Virginia — ACC
HC
Tony Elliott · Scott Stadium · Charlottesville, VA · 61,500 cap
PPA off / def
0.17 / 0.06
2025
Class rank
#111
class of 2026
Returning PPA
10%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (11–3)
Statistical comps — 2025 Virginia's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (31 in / 22 out)
Origins
Jefferson designed the Lawn and left football to others. Welsh took the Cavaliers to their only shared ACC title in 1989 and made a genuinely academic program competitive for a decade.
Founded 1819 · Founded by Thomas Jefferson, who called it his greatest achievement · first football 1888 · defined by George Welsh
All-time record
All-time
620–640–38
1889–2025
Win %
49.2%
134 seasons played
Winning seasons
59
44% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2025 | 11 | 3 | ACC |
| 1989 | 10 | 3 | ACC |
| 1998 | 9 | 3 | ACC |
| 1994 | 9 | 3 | ACC |
| 2007 | 9 | 4 | ACC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1889 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 399 | 49% |
40% | 101 of 136 | 5.5 | 13% |
| 2nd down | 305 | 57% |
38% | 115 of 136 | 5.2 | 8% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 68 | 84% |
78% | — | 8.5 | 15% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 78 | 35% |
45% | — | 6.3 | 15% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 66 | 14% |
30% | — | 6.6 | 15% |
| 4th down | 27 | 37% |
52% | — | 4.4 | 4% |
175 drives · 39% ended in points · 7.5 plays and 41.2 yards per drive · 0.99 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 3 | William & Mary |
Harrison Waylee run for 97 yds for a TD (Will Bettridge KICK) |
97 | 6.96 |
| 12 | Duke |
(02:38) Shotgun #3 J.Taylor rush right for 78 yards gain to the DUKE00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 02… |
78 | 6.78 |
| 2 | NC State |
J'Mari Taylor run for 66 yds for a TD (Will Bettridge KICK) |
66 | 6.10 |
| 4 | Stanford |
Chandler Morris pass complete to Trell Harris for 75 yds for a TD (Will Bettridge KICK) |
75 | 6.08 |
| 1 | Coastal Carolina |
Jahmal Edrine 2 Yd pass from Chandler Morris (Will Bettridge Kick) |
2 | 5.34 |
| 2 | NC State |
J'Mari Taylor run for 39 yds for a TD NC State Penalty, (Yards) declined (Will Bettridge K… |
39 | 4.85 |
| CFP | Missouri |
(08:35) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 C.Morris pass complete short right to #82 E.Wood caught at UV… |
35 | 4.15 |
| 1 | Coastal Carolina |
Chandler Morris pass complete to Cam Ross for 46 yds to the CCU 1 for a 1ST down |
46 | 4.14 |