Virginia Football 2022 Season Preview: Offense

Breaking down the UVA offense for the 2022 football season

The Virginia offense looks to be more balanced and multiple in the first season of the Tony Elliott era :: Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

The countdown to kickoff is now down to less than a week. With Virginia's season-opener against Richmond just a few days away, we'll be publishing our full preview series for the 2022 Virginia football season this week, including breakdowns of the UVA roster, schedule, and a game preview for Saturday's matchup against Richmond. 

We begin with a complete breakdown of the Virginia offense. 

Update- Check out our breakdown of the Virginia special teams unit here: Virginia Football 2022 Season Preview: Special Teams

Check out our breakdown of the 2022 Virginia football schedule here: Virginia Football 2022 Season Preview: Schedule

Check out our breakdown of the Virginia defense here: Virginia Football 2022 Season Preview: Defense

Intro

In 2021, the Virginia offense was, in some ways, record-breaking, exciting, and nearly unstoppable. In other ways, it was imbalanced, inefficient, and predictable. Although the Cavaliers boasted the nation's third-best total offense, one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and one of the most lethal receiving units in all of college football, the outcome was a team that went 6-6 and ended the season on a four-game losing streak. 

While the defense had a lot to do with the shortcomings of the season, the offense could have been better. This fall, Virginia has the option to simply "run it back" as Brennan Armstrong returns for his third season as UVA's starting quarterback and he will again have a dangerous group of receiving weapons at his disposal. However, despite the flashy numbers the offense put up last season, the mediocre result in the only category that matters - wins and losses - definitively necessitates an adjustment in strategy.

Virginia's rushing attack was practically nonexistent last year, allowing opposing defenses to solely defend against the pass, which significantly hurt the Cavaliers down the stretch, especially in close losses against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. Having a more balanced attack will lead to better clock management with more sustained drives, which has the added benefit of helping the UVA defense stay off the field. 

The good news is that the new Virginia coaching staff has fully recognized this adjustment needs to be made and has made it clear that establishing a reliable run game is one of the team's top priorities. The air raid UVA offense of 2021 can and should be a thing of the past and new offensive coordinator Des Kitchings appears very motivated to make sure the Virginia offense is balanced and multiple this season. And with Tony Elliott's championship-winning experience as an offensive coordinator at Clemson, his fingerprints will surely be all over the offense and play-calling as well.

With that said, let's take a look at the roster Elliott and Kitchings have to work with this season with the Virginia offense: 

Quarterback

If you're even a little bit of a fan of UVA football, then you already know about Brennan Armstrong and what he can do. Although still somehow underrated by the rest of the country, Armstrong is a legitimate candidate for ACC Player of the Year and the Heisman Trophy depending on how the season goes. A stunning statistical 2021 season has set him up to takeover as the program leader in every quarterback and offensive output category in the all-time record books. More on that here: Virginia Quarterback Records Brennan Armstrong Can Break This Season

But, Armstrong doesn't care about the records. He came back for another season because he wants to win. With the team placing a bigger emphasis on running the football, Armstrong isn't likely to to put up the same level of numbers as he did last year, but the idea is that he won't need to do that in order to lead the Cavaliers to a successful season this fall. 

Behind Brennan Armstrong is rising sophomore Jay Woolfolk, who spent the spring over at Disharoon Park, serving as the hardest-throwing reliever in the Virginia baseball bullpen. Now back with the football team, Woolfolk looks to take the next step in his development as a quarterback, learning from Armstrong and UVA's new quarterbacks coach Taylor Lamb. 

Wide Receivers

The explosive output of Virginia's offense in 2021 had as much to do with Brennan Armstrong as it did with the targets he was throwing to. We've said it before and we'll say it again: UVA's batch of receivers has an argument as the best pass-catching unit in all of college football. 

In his first season as a healthy starter, Dontayvion Wicks burst onto the scene, breaking Herman Moore's single-season UVA receiving record with 1,203 yards. Wicks averaged 21.1 yards per catch, the best mark in the ACC and fifth-best in the country, and earned First-Team All-ACC honors. A talented athlete with great speed, route-running, and hands, Dontayvion Wicks has earned the trust of Brennan Armstrong, who is not afraid to give Wicks a chance to make a play on a highly-contested ball. 

Keytaon Thompson has undergone an incredible progression from Mississippi State quarterback to Swiss Army knife "football player" to natural wide receiver. After hauling in 78 passes for 990 yards and adding another 247 yards on the ground, Thompson was named Second-Team All-ACC and was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list along with Wicks for the 2022 season. With his strength and athleticism, Thompson is a yards-after-catch machine, as it is a rare sight to see him go down to the first tackler. 

Billy Kemp IV is back for a fifth season and brings veteran leadership to the unit as well as elite status as one of the best slot receivers in the ACC. 2021 saw Kemp record career-highs in receiving yards (725), receptions (74), and touchdown catches (6) and he also garnered a Third-Team All-ACC selection. Lethal in short-yardage situations and shifty once he has the ball, Kemp is the king of underneath routes. 

Virginia did lose a few key targets from last year's receiving corps, as wideout Ra'Shaun Henry and tight end Jelani Woods are both off to the NFL. However, the Cavaliers have an X-factor that has the potential to more than make up for that lost production. This Saturday marks the highly-anticipated return of Lavel Davis Jr., who put on a jaw-dropping performance as a true freshman in 2020. At 6'7" with solid hands and athleticism, Davis proved to be a prolific downfield threat, totaling 515 receiving yards on only 20 receptions for an average of 25.75 yards per catch, which led the ACC and was No. 2 in all of college football in 2020. After suffering a torn ACL that caused him to miss the entire 2021 season, Lavel Davis Jr. is now back and ready to remind the ACC who he is. 

