UVA Football 2024 Season Preview

all right we are live hello everyone welcome to a special locker room access show um today we're going to be doing a football season preview um I'm Josh my remember me from basketball season got a few guests here today Ferris is with us um our guy from the forums dragon is on I'm sure you guys have read some of his stuff and very special guest here to kind of lead this conversation for us is Ahad Hawkins what's up man how y'all doing amazing amazing football's back we're finally uh I personally don't like baseball so like the summer is terrible for me um we had the Olympics this summer though so it was okay but uh we back football season's back so we're we're gearing up for it exciting time to be a Virginia fan um big news we start off with I'm sure most have already seen quarterback controversy no more Anthony kandria will be the starting quarterback for UVA this season uh most might remember freshman last season came in when musket got hurt and hly played pretty admirably for a first year young guy coming in um he there's a bunch of stats on you know leading the P5 things like passing yards touchdowns thrown for a freshman stuff like that he set some of the school records for those same categories um now with that I think most will remember he was pretty Boomer bus you know that was the big concern if you will with what he could do was he was electric but that could turn bad too so um Ahad you've probably been the closest of you know of course of us to the program what do you think this year coming in with kandria it's gonna be exciting I mean he's an exciting Dynamic player um it was a learning curve last year like you gotta think coming right out of high school getting thrown into college football you know division one football in the ACC a lot of moving Parts within this offense and having to take command and I mean he just showed that week to week you know he got that much better and then um you think about how he struggled Georgia attack when he came in but then that next week in a short week versus Louisville plan on the Thursday night versus one of the best defenses man he he looked like a top tier college quarterback um so people started comparing to Johnny Menzel after that game so that let you know um how excited the fan base is for for him and you know being announced as a starter with the weapons that we have um pretty sure that's going to put more more people in the seats knowing that t gon be the starter because he's that exciting oh yeah for sure um dragon on your take on this just more or less from a fan perspective kind of speak on where you think everyone is with this announcement how how the fan base is feeling for it this was definitely the fan pick for sure I mean everything I saw on all the forums I would talk to friends and text chains whatever um everyone was high on the AC train all summer and really wanted to see him and so I saw plenty of people who were already just crushing coach Elliott about it you know even before he made the announcement of if it goes with musket it just shows he can't do this and yada yada yada so I'm glad that he was able to put that to B you know before we ever got to open a kickoff and we're able to get the fan base on his side um it does it brings a life to the program that I'm not sure I've seen um in a long time quite frankly just his intangibles along with his actual physical Talent as well yeah for sure um full disclosure I was kind of more on the musket side of it just thinking to me it was kind of a situation where and just me you know from outside looking at as a fan was I was kind of afraid of rushing the young guy um you know let him have his seasoning and his time to grow and but I mean the talent's there he's electric you can see it if if you tuned in and saw any game he played in there were signs that he could be that guy so I'm excited to just kind of get that feeling that the growth has shown since last season that he's able to take that job over so it should be fun it should be exciting um kind of rolling straight from that I'd like to go into the depth chart a little bit um most might have seen it came out yesterday afternoon um Amad I'll let you start this one again too uh start on the offensive side was was there anything that really kind of surprised you or a big takeaway from the rest of the offense no I mean just seeing the guys perform having a chance to look at practice and scrimmages um nothing really jumped out to me as as far as guys that were starting um the tight end position was something that's interchangeable because all three of those guys List have be getting reps with the ones and been performing to to their strengths um also expect to see uh Dakota Twitty getting some reps and catching some balls at tight end as well um he made a transition from receiver to tight end um so even though he's not list there he'll be getting some valuable playing time but uh I know to fans Jack greasy being behind Kobe was a surprised but anytime he's gotten in the game I mean not in the game but at least you know they saw him in Spring practice the past two years like he makes something out of nothing um I'm excited for the fans to actually see TR Harris I know uh Chris Tyreek has dominated as far as new receiver and comparing every new receiver now to Malik was but T Harris has some special talents that I'm excited for fans to see good stuff um I kind of Wonder too I to me I would think that with tyriek coming in he could probably be more multi-positional um he kind of seems like guy you know he played running back in high school he's seems like a pretty tough guy just watching some tape of him you know not shying away from contact is that something you think they might work in a little bit him moving around the field I mean yeah he's he's a dynamic player so you want to give him the ball in space uh being in the slot is very very ideal for a guy with his skill set uh but don't be surprised you see him in the back field returning kicks returning punts um just in that realm and then sadar Harrison who's very dynamic as well just imagine with both of those guys on the field together um that caus us for defenses to really have to identify who's who's the threat because you know that young man has only been playing receiver now for a full year and last year he he battled some injuries but he had a strong fall last year as a true freshman so um he's a playmaker as well so our our receiving core is is really good because Dre that came from UNC he's another Dynamic player so it's all about just playing within the Florida offense and and being sound I'm really really excited though to see Kobe Pace too because he is a guy that gives you an advantage in the passing game with his ability to set up linebackers and we saw last year versus uh was Maryland versus jamu and catch long touchdown passes so um this offense has a lot of potential but of course it's gonna start up front that's it um starting up front uh not really any surprises I don't think um the the one spot that I thought at least would be questionable if anything was Tai furnish starting at guard um it makes me feel pretty good that there's enough confidence there and I've seen that he's gained I think it's about 30 pounds he's put on he's up around 295 which I mean you know once you put the pads and everything on that's 300 just go and say it uh yeah so as far as that goes I mean just having that continuity on the line I hope helps I do know there's been some injury slash things ailments that type of thing where guys have missed a little bit of time but at least it's a crew that's had reps before together you know so it's not the worst thing in the world um hopefully they can kind of gel quickly we'll see how that starts out um you brought up the tight end position too before we switch over to the defense I think that's something that's really