Three Virginia Players To Watch On Saturday Against North Carolina

1. QB Chandler Morris

The Virginia quarterback has been crucial to the success of the program this season and has continued to play at a high level. This season, he has thrown for 1,607 yards and 11 touchdowns and has completed 68.7% of his passes. His dual-threat ability has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Cavaliers and has made defenses respect him more and the team. He has 191 rushing yards and four touchdowns in 2025. His continued development and consistency have been key in the turnaround for the Cavaliers. Morris didn’t have his best outing last week against Washington State, with how well they defended him, but head coach Tony Elliot talked about how they can keep upright moving forward.

"I think every game plan is different. I think if you study Washington State their structure was they weren't going to give you many perimeter runs with your with your quarterback because of the alignments that are linebackers, you know, they were going to force you to try and run between between the tackles and when you look at it kind of how how we're built and what Chandler's skill set, it's not ideal to run him between the tackles,” said Elliot.  “You want to get him out in space on the perimeter. So I think some of it was structurally, they were going to present some different opportunities as opposed to other game plans versus different opponents."

2. RB J’Mari Taylor

Taylor is due for a big game after defenses have keyed on him in the last few contests. He has rushed for a combined 115 yards in the past two outings. Before that, he was giving defenses fits. He was instrumental in pulling off an upset win at home against Florida State in double overtime, rushing for 99 yards and a touchdown. His best performance came in a close loss to NC State during Week 2 of the season. He averaged 8.8 yards per carry and rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns. When Taylor is on, the offense is tough to slow down and a handful. The Cavaliers have one of the best rush offenses in FBS, ranking tied-26th this season, averaging 203.9 yards per game. In large part, it has to do with how Taylor has played this season. He is looking to reach his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. North Carolina comes in as one of the better rush defenses, ranking No. 36 in the country, allowing just 119.2 per game, but it should be a game Taylor gets back on track.

3. WR Jahmal Edrine

Edrine has continued to take steps forward during his senior campaign and is beginning to put together more consistent outings. In a recent 22-20 win over Washington State, Edrine finished with a season-high 102 yards to go along with five catches. He averaged 20.4yards per catch and had one of his best games of the season. It was also the first time he crossed 100 yards in 2025. On the season, he has 26 catches for 335 yards and a touchdown. Coach Elliot talked about his performance in a press conference this week.

“It was good. It was good to see him go up and play above the rim, which I knew he was capable of. He was putting himself in a position to be able to make plays, and I think he's just going to continue to improve, and so it was good to see him, and that's the thing,” said Elliot. “You never know what's going to be available or what the defense is going to give you just have to take it and so that's why all of them have to be ready to go and then they have to be ready at any play throughout the course of the game, because you never know which play it's going to be that's going to make the big difference in the game."