achieving success. Every detail matters. Every practice matters — and his Virginia team put on a promising effort Saturday. The defense delivered big hits and the offense broke off some major gains in the run game. — Xander Tilock, Senior Writer
The Cavalier roster features running backs on running backs on running backs
In football, depth is king. That sentiment is a familiar one to Virginia, particularly in the running back room. This offseason, Elliott and company brought in three transfer rushers — senior Jekail Middlebrook, junior Peyton Lewis and junior Solomon Beebe. Supplementing the newcomers are crucial returners in graduate Xavier Brown, senior Noah Vaughn and sophomore Xay Davis — all of whom saw meaningful playing time last year. With the physicality demanded of the running back position — both Brown and Vaughn were sidelined due to injuries for multiple 2025 contests — do not be surprised to hear all six of those names at some point this coming fall.
Four of the rushers above saw early-game, meaningful action Saturday — and all four shined. Beebe and Middlebrook both found the endzone, the latter recording two scores on a rush and a reception. Middlebrook, too, fought through tacklers on his mid-distance rushing touchdown. Lewis and Davis both broke free for 50-plus and 30-plus yard rushes, respectively.
Though Vaughn and Brown are nursing injuries, the Cavaliers looked more than competent on the ground. One can only imagine the rushing attack once those two are back in action. — Theo Moll, Senior Columnist
Elliott stresses importance of tight ends, but the position is still a question mark
The Cavalier offense is especially loaded at running back and offensive line, but Elliott mentioned there are a few position groups the staff needs to figure out heading into the fall. One of those could potentially be the tight end room. Virginia’s tight ends recorded just 43 catches for 444 yards in 2025. Those figures are due in part to graduate Dakota Twitty’s season-ending injury at Louisville last season — he was averaging 21.5 yards per contest to lead all Cavalier tight ends in 2025 — but there are still questions at the tight end spot.
“So we look at that position group as the core of the offense, right?” Elliott said. “None of us likes to work the core, nobody likes to do sit ups and all that kind of stuff. When something's wrong with that core, though, the whole body is impacted. So that's kind of what that unit is. So whenever you lose the ability to be full strength in your core, it impacts the rest of the body.”
That core has yet to reform. Sage Ennis is gone, leaving a big hole as an elite blocker. Twitty’s return brings a strong receiving tight end back into the fold, but someone else will have to step up if the Cavaliers want to reinstitute high-quality 12 personnel looks. — Xander Tilock
Jewett Hayes was everywhere
In an era of transfer dominance, it is always easy to look past the returners — especially if their playing time was limited the year prior. Saturday, junior defensive end Jewett Hayes was impossible to ignore. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native logged just one total tackle through all of 2025 with the Cavaliers. His 2026 spring game told a different story.
Hayes was all over the backfield, recording sack after sack — but per Saturday’s quarterback-protective rules, “a sack” meant standing face-to-face with the quarterback before the whistle was blown. Hayes repeatedly lined up on the edge opposite graduate defensive end Fisher Camac. If those are the two coming off the edge week one — Hayes will have to compete with four incoming transfer edge rushers for a spot — opposing offenses may be at sea. — Theo Moll
Some fine tuning is needed on both sides of the ball, but it’s still early
Postgame, Elliott said he was dissatisfied with the amount of turnovers. There was also a spread of penalties and busted plays offensively. On one drive, the defense forced a third-down stop, but a facemask penalty gave the offense new life. The defense did capture a handful of interceptions, but also gave up multiple runs of 10-plus yards each.
Offensively, the white team struggled to create space. Receivers were well-defended and quarterbacks were frequently scrambling outside the pocket in hopes of extending drives, which resulted in incompletions and a couple of interceptions.
However, it is still springtime. The Cavaliers have months to fine tune details, and it is impossible to draw big picture conclusions based solely on a spring practice. — Xander Tilock
Fisher Camac shouldn't be able to do that
Remember that Peyton Lewis 50-plus yard rush? There are exactly two reasons it did not culminate with a visit to the end zone — one of which stands at 6-foot-7, lines up on the edge and runs like an absolute maniac. That reason’s name is Fisher Camac. The other is the case of stomach flu that Lewis has been fighting for the past two days.
Illness aside, Camac single-handedly chased down the Cavalier ballcarrier, an incomprehensible feat for a behemoth starting on the line of scrimmage. As one of Virginia's key offseason retentions, look for Camac to make an impact early. — Theo Moll
Rico Flores Jr. showcases speed for days
A graduate wide receiver transfer from UCLA, Flores Jr. now dons No. 11 for Virginia. He may remind fans of that number’s former wearer, Trell Harris. Saturday, Flores Jr. blew past Cavalier defensive backs — showcasing blazing speed and a diverse route tree to boot. He connected with graduate quarterback Beau Pribula for a gain of 25-plus yards on third down and would have had a long distance touchdown had senior Eli Holstein thrown a more accurate deep ball. Flores Jr. could potentially be a major contributor this season, terrorizing defensive backs through speed, confidence and flair. — Xander Tilock
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