going to be a big change for us this year year um I don't have the exact number in front of me but I can't imagine we had more than 20 catches from the tight end spots last year 11 wow it it was nothing and I don't think that's any offense to sack it like I'm not trying to say it was anything that was being done wrong or anything like that it's just now you have a full room with three capable guys that can do it um andad I watched a little bit of your show the other night uh the two tight set I think is something that they'll be able to use and that's something that they can definitely take advantage with setting up the defense um I'm pretty excited about Neville personally I just watching his tape he just kind of stood out to me seemed like he'd be pretty good he's got the accolades to come with it too so we'll see how that goes all right uh switch over real quick to the defense that's okay any anything there that you thought was a little surprising or curious to watch anything uh when everybody saw how big Billy Kay was they you know six foot eight walk on it was just I'm always you know I love social media so as I sit back and I watch fall camp and stuff I just love when fans get to identify something that caught my eye so when the depth chart came out just seeing folks saying wait a minute that dude 68 I'm like he's a he's a tall kid I mean Patrick herney when I got here he was already you know V for a starting musician but Patrick KY was a former lacrosse player and I'm not saying he's going to be the next Patrick herney but lacrosse guys are tough so you know he got it man like he's G it's goingon to be important he's going to play a important role for us just because we want to make sure we had that depth and guys getting in there you know with Chico and and cam Butler on the edge with him backing up Chico that's that's good because you can move Chico around then you bring that big body and just have him mirror aside where you might be blitzing backside and they like you know offense want to pop it to the field you just say hey get your hands up you know just that big body because we saw how how good and dynamic Charles snow was at the size he was when he was here how did he look um you know using his size they seem comfortable and you know sometimes you get a big guy yeah but they don't feel especially coming into football for the first time like they don't use that full size that he seemed like he was comfortable in his full 68 280 I think he is or something like that 270 yeah he's still growing um the thing with a guy that size just has you just have to get accustomed to playing with your hands cuz that's your advantage know it's like being the boxer stay behind your jab so with him just pushing that hand out and steering the offensive line um because if he plays to his size and he play what you say play C play long and don't be velcro and let your pads really touch really shoot your hands out that's such a huge Advantage yeah that allows our two athletic linebackers to play those gaps and really shoot it so um he's still learning and but he has two guys and Cam and Chico that know all the tricks and then Chris Slade is right there as well so um you know our defense our defense the line coaches um they do a good job coach dowy and then you got slay so they got really good teachers nice yeah I think too this year the defense for me what I'm most excited about is just getting to see it in full form um they dealt with so many different injury issues last year that it never really came to be a full thing I mean even I think Chico and cam were on the field together for basically one half yeah and it was kind like Chico was just starting to come back and then cam you know had his issues and it just it caused a lot of issue because there wasn't a whole lot of real depth there so this year I feel like there's a lot more playable depth that I mean you know you don't obviously a guy like cam or a guy like Chico you're gonna feel it if something happens with them but at least this time it feels like there's some comfort in okay at least we could still have a rush if one of them were to have issues um the big thing for me that I looked at on the defensive side before we go into some questions is there's an or there so I guess it's not that big of a thing but I I personally thought Dre Walker would be the starter um no disrespect to jam or anything but I just thought that was where we were anything you saw mod is I mean I'm sure it'll be on the field like I don't think it's gonna be that big of a catch up but was there anything Jam did that kind of set him apart yeah well first of all Jam was healthy Dre missed the spring and then you know Dre was still battling back from the hand surgery that he had so okay that could take away from his just aggressiveness and bump and run or just playing with his hands once he look and lean with receivers and run with them uh but JM did a very good job of just coming in covering being sound and tackling and understanding his responsibilities Kim Shan has probably been our best corner um in Camp in my opinion uh so I will say this year we could play We gonna play we could play we we have the ability I'm not gonna say what we're going to do because I don't know I'm not the coach but we should have the ability to play a lot more manto man versus Zone last year last year guys were thrown into positions that is really out their realm um but they were just Ultimate Team players and just doing what's best for the team so we played a lot more Zone this year we should play a lot more man um jam and Dre could play manto man kmon could play man at a high level um and then even with our safeties with with sanker or Clary either one of those guys coming down the box and people are gonna be really really like excited to see Thomas playing um at that inside nickel position um he looks like Quinn Bland in a little bit like when you see three run out there you think it's Quinn Bland again you know but he's impressive at that spur position because he could set the edge and we we asked for that position to be versatile as far as when the when the ball's being ran really set the edge like you're an extra backer and now we have a guy that's built like a backer last year we asked TK to played and you know he was a guy that used to playing outside corner again just trying to do what's best for the team and sometimes it works sometimes it's just serviceable but now we have a guy that really fits the mode of what you want at that position like we had in the past so you remember coach R's first year when we had the corners that could cover and play man with Gucci man and and and uh fent tril who's at Florida State right now they were all ACC performers and we got out there we had over we had 30 plus sacks last year we had to play a lot more Zone we had 11 sacks in 12 games that's not good you're not gonna win like that so we could be more aggressive this year for sure I'm kind of excited too with uh Cory Thomas coming in you know playing that spur position um just watching you know week zero a little bit of football um we were traveling but I got to see a little bit here and there most of the late night games and watching SMU being that their ACC now a team will get to play their tight end was good I mean that guy was all over the place and you know the announcers the whole time were just talking how do you match up who's gonna guard this guy Cory looks like that guy to me that could hang there I mean I don't want to get you know too deep into a game you know nine or 10 games in but it's exciting to feel like we have that kind of Versatility where when you see something like that on the schedule it doesn't just completely ruin your day yeah that's that's a great point and it's one of them things where like you said if you have a t a pass catching tight end what type of body do you utilize