Coach Tony Elliott and the rest of the program knew the version of the team that would step on the field Week Zero and crush N.C. State 34-8.
During July availability, quarterbacks coach Taylor Lamb promised plenty of involvement in the run game for fifth-year quarterback Beau Pribula. Running backs coach Keith Gaither hinted at a J’Mari Taylor-sized workload for fourth-year running back JeKail Middlebrook — Pribula and Middlebrook combined to account for 53 percent of team rushing attempts and 67 percent of team rushing yards against the Wolfpack.
Postgame, Elliott noted that this sort of volume will most likely fall on the extreme side over the course of the season, but also that it was necessary for victory.
“15 carries every game is probably not the way that we want to make a living,” Elliott said. “But you know, it is what was required today to win the game.”
Elliott confirmed in that same press conference that several injuries in the receiving room inclined offensive coordinator Des Kitchings and him toward an abundance of 12-personnel and even some I-formation, with third-year tight end John Rogers at fullback to facilitate QB draws and plenty of counters for a dynamic run game.
This tight end group has always been crucial to Elliott’s plans for the offense. At spring practice interviews with Virginia Athletics, voices from Elliott himself, Rogers and fifth-year tight end Dakota Twitty framed the tight ends as the core on which the rest of the offense depends.
“[If tight ends] can go, this team can go,” Twitty said. “I am really just pushing myself and pushing the guys around me. That’s what our goal is, just being able to work over and over. No matter if it's play one or play 60, just being able to go.”
Kitchings echoed these sentiments in his Aug. 26 availability, especially noting Twitty’s growth in pass and run blocking as a converted receiver. Shortly following Kitchings’ availability, defensive coordinator John Rudzinski fielded questions from the media, where he referenced the secondary’s improved familiarity in his scheme and with each other.
“The longer that you play with someone, the better you have an ability to communicate,” Rudzinski said. “The communication piece is an important piece that allows us to be successful. Because again, as far as with motions and shifts … you have got to do a great job as far as understanding your communication.”
The comfortability Rudzinski sees in this group certainly manifested on the field — fifth-year edge rusher Fisher Camac noted postgame how much easier the secondary’s performance made it on the front seven.
“Shout out to the [defensive backs],” Camac said. “In five years this is the best DB core that I have ever played with, and that's saying a lot. All three phases … we're just playing complementary defense.”
The secondary broke up five passes and forced two turnovers, with fourth-year safety Brandyn Hillman responsible for both takeaways. For the transfer from Michigan, Virginia’s practice philosophy was the driving force of their success.
“We practice like no other team in the country,” Hillman said. “Even coming from a school that I just came from, I feel like the way we … prepare ourselves and go all the way down to the details, I feel like it is [second to] none … Little pieces and details and stuff just played a big part of what y'all [saw] today.”
The Cavaliers, with perhaps the most covered victory of Week Zero, appear to have launched into ACC contender status — however, within the building, the win confirmed what players and staff had expected.
“We sold out [for] the first time since 2008, so we're really excited,” Camac said postgame. “We just showed the team that we are. We knew the team that we were. We just had to go out and show today, and that's what we did.”
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