Virginia starts the Tony Elliott Era off on the right foot, defeats Richmond 34-17 (9-3-22)
By: Darrell Owens
All Photos Courtesy: Darrell Owens-LMS Network
The 2022 college Football season is officially underway in Charlottesville, VA. The Virginia Cavaliers hosted their season opener against in-state rival, the Richmond Spiders. The Cavaliers posted a 6-6 record last season with one of the best offenses in the nation finishing with 34.6 points per game (21st in the Nation). The downside to all of this was the defense. Virginia had one of the worst defenses in the country, giving up 31.8 points a game (104th in the nation). After an underachieving season, Cavs head Coach Bronco Mendenhall decided to retire. This left the Cavs in search of a new coach and after a back-and-forth process, Virginia would hire Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott to be the next head coach. There has been a ton of interest heading into this game for Coach Elliott and the Cavs. Could Coach Elliott get this team back on the right path? They would have to prove it against a Richmond team that had a streaky season last year. The Spiders won the first 2 games, then lost 5 in a row, and finished off the season on a 4-game winning streak finishing with a 6-5 record. Could the Spiders pull off the upset and ruin Coach Elliott’s debut? That wouldn’t be an easy task for the Spiders.
Virginia would win the game 34-17, to move to 1-0 on the season. Richmond gave Virginia a scare early after a Savon Smith TD (13 ATT, 89 rushings) gave Richmond the early lead of 7-0 in the first quarter. Then Virginia would strike quick on a Brennan Armstrong 56-yard TD pass to the returning Lavel Davis Jr (who missed last season due to injury) to tie the game up at 7-7. After Perris Jones’s TD for Cavs gave them a 14-7 lead, the next scoring drive would see, Armstrong take off for a 64-yard scamper after the play broke down extending the Cavaliers’ lead 21-7. Before the half, Richmond would tact on a field goal & Virginia would grab another touchdown off a Mike Hollins 3-yard run leaving us with a 28-10 score at the half.
The second half started off shaking for Virginia, when Armstrong hit his wideout Dontayvion Wicks with a 12-yard pass, Wicks would fumble and the Spiders would recover. The turnover left the Spiders in good field position at the Cavs’ 34-yard line. Richmond capitalize on the opportunity when QB Reece Udinski would find Savon Smith for a 5-yard TD pass to make this a 28-17 game. Richmond’s momentum would continue, on the next possession for Virginia, Armstrong would throw an interception to Spiders CB Aaron Banks. Richmond would have another chance to put points on the board, but Jake Larson would miss a 48-yard field goal. That would be Richmond’s last real chance at points in this contest. Virginia would score one last time early in the 4th quarter on a Perris Jones 11-yard catch & run to cap off the Cavalier victory.
The Cavaliers will hit the road this week to take on Illinois (Sept 10, 4 pm EST) and the Spiders will host St. Francis (Sept 10, 5:30 pm EST).