versus him because um I talked about this when I was talking with Matt on his on this episode when we go 12 Personnel that's one back two tight ends you could run the football and then the passing game you get a match up versus one of those nickels because they use smaller guys so you just tell the big guy box out like basketball like Tony Gonzalez or Jason Whitten or the gates of the world they used to just turn and have that c um large catch radius put the ball right there in the chest you just post them up so with Thomas you kind of negate that now that guy has to have some type of Wiggle has to be a Top Flight pass catcher because he this is a guy that's a DB by trade so he used to running with smaller guys now you got a bigger Target he can get his hands on you and he has the speed to run with you so that's that's a that's a great Dynamic to look for that we have that size and athleticism at that position all right um from there we're gonna go into some questions um for anybody watching we started with taking questions on the locker room access Forum so I have some questions pulled from there that we're going to go through anybody watching them if you have any questions feel free to comment and we'll pull them in after we get through the ones on the Forum so if you have anything you want to ask feel free to chime in an a point um before we start two I'll go ahead Jen said hello wanted to give her a shout out she's always on our show she's here all season for basketball and everything always keeping up so Jen glad you're here with us for football too um but okay let's get into some questions so first up um we'll kind of continue off that with player Personnel going through the depth chart and everything hudat on the Forum ask who is the most improved from last season to now so you know through spring and summer I'm mod who do you thinks made the biggest [Music] jump dang that's tough the biggest jump between last year to this year see here I'm be honest with you like in practice you can brother LW so I could dominate my boy because I know what he can and can't do not great so I'm I'm just put that out there uh I'mma go I'mma go Jack man go greasy man I really think he's improved a lot and that's how he got to elevate himself to number two I know X-Men had been banged up a little bit but every time he touches the rock he does something positive and I don't look at enough look I I I don't I don't really truly evaluate lineman like that I let Ray robins and them do that so you know they too you know they bigger guys so if I say something they don't like they can pounce me so I stay away from them so y'all you know forgive me for staying away from the 300 Pounders all them all y'all improved man that's like the smartest not inside the offensive line it's a former alignment can't tell us what we're doing in that room come on exactly man hey I'm a little guy so I just tell off his alignment hey man just if coach say you got to do it better do it better I'm not telling you to do it better know what you're supposed to do we'll uh we'll kind of expand that question Dragon Ferris if you guys want to jump in um what as far as like maybe say a position group or something you're looking for to be improved like as a fan what are you kind of more or less hoping but maybe you've read a little bit seen some things that could be improved that you're looking forward to this year I mean I I think yes I'm a form of offensive lineman it it all starts up front um especially as I look through this chart I agree with my I love our receiving core right now I think that there's a lot of possibilities there and I like the Back Field I think we finally could have some options both running the ball and catching some passes up the back field but none of that matters if we can't clean up what we saw up front and I think that we saw bits and pieces of it through October last year the o line actually it solidified itself and that's when the team kind of hit that stride under AC in the Louisville game the UNCC game with musket back like the o line held up all of a sudden these guys started to use their weapons and I think if that unit can make the jump that they should be able to make um then you can you know you can open up that Playbook a little bit more you can give someone like AC a chance to do what he can do you can start to move guys around and run some more complex routes um so that's my hope is to see that's also the hardest one mon that's the hardest one to evaluate just from seeing practice clips and having not been to like it's hard to tell in practice there no Line's never going to see the type of pressure type of schemes that they're going to see in a game when you have you know dbo and his crew drawing up you know Insanity back there so it's hard to ever figure it out until they actually get there and get in a live environment but hopefully if they if they're more uh consistent especially getting rid of the silly turnovers controlling the snaps from Center just some of those little things controlling they can control that's going to open up a lot for this whole offense I think yeah definitely you know I'll piggy back off that I think I think the old I think as a like you know as a fan I think often time like the o line is something not it's not it's not what you watch as a fan but when something bad happens is what you criticize like ah no the o line it's their fault uh so yeah no I think I think um a lot of people are looking at the o line um because I mean yeah everyone talks everyone talked about that last year and um it's definitely going to be a big topic this year but um yeah it's funny how that works you like you you know something good happens and o line NOP didn't they don't even exist but something bad happens ah o line they let a guy through sack pressure something happens so it is funny how that works o Line's like DBS it's no one cares about you knows your name until you give up that sack or you give up that long you that pass interference holding pilling it cost you something and all of a sudden you're the worst player in the world but if you're doing your job the ball's not coming your way or you're just Road grading everyone and no one even cares exactly keep it going exactly yeah I um I kind of go both sides here uh the defense like I mentioned earlier I'm just excited to see at almost full health you know I mean guys of course are going to be banged up that's part of the sport it's a physical game but to be able to see you know the majority of your starters on the field and to see that actual depth come to fruition when it's time to sub and everything I'm excited for um offensive side you guys kind of I mean I'm I'm the same way with the offensive line but one thing I'm really excited for is our overall receiving group um I think compared to last year you know Malik was an insane talent I mean that you're going to replace that that's not going to happen but I do think that the depth within not only the wide receiver room but your positions like tight end your running backs with what they can do just overall I think we have a much much higher Flor essentially for that for any type of pass catching going on and that'll open up the rest of the offense too you know it keeps everything honest yeah I agree with you like you know you can't replace Malik so you just add more depth add more Playmakers make your offense that more Dynamic and look I don't want people think we was force feeding Malik Malik was just open man like right just getting open like won't nobody just say hey we gotta find Malik let's look for Malik credit to him he was getting open and he was getting bracketed double team um I like how they we moved him around we started using that cheetah motion I call it that the Dolphins use with uh Tyreek Hill but just Sprint straight to the sideline they they hiked the ball we did that versus Miami