ESPN's College Football Bowl Projections Finally Include Virginia

After being left out of every major preseason bowl projection, Virginia finally made it onto ESPN's projections. Analysts Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach projected every bowl game, and Schlabach projected the Cavaliers to play in the Gasparilla Bowl against Missouri, while Bonagura projected UVA to land in the Fenway Bowl against Navy. Both Missouri and Navy won big over the weekend against overmatched opponents.

Virginia has only played Missouri once, a 31-7 defeat in Columbia in 1973. UVA has a lot more familiarity with Navy though. The Midshipmen lead the all-time series 28-11 and the two programs last played in the 2017 Military Bowl, a 49-7 win for Navy.

All eyes on NC State

NC State is a tough opponent to play, especially in Raleigh, and Elliott has a lot of respect for Dave Doeren's team:

"Right, the takeaways were discipline. You got to stay disciplined. You're playing against a very good opponent, especially at the end of the game. You got to finish it the right way. And very similar, they're a physical football team, want to run the football. They got an even more dynamic quarterback.

Now they're very similar to what they've always been in the trenches. They're big up front athletic linebackers can run and then they got athletes in the secondary. So it's a typical NC State team. It fits coach (Dave) Doeren's identity and how they approach it. He's a defensive guy and he wants to wants to win up front with the defensive line be physical and then offensively, you know, he wants a he wants an offense that can that can line up put their hand in the dirt and come after you. So that's what you see out of them.

Some really, really good skill guys, too, that can make you, that force you to defend the field vertically and horizontally."

NC State has new defensive coordinator this season, but Elliott says they are already playing well and will pose a huge challenge to his team:

"It looked like a group that had been playing together for a while, even though it was new pieces. So you got a new structure and then also some new transfers that have come in, but they looked very well coordinated. They were in position all night. They were flying around, playing fast. Looked like they had good communication. The reaction times were really, really good. So they got a bunch of seniors and graduates on the defensive side of the ball. And it looks like they've done a great job of finding the personnel that fit who they are, the style of play. And you can see that those guys look like they've been playing together for a while, as opposed to a new group of new coordinators, new guys coming in. You can see that they've bought in to what they're doing. They look very well coordinated, in position, and guys were flying around, having fun, and look like a really, really tight unit that's already gelled, even after one game."

Virginia has a chance to start the season 2-0 if they can beat the Wolfpack on Saturday (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2),