Virginia's receiving corps is also a deep group with the speedy junior Demick Starling, the shifty Wisconsin transfer Devin Chandler, and a number of underclassmen who are looking to make an impact early in their careers. 

The idea of covering Dontayvion Wicks, Keytaon Thompson, Billy Kemp IV, and Lavel Davis Jr. with Brennan Armstrong throwing to them has to be pure nightmare fuel for opposing defenses. Get your popcorn ready, folks. 

Offensive Line

By far the biggest question mark coming into the season is Garett Tujague's offensive line, which had to be totally reconstructed this season after losing all six of its players with significant starting experience: OT Ryan Nelson (49 starts), OG Chris Glaser (44 starts), C Olusegun Oluwatimi (38 starts), OT Ryan Swoboda (24 starts), OT Bobby Haskins (20 starts), and OG Joe Bissinger (7 starts).

Just one returning player has started games on the UVA offensive line: junior tackle Jonathan Leech, who started in two games at Virginia, but is currently out with a short-term injury. 

The offensive line has been plagued by injuries throughout the entirety of the summer and fall camp, as UVA has not been able to field the same starting five in any two consecutive practices. At the team's final open practice last week, the Cavaliers ran a starting five of (from left tackle to right tackle) McKale Boley, John Paul Flores, Ty Furnish, Derek Devine, and Logan Taylor. With a number of different players getting first-team reps in August, however, it is very likely that several different names will see significant real-game playing time when the season begins. Other players to keep an eye out for are Noah Josey and Jestus Johnson III. 

Garett Tujague has proven himself to be one of the best offensive line coaches in the game, but this will be his toughest challenge yet, as he tries to puzzle together this mixed bag of pieces into a cohesive unit. Virginia's hopes of having a viable rushing attack begin and end with the offensive line. But more importantly, the O-Line is charged with the protection of Brennan Armstrong, the face of the program and the engine of the UVA offense. No pressure. 

Tight Ends

The pass-catching production of the UVA tight end group will likely take a dip this season following the departure of First-Team All-ACC selection Jelani Woods, who became a third round selection of the Indianapolis Colts at the 2022 NFL Draft. 

Virginia will look to senior Grant Misch to lead the group. A veteran who has appeared in 35 games, including 11 starts, Misch has been as solid as they come in blocking and pass protection. After playing behind Jelani Woods last year and Tony Poljan the year before that, Misch will look to be more of a target in the passing game this season. With as many targets as Armstrong has at receiver, Misch shouldn't need to do much to get open. There was already one critical moment last season where an opposing defense lost track of Misch, as he got open in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to go at Louisville. 

Junior Sackett Wood Jr. will likely be the TE2 for the group and he showed flashes of potential during the spring game, hauling in four passes for 42 yards. Rising sophomore Joshua Rawlings might have the most offensive upside of the unit, as an athletic tight end with a strong 6'6", 252-pound frame. It would be smart to get him involved this season as well.

Of course, the top priority for UVA's tight ends will not be pass-catching, but rather to help the reconstructed offensive line in pass protection and run-blocking. 

Running Backs

Virginia's running backs have an opportunity to elevate the offense to an even better version of the one that raided ACC defenses through the air last season. Des Kitchings and the new UVA coaching staff is committed to pounding the ball on the ground, but it'll be up to the offensive line to win the line of scrimmage and create the gaps and it'll be up to the running backs to have the vision and burst and to hit those gaps. 

Fortunately, the threat of Brennan Armstrong and the Virginia receivers should give the running backs plenty of chances to operate against defenses that are not playing specifically to defend the run. The running back room has starved the last couple of years, but it looks to be a well-fed group this season and there are a few solid candidates to receive the most touches out of the backfield. 

One of the more surprising developments to come out of fall camp was that 5'8, 180-pound senior and former walk-on Perris Jones pushed and overtook junior Mike Hollins for the likely starting running back job. Jones caught the eye of running backs coach Keith Gaither dating back to the UVA spring game, where he amassed 129 rushing yards on nine carries, including an explosive 75-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. 

Perris Jones starting off the second half with a HUGE TD run for the Blue Team!#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/PNFiP6LW2r

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) April 23, 2022

Since then, Jones has continued to impress with a level of consistency and attention to detail unmatched by the other backs in the room. 

That said, the most talented running back on the roster is likely still Mike Hollins, who also has the most real-game experience after registering 213 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 49 carries as a backup to Wayne Taulapapa last fall. If Hollins can become more consistent, both on simple handoffs and as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, it would not be surprising to see him trotted out as the primary running back at some point during the season.

The coaching staff does not anticipate having one running back as the workhorse of the ground game, but rather a few players will share the load and establish UVA's rushing attack by committee. 

Expect Miami transfer Cody Brown to get some carries. The former consensus four-star coming out of high school has a ton of potential. Brown got a late start after transferring back in May after the conclusion of spring ball and has had to work hard to get adjusted to UVA's system, but he came on strong towards the end of fall camp. 

Keith Gaither and Tony Elliott both noted that they were impressed with true freshman Xavier Brown, with Elliott commenting that Brown has "exceeded expectations" during preseason. The former Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year is a pure athlete and playmaker. If the goal is to get the best players on the field, then expect Xavier Brown to play a role in his first year. Looking beyond this season, Brown could legitimately be Virginia's running back of the future. 

Wrap-Up

Brennan Armstrong and the receiving corps will make the UVA offense must-see TV this fall. But, the balance and efficiency of the offense will come down to development of the offensive line and the performance of the running backs. A Cavalier offense that is just as able to pound the ball on the ground as it is to beat the defense over the top could power Virginia to a successful season in year one of the Tony Elliott era. 

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