um but yeah with the transfers we got in and with our own all ACC receiver in Maliki Fields who's just a big body reliable receiver can do a little bit of everything um and again the tight end position how we address that uh it's it should be fun to just see how everybody's utilized and um with 10 back there with his ability to be aggressive it just adds that Dynamic of saying hey you just can't focus on one thing but um you know we had somebody in the chat asking if Kobe pace could crack a thousand we have had a running back do that since 2018 Justin Ellis which was uh Bryce Perkins first year as a starter and which was the the year we really turning around and we end up winning eight games that year when we beat uh South Carolina in the bowl game so uh if if we could get a thousand or at least 850 from our running back that's a lot you know that's a lot that what you want because of what kandra brings to the rushing game with his legs yeah that's think too um again with the depth of position I I don't know you know just saying Pace cracks a thousand because I think they will I mean he's not going to be a three down back and play every single snap you know they're going to sub guys in there's going to be other touches given out but I mean if you get definitely over a thousand yards between the position say maybe you get to like 1100 or something I mean that's a good year I think he'll be three Downs I just think he'll get a breather but he's a three down guy yeah yeah he's a three like third down you gonna want five back there is what you know when So when you say he not a three down guy a lot of people GNA think you're saying he can't catch you're just saying they want to keep guys FR no yeah yeah no I meant that just strictly is like a rotational thing yeah sorry a little better I don't think nobody gonna have no issue seeing 34 coming there and get some touches they see him Rumble you like he old school zone blocking type of running back man just one foot like Orlando Gary and them boys be for the Broncos like put his foot in the ground and he go he just take what you give him and he punish people so it's a nice change up because Kobe's the Swiss army knife Jack is he's looked as a Bruiser but he actually weighs less than Kobe which is crazy um but he just runs behind his P violently and then X-Man is like that home run hitter and we saw his true freshman year that speed he got is dynamic so um and like I said you factor in Tyreek and sadarian Harrison can also carry the ball Jess weeps and things of that nature the weapons are there just all about game planning and understanding the time and place to do things things I think everybody can agree with any offensive coordinator we had it's time and place for everything just make sure it times up right when you try so to that question I want to jump in with the question then do you think that the team is willing to open up the Playbook a little bit more and be more aggressive this season given the weapons given the depth they have I feel like that's been a complaint the last two seasons is sometimes we tend to play an old school version of the game almost and not taking shots is often and some of that's dictated by Personnel some of the time but yeah I think you can be aggressive but anytime you're trying to be aggressive you have to generate time so I could want to take shots but when you take shots that's like the old school seven step drop so even though I'm in a gun I need an extra second and if somebody's bringing five then I gotta tell my QB hey check it right here because you about to get hit in the mouth um but what helps is establishing of scrimmage being able to soundly run the football positively consistently so getting three and four yards when we need it when we need it and then when we go play action you could buy that time because those backers get sucked up in there and they realize it's a pass they Retreat late so you get more time you know and then your linan hit people in the mouth they're hitting people in the mouth and when it's time to catch they still aggressive because they've been punching in your mou like yeah I've talked the line like once they got in the groove of being in that freight train and now it's time to kick slide and catch a confidence level man like everybody is confident so if you start out trying to be aggressive and somebody's attacking you and at the end of the day they human they football players like little guys like myself we might have kickoff return kickoff team I got something to get my butterflies out quick so a lot of times with lineman the the sexy thing is a first play the game take a shot yeah and you got to imagine you a form lineman like if you kick sliding that first time really you you could blow but you got to anticipate the move and react to it versus if it's old school ISO first play you get to put your put your hand in the dirt and bite somebody you know let out the raise like yeah I'm here I'm be here all day 100% yeah i' rather play Run game any day over pass I had a coach one time describe when you're especially I play tackle and it's like you're doing the kick slide like you're playing defense essentially you're trying to catch maybe the most freak Athlete on the field arguably in their DN or a backer coming at you from size and space and yeah like to your point if you have that aggression you get all hyped up in pregame you hear the anthem you're ready to go and then it's take two steps back and read the situation instead of you know let's just run ISO let me just put this guy right in the dirt and then you know get my blood flowing and then we can keep going and then yeah I'll I'll punch save all day long after that my that's easy um I'm gonna go ahead and throw this other question here from our live feed two and just kind of going off the same thing about you know standout surprises things like that what have you seen them out in practice that's the most positive thing you've seen surprisingly our tight ends and our and and our ability to utilize them like making it emphasis to really showcase them in the passing game so coming out two tight end sets and utilize them in the pass game with two tight ends and just understanding that that's an important position and how it can be a Cheo if you really in the Rhythm and Matt sh talked about this how the tight ends are a security blanket for quarterbacks like if somebody's bringing pressure and you just got that check down right there use it and then it continue to be it could like be an extension of the Run game so um I'm fairly surprised and impressed of the way we use the tight ends and how they responded to being used and we have death there because like I said with the to T being a former receiver now at tight end that's a that's a real Dynamic when you ask him to right go run a route because and this mine he's still a receiver but he big as a tight end um so I really like what they that position has shown yeah and I kind of think with that too um something at least I'm mostly excited about is the fact you know hearing that they're willing and able to do stuff like that um a thing with football is a lot of times it's more or less like a chess game almost in that Personnel can really dictate what's going to happen in a game and I think that this at least with Coach Elliott is the first time that I felt I don't know if confidence the right word but definitely comfortable that we have where we can dictate matchups in most games I mean you know not just against an FCS team like I think this is a year where we have the guys that we can go out and we can do different Personnel to you know get them out of a nickel or you know switch them into a dime if we want to go that route you know whatever we need to do I think versatility wise I think this team really has an edge over the last three season no no doubt all right I'm GNA go to another