Stanford Football: Getting to Know Virginia

On Saturday afternoon, the Stanford Cardinal will be heading to Charlottesville, VA, where they will take on the Virginia Cavaliers. Stanford is coming in at 1-2, while Virginia is 2-1.

The Cardinal are coming off of a dominant showing last weekend, defeating Boston College in their home opener, and getting a 30-20 victory. The offense looked much improved, and the defense looked stellar, as always.

The Cavaliers are coming off of a dominant victory over instate rival William & Mary, 55-16. Their offense looked great, and it was a great bounce back after a loss on the road against NC State.

Let’s get to know more about Virginia before Stanford plays them this weekend.

Virginia has started the season 2-1, opening the year, against Coastal Carolina and beating them 49-7. At the time, it looked like a super impressive and dominant win, but a few weeks later it seems like the Chanticleers are just bad, not that the Cavs are as good as was originally thought.

After, they went on the road to play NC State, in what turned out to be a shootout loss. Finally, they came home to beat William & Mary to salvage a poor week before.

Offensively, the Cavaliers are great. They have quarterback Chandler Morris, who leads the offense as a passer in the running game. His stats this season haven't been fantastic, but his numbers at North Texas prove the quarterback he can be.

Their running back room is solid, as J’Mari Taylor and Harrison Waylee lead the charge. They have combined for 382 yards and 10 touchdowns early this year. The receiver room is great as well, with a three headed monster of Trell Harris, Cam Ross, and Jahmal Edrine all having over 100 yards so far this season.

Defensively, they have stars all over the middle. Their three top tacklers are two linebackers and a safety, being Landon Danley, James Jackson, and Devin Neal. However, they don’t get many turnovers, and it seems like every game is more about how many points Virginia can score than how well they limit the other team.

Stanford should approach the game pretty simply. Offensively, try to find Sam Roush on the outside, and give him space to cook. They need to feed Micah Ford once again, and try to get CJ Williams open on out routes.

Defensively, they need to continue to force turnovers, and Matt Rose and Tevarua Tafiti need to continue to get big third down stops. If they can do these things, Stanford can definitely win this weekend and improve to 2-2 on the year.