Three Keys to Victory for Virginia vs NC State

CJ Bailey is a talented quarterback, but he is not immune from making mistakes. He threw one pick last week vs East Carolina and threw 10 last season. Virginia's secondary has some new faces, but they got off to a good start last weekend vs Coastal Carolina. Army transfer Donovan Platt was terrific in his debut with the team last week and Virginia held Coastal to just 163 yards passing.

UVA head coach Tony Elliott is a fan of Bailey and his talent, even going as far as comparing him to one NFL MVP:

"Quarterback is very, very dynamic. Reminds you of Lamar (Jackson). He's Lamar-ish when you watch him just the way he how fluid he is running. You know how he looks in the pocket, and he's got a cannon, so you saw all those things. But the nuances, you really wait for the coach's tape to be available because again the TVs you know are going to be commercial and it's cutting at different angles. So it's a little bit more difficult to really follow it."

Bailey can take over this game, but Virginia needs to force him into mistakes.

2. Find a running game

For all of the good things that Virginia did last week, running the ball was not one of them. The Cavaliers had 164 yards on 43 carries, which equals out to less than four yards per carry.

I think the ground game for Virginia has the potential to be a lot better than what it showed, and I expect a bounce-back game from running back J'Mari Taylor. Taylor was the lead back coming into the game, but he only had 32 yards on 10 carries. Taylor and Xavier Brown can be a good duo in the backfield but they will need to perform better on Saturday. NC State held East Carolina to just 30 yards rushing last week and while Chandler Morris looked good, he cannot be the only source of offense for UVA.

3. Get Cam Ross as many touches as possible

Ross had quite the debut for the Cavaliers last week and UVA needs to continue to feed him the ball in as many ways as they can.

Ross was sensational in Virginia’s 48-7 season-opening win over Coastal Carolina (Aug. 30), totaling an ACC-best 224 all-purpose yards. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, which tied the longest kick return in program history and marked UVA’s first kickoff return score since 2019. He was one of only two Power 4 players to record a 100-yard return in Week 1. Ross also hauled in seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown to notch his fourth career 100-yard receiving game, the most of any Cavalier on this year’s roster. His 224 all-purpose yards ranked third nationally in Week 1.