question from The Forum um this one comes from Jazz nut who if you guys don't see a lot he's essentially our main editor on the Forum um he has always cleaning up the messes that a lot of us create I'm bad for it uh fresh is pretty bad for it don't shout the negative way JZ is always cleaning up our stuff so we'll go to his question um Ferris if you want to jump in first on this this one's uh what's the best place to get food for a tailgate or at Scott stadium so I guess we'll do concession and also tailgate H sorry concessions I actually speaking of concessions I saw that they they changed it up a little this year they're like making like different stands and they're going to change it up week to week so that's actually a very clever idea's no food fatigue um uh so that that should that should be exciting I don't know I mean concessions wise I don't really I'm pretty standard on concessions right I go straight to the pizza and soda and then I don't really touch anything else um but yeah I mean outside the stadium you know places on the corner are always always a good option it's near the stadium um easy access uh Little John's came back little Johns used to be a classic when I when I was in school to go to go hit up before the game um obviously if you're tailgating you there's always uh you know Chick-fil-A is a popular tail gay food canes um you know the the Classics but I am interested to see what what this what the stadium food would be like this uh this season I think I think week one there's like a pork sandwich station barbecue and like a taco or something I didn't realize they were changing those every week I saw that they changed it up for this year but that's actually yeah I might be wrong but I think I think they are going to maybe like change them up um like you know rotating rotating restaurants um so yeah that that that that should be interesting yeah I think what they're doing if I understood it right at least is they're going to rotate like menu items so it's like you know this is a barbecue place but this week they'll have barbecue next week they'll have chicken the week after they have a brisket you know stuff like that um tailgating though for me I'm kind of more of a traditional like I want to take Burgers BRS Wings you know stuff like that and Grill it up and enjoy you know the camaraderie and comfort of being around and have game day experience um the concessions though for me I thought you know it's pretty simple because it is a standing restaurant but I loved when they had that White Spot truck up on top of the hill yeah thought was great being able to go over you know support a local business um and of course it was all that thing was slam packed you know I mean it was always a weight like you had to go in early and see for me football's a long game man like I can't sit that long without having something it do you know a beer or a water even it doesn't matter some type of snack food so it's always it's always a good place to go for food for sure yeah um let's see I go to another question we've got here um this one comes from UV Adrian pretty clever name his name is Adrian um he's his question is mainly asking about win totals and with that he's wanting to know how many wins would it take to consider this season successful um is there a number is there a roundabout is there a a certain goal in mind and then on the flip side of that after you know we go through the positive what would be considered a a negative maybe even catastrophe level like what what would be bad for Coach Elliott and staff that's a good question I mean zero would be bad I say yeah zero one two three three is possibly bad too um yeah I mean I think from a fan perspective I think like five to six I think is uh you know obviously people seven to eight would be awesome too but I don't know from a fan perspective I feel like realism says like five to six possibly and then if you can squeeze a couple more from there that would be um that that would be wonderful um yeah s to eight wins this season book it I mean that that could very well happen it's not like an I wouldn't say it's like an overly tough schedule it's not an easy schedule but it's not like the most insane schedule either um so yeah I I would I would say ify if we got to six I think people would be elated I mean that's a bull birth that's um something that hasn't happened in a while so um I think people would be elated with that yeah I mean I'm I'm a little bit more hesitant on it uh for anyone who know I obviously I do a lot of gambling and odds predictions on the form and have a pretty good hit rate I like to keep up going but uh I believe right now the over under is still sitting at about four and a half wins for the year um which feels I say going into the year three and a half might be the over under four and a half I could see that looking at the roster how it's shaking out that feels about right I'm leaning towards it over on that now I think this team can get to five wins is probably where they'll settle at maybe six if things break right um I think that would be in six would definitely be enough to Plate the fan base if they get to seven or eight Elliott's getting a uh extension and rightfully so um given what he has in a pipeline coming in for next season and getting from where he what he inherited to there in three years that's a massive turnaround but I would say five to six wins um just because of the schedule in away some of the games break and you know it's the back half in November looks a little tough it could be some tough sledding um and there's also just a lot of unknowns like I mean you told me a week ago that SMU would look awful last weekend and they did they were sloppy maybe that was first week but I don't know um that was a 10 11 win team a year ago they did not look like that at all last week um yeah there just a lot of unknowns but um I'd say five six I'll say six wins I'll go ahead and put it down yeah I like um I mean just the goal of making a bowl which you know would put you at six you know maybe five but I I don't like the whole five and seven you get a bowl thing I mean if they go obviously I'm going to support them and be super thrilled about it but just from the achievement standpoint like let's get to actual eligibility that's what I'd like to see um I kind of feel like you know like a two- win or less season would be on the catastrophic side of things you know I mean things can break bad you know like you look at last season you know they only won a couple games but they lost what six games by less than nine points I mean it was so tight and those were games too that it wasn't like they were getting blown out and just happen to come back and make it close at the end of the fourth quarter you know I mean those were games that were literally seawing back and forth a few of them they had big leads in and just couldn't contain you know stuff like that um I'm kind of bullish on this team though me and I were talking about this before the show started I don't want to say I'm predicting this but I really could see a path to being five and0 to start the season yeah that's definitely I don't think any game there is too crazy now again I'm not saying I'm predicting or even putting any expectation on that to happen but it it's a the schedule lines up and that you know the by weeks come at Good Times a mod pointed that out earlier we were talking about it um you know every time it's they play four games get a buy play four games get a buy it works out well yeah 100 100 percent yeah I mean I'm from the coach W era so the goal is to get at least six get to the Bowl game you know postseason um extra revenue for the University depending on what what bow you go to but you get those extra practice is extra development for young guys so U I always try to look at the schedule like where can we get the first six and then anything over that is icing on the cake um and yeah like and this is the part of the media you know being on the media side that kind of it's like tough for me because I hate playing the paper game like winning on paper because I was always taught like that paper don't mean nothing like you better get ready for whatever show up in your face um and I understand why we wasn't picked to win that many games just because of how we struggle offensively with our offensive line but the good thing is all those guys are returning they have some experience they understand the things they need to work on um coach Hef this is second year working with that group so his teachings and his communication is ingrained in them so they just touching up on what his expectation is within the scheme that kitchens want so that's why I'm really like all right guys prove yourself right right don't try to prove anybody wrong like you're never going to change the opinions of folks outside the building because they continue to move to goal post if you win six they like well you didn't win seven or you didn't win eight or or like no allows or you barely won I'm the fastest man in the world barely won yeah but I think they definitely definitely do got the potential and you need luck and you need to stay healthy yeah you know that's just which is part of yeah I for me I go back to I'm looking at the schedule from last year and just like Jos said five games by seven points or less that they lost and yeah all five of those games were dog fights and it came down to you know that NC State game that was an ridiculous ending um Boston College same thing comes down to you know can you get a stop at the right time um Miami same thing like and to your point like someone that's Lu some that skill but that ball bounces different way on any one of those moments those are wins and like suddenly last year's team is a five six win team and with a more experienced group you know like you said with all the kind of the bump UPS they should have you know they can get some of those wins back this year and I'm with you like you look at the sched and you break it down like there's nothing yeah there's a couple games in there going to South Ben's not going to be fun but you know but other than that you know especially that's sorry that September stretch I think so that's that's going to be the key can they get out hot and go at least three and one if not four and know coming out the gates agree yeah yeah 100% just pigging backing off of that like so at what looking at the schedule what game would you circle is like okay this game like knowing the outcome of this game will will show me a lot about the trajectory of this team uh me personally winning at wake fours yep wake fours was mine it's pretty quick because it's quick Road game tough ACC opponent um that's that's a good barometer for what you're expecting okay next week you play Maryland and then you know you do go to Coastal I don't think Coastal is as good this year granted I don't you know particularly keep up with them but I don't think they'll be as good as they've been in recent years um you know you keep going down Louisville you know if they get through the the early test and they show they can beat wake they show they can beat Maryland it's like okay Louisville is a step up like let's see what we can do with these guys yeah yeah I I think that weight game a night game on the road with a team that has given us trouble y you know recently through several regimes yeah that's that's going to tell you a lot a team that should be about on par where Virginia should be aiming for on a given year and um absolutely yeah you set that like I say if you get a win there and it sets you up coming back from Maryland yeah and that really gets you in good shape going back to ACC play in two weeks so all right got a couple more here um next one we'll go to the MVP of locker room access who's got next is keeping the Positive Vibes he wants wants to know when UVA makes a bowl game this season fill in the blank the biggest reason will be big guys up front on both sides of the ball I mean I'm old school man like as a defensive back I'm only as good as my pass rush man I might cover but if they getting home Jack I'm sitting and I'm plucking I'm ball Hawking and I'm celebrating they make it it easy and if I could if I could run deep down the field and get open that means that five up front doing what they supposed to do but all honestly to really pinpoint it's our offensive line being very consistent in the Run game like being able to run the football because you could shorten games up as much as it's people feel like it's old school you gotta run the football run the football allows your defense to rest and you get to wear down your opponent and it may not look pretty early and you may have some five and outs three and outs seven and outs but if you consistently just keep running at folks and you keep going to the body keep going to the body you start breaking stuff late because you're wearing them down and it goes un like offense used to do that to our defense initi the game we stopping the Run we doing good versus the run and all of a sudden they like oh we got him because it's so many plays and you start to have a tendency because I keep coming out and I keep running the ball sooner or later you fall into that trend of oh man we just gonna keep calling running this front this front is stopping him and as a lineman and old line coach they like oh they keep oh they putting the one right here now hey Mash him down get up the second level let him go he ain't gonna make that play we going out to second level so that's what I love about when you can methodically move the ball down the field the thing that scares me the most when I see opposing offenses I could the big plays I could correct but if somebody give me like a 10 to 12 Play Drive like when Georgia Tech beat us up they was just Dink and dunk run bubble screen run that's demoralizer because that's third and short first down and then they score and then your offense who don't run the ball that much they out here earing it out and you like wait a minute even if you score F I gotta go right back on the field and they dumping me again and dumping me again and then that soon as your offense go three and out boom they break one and they it just demoralize you so I want to flip the script to be able to run the football and I talked about Jordan Ellis 2018 I give you a prime example versus Miami when they had that great defensive line and all these top draft picks and Jordan Ellis just kept beating him up early beating him up early we get to the fourth quarter we kept giving it to one and he started breaking for five yards then six yards then five yards and they couldn't get them big boys hold hands on you ever see a big man do like this like that yeah I got him we got him Coach right here oh man like what's the front call man then they get down in their stands late they be LOL gagging they be and then they get down you cling and they finally getting down like oh yeah we got him run right at him so that's all I'm looking for for them big boys up front man oh man that is that's that's two spot on and I've been there you're 100% right that's exactly what it is uh I I I piggy back on that that for Virginia Su I think it's that running game and for every reason you just said and especially knowing I look back at you know obvious it's hard not to look at what Clemson did with OT as a coordinator and for as much as Lawrence and all these other guys they dinked and had all these out they ran the hell out of the ball there's no other way to put it they always had they pounded you pounded you they opened up everything else and that's very much I still believe Elliot's sweet spot and where he wants to be with this team and so I think that and knowing that they have game Breakers now I think you know pacing these guys can break it when that second half happens and that D Line's got their hands are a little bit slow getting in and out of their stance and all of a sudden that three yard run these guys can take it to the house and that's the Difference Maker I think this year and I think to your point if they can start stringing together 10 12 Play drives where they're just doing that in the first half and second half is going to open up for him and it doesn't matter you know who we're playing down the stretch especially with some of these high power offenses keep them off The Field's the best way to beat them it's just don't let them go on the field and we'll be fine they'll be fine yeah definitely I would say consistency too I think um every season is full of Peaks and valleys and uh I don't know just making sure those valleys aren't too deep like they're goingon to happen but making sure they're not like marry on a trench level like uh we're all the way down there um I think consistency is a big thing in any sport uh you know yeah be being consistent being stick stick to your principles know who you are and uh yeah don't don't get too down yeah you guys kind of hit everything U my my two things I'm working the one a 1B one a is the offensive line you know that they are capable of not only pass protecting but also establishing a running game um you're definitely right on that Dragon that's been Elliott's thing he's said it since he came here is he wants to be able to establish a run um and so far you know he hasn't really had the line necessarily to be able to do a lot of it um this year though like I said you know these guys have been around now they're older they're in some cases they're heavier they put some weight on they're ready to play so hopefully that goes well and then one B for me is just General Health of the team um specifically again the defense with all the issues they had last year if they can try to mostly stay upright and of course you know they built some playable depth to go along with that if there are issues those are kind of the two things things to me that will say okay this is looking back why we're celebrating being in a bowl game see got another question uh from The Forum here just about wrapped up uh Jordan J Astro 2 he said it as a poll but I'll just ask it as a question um and I kind of think I feel like how I know most people are GNA lean this way uh what would you say would would be better or would you be happier with six wins and they win a bowl game okay or you don't even got to say the second option you don't even got to say yeah I remember that question you don't even have to look at the Forum to know where this is going you know I didn't chime in on this you don't even have to say it man want to give him the shout out for you know participating in our Forum but I think we all know how everybody feels here what was the second part or beat T yeah four basically like a four game season yeah four win season one of those wins is Tech four wins and I think it was four or five maybe something like that I don't remember exactly yeah I think he I think he started at five and then realized it was way too obvious you know so most people take let question go another week it'll get down to one and 11 you know people do be one and 11 they they make they make you really really choose like that's that's that's usually what it is one or two wins and beat usually what it is uh I'm gonna go ahead and jump first on this one U let me so give me the six win I need the wins first I need it like if we go two three wins in btech y'all still gonna want to get rid of Elliot because it's still two and three wins even four you g you get to a postseason bowl game yeah it's still gonna sting that you Lo like case in point 2018 we lost the tech right it was heartbreaking then we turn around and shut out South Carolina and and the Belt Bowl that off season we was feeling good right oh yeah real good yeah I want that feeling real good all all SE I want that you know that Tech stuff I'm like I've been a part of the Rivalry if they still end up with more wins than us they still gonna take I mean we can't win like yeah we beat you we beat you for 50 how many years in a row whatever but coach Elliott and his staff they need the most wins they could get so I'm always go with the most wins for now until it's consistently getting a lot of wins now then you know what I'm saying so that's just my take yeah um I'm right there with you get me to a bowl game everything else I mean I'm born and raised in Nelson County grew up in charlesto basic like I believe that rivalry there's nothing I can't say more than the hookes but give me six wins send me to the postseason I can get over that I will say the only I'll give myself an out because you know that's ourselves outs I will say if we are looking at a one in1 campaign and Tech having a year the dep pundants are thinking they're supposed to have and we get to play spoiler might be okay with the one win being I mean when we won national championship in basketball right they beat us that year yeah yeah they were the on who bur the street held on in that you know it's like one of the teams that beat the Bulls when they lost 10 games weat the Bulls you know which I don't know if that's even possible now with the new playoff format because you know they will probably just drop into the you know sixth or seventh rank team or whatever but yeah if we could play the spoiler if it comes there I will pull the rip forward on that and be okay with it but yeah give me the wins give me the wins give me the wins because I don't want to see the staff replace and start over again in 25 yeah 100 perc no I I'll definitely take the wins too I mean I the winds show growth uh the win you know that amount of wins will come with other benefits too and I I think the long-term happiness um with where the program is at if you make a bowl game and get to six wins versus the the pain of one week that someone might feel by losing to Tech um I think I'll take the wins too and I'm I mean I I didn't grow up in Virginia so like the tech UVA I went to UVA though so I kind of understand it but I'm not deeply entrenched in it like you know people from the state are so I mean yeah easy for me I'll definitely take the wins yeah same way um you know being around so many tech fans that like Ahad was saying there's there's not an individual win that does anything to quiet it down I mean we've beat them what once in 20 years like you beat them this year okay they don't care you you've got to stream together three four you know a few consistent to really start to make that go away um but same way you know if it did come down to being the spoiler holding them out of this 12 team playoff because we were one and 11 and beat them I guess that would feel decent um quick correction just because we are a basketball focused group uh we did beat them both times the championship season it was 2018 the year that they uh came in on college game day and beat us in Char that's what it was still frustrating but um want to get that in there too GL correct because yeah they would have took they would have ran with that too like yeah we did beat b haw he he right it's right would got me Bo I thought that too know it was in my head I was like no I don't think they beat us but I I was like always jump in and correct Petty HW Petty Hawk be like you know what you right yeah I'm see I'm a football guy the D got us twice that year so it's okay Duke the it was Duke okay yeah Duke oh yeah that's when Zion blocked the three-pointer by that was a good time got one more we'll get back to just a quick kind of in-depth football question don't want to leave anybody out here thank you guys for watching and everybody has asked questions and jumped in uh I think we talked about this a little bit kind of at the beginning of the show thoughts on the listed starting quarterbacks uh Elion I think is kind of like me a little surprised by Dre uh lion I will say it does say or so I think he'll be on the field you know mod you can definitely speak to it better but I don't think it's too terribly concerning I think it's just good room breeds competition and that's just where we're at yeah you know Jam Jack was uh a firstman All American and he transferred here and uh Dre was dealing with Sergio in his so he didn't get to practice as much and um salute to jam man for playing at a high level like Iron Shop is iron it's it's a it's a ore so I know you look at the every guy that's first in every other position you figur as the starter and then Dre second so but Dre Dre a play um so you know it's first game of the year uh but that that's a testament that how good Jam is as well like if you think Holly at Dre and he pushing Dre and he's playing at a high level but Simba kmon shine he's really good like y'all gonna be excited about him yeah we got a symba in basketball I mean football just like popular name yeah yeah I kind of felt the uh the same way on the other side of the ball with TR Harris because to me Andre green looks like that guy I mean he he looks like that's a dude that's gonna be playing on Sundays yeah probably I mean you know there's a time limit to College of course but he'll be you know he's going pro at some point so just the fact that trell is able to kind of establish every him was like okay we got a guy here like all right yeah they both young so that let you know like both of those guys got multiple years of Eligibility Malachi's the Elder Statesman with with Tyree so those are the two Elder Statesmen but you got you know jayen Gibson um um what's the other God do it uh Eli Eli wood is on the depth chart you see he's behind Maliki and Jr has the KN so he'll be back so you know coach MMS did a good job but just carrying on the tradition that coach haens left when he moved on and he's done a phenomenal job of just teaching those guys and being a great recruiter and going out and get him salute to kandria and cam Robinson to being the ultimate recruiters too in the transfer portal oh yeah I to let you know right there man like the season we had all those guys came together and they started helping recruit that's why I'm excited about this year and the continuity with this team oh yeah it's definitely there um Everybody first game you know Richmond this upcoming Saturday six o'clock it's going to be one of those ACC Network extra type games so it's one of those things where as long as you have any type of subscription you know cable streaming whatever you can get on ESPN app and stream it if you're not going to be there um if you haven't checked it out yet watch ahad's believe in Virginia shows the podcast he has uh there's an offense there's a defense there's a few different ones you know they're great I've been watching them most of the week they're good I mean some good in-depth stuff there anybody watching this if you want to be fully primed before the first game go check that out appreciate that man also for the fan base Richmond hasn't named their starting quarterback yet yep we named ours baby they're not playing QB they're just no QB hey uh both of those guys like one of them is a is a is a runner and the other is a prototypical pass and you look at their pass attempts last year like you could definitely see that one does both and the other is just in the pocket slang like the one that's in the pocket slanging it that joker threw six touchdown passes his first this that was his first career start he threw six touchdown pass the name is Camden Coleman another one the name is Cal Wickersham C Wickam is like a dual threat guy he wants to run run the ball bigger body quarterback Dynamic with his leg but he still completed like 70% of his passes but Camden is the dud that's like all I throw is touchdowns so um we got to prepare for two quarterbacks right now all the way into the game because they being they playing chess right now they don't want to show their hands but I understand why Tony named the stared here I wanted Tony to hold it close to the vest to the first game so they had to prepare for two but I'm glad Tony um for our fan base sake yeah name the starter yeah and then they got a local kid from Woodberry Forest Landing Ellis play receiver do so you always got to salute local talent that's playing in Scott Stadium whether they on our squad or against our Squad before we close out here got one for you Dragon basically it's my office it's a guest room I don't care you don't want your guest to be too comfortable then your guests don't leave there you go yeah you can get a room you ain't got to stay here right that's funny man that's good all right well that is our show guys um again everybody Ferris Dragon am MOD thanks for coming on um thanks everybody tuned in to watch of course a replay will be up if you missed or just now tuning in late want to check out the whole rest of the show yeah you on Twitter tuned in man salute to everybody on Twitter that's that tuned in I shared it on Twitter appreciate people live thanks for doing that we had some technical difficulty on our end but we've got it you know Facebook YouTube is where we went with it so everything was good um yeah everybody goo's will hopefully see as many people as possible at Scott Saturday night yeah the sky get you some new food shout out to Eric Ward and the in the staff man new lights new food new Jumbotron just new stadium before I close it how is that Jumbo Tron I mean I have you know I've seen like the construction going up have you seen it actually lit up yet is it I mean is it the real deal and it's loud and clear so y'all might wanna y'all might say hey turn it down make sure you know it's clear and it's huge and it's it's it's beautiful man they did a phenomenal job the lighting that they installed the speakers like bro it's I know oh B you're a homer so what come to the game it's nice they ain't put on the video game yet y'all got to update our update the hill on College up the jron and make sure 11541 is where it's supposed to be also EA Sports come on man yeah that um supposedly is actually gonna be tomorrow tomorrow's patch is supposed to fix the hill in the Jumbotron oh look at that hey whatever y'all do don't listen to the fans that want me on the dig on hor we got who's supposed to be on the horse on the hor do not put on hor need that in the game Bronco is in New Mexico now you know Bronco had me riding horses he got I got on my fear riding horses because of Bronco but I don't mean I'll do it in front of y'all no sir we got bright lady up there yes yes we do Ain gonna see me fall laugh at me put me as a [Laughter] gift down goes frasia goes frasia y' a't old enough for that you know y'all might have heard it you know I heard it okay you heard my man oh uh Chris said we need calf man in the game oh yeah they want the calan series to come back on the drum people really push for that it's suris about that shout out to Heath man hey he I know you w be get hey man I ain't falling I'm holding on you know what I'm saying not being on that that Not Top 10 like uh I'm trying to remember what game it was TCU I think like 2013 yeah when they fell off the horse and it was like number three in the Not Top 10 forever you know unless they let me go on the uh uh pop a ball you know let me go on all the networks talking about how I fell off the horse I do that now you know let me go all the shows and describe how I feel the fall off the oh man good stuff but in any event you know the horse will be there Saturday hopefully there's no miscues things go well and hopefully we can kind of convene on the forums to talk about a big win and where we go from there with the rest of the season yep yes sir goo baby goo's go thanks everyone for tuning in gooo