CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia football hasn’t had a running back rush for 1,000 yards in a season in seven years.
But with the position potentially the deepest it’s been in a long time, and the same being true of the offensive line, that could change.
“We’ve got three, four guys in the room saying that they all want over 1,000 yards,” said senior running back Xavier Brown. “I think that is an attainable goal.”
Jordan Ellis ran for 1,026 yards in 2018. Since then, not only has UVA failed to produce another 1,000-yard rusher, it hasn’t even had two running backs combine for 1,000 yards in the same season.
From 2019-2023, the best a tandem of backs totaled was the 683 yards that Wayne Taulapapa and Shane Simpson ran for in 2020.
But last season, the Cavaliers got the ground game in gear, getting 987 rushing yards from the duo of Kobe Pace (499) and Xavier Brown (488).
This year, Brown will compete for carries with North Carolina Central transfer J’Mari Taylor, Wyoming transfer Harrison Waylee and junior Noah Vaughn.
Brown and Taylor split the majority of the carries in the spring. Waylee joined the program in the summer.
“We feed off of each other,” Brown said.
At 5-foot-10 and 198-pounds, Brown is on the slighter side for major college running backs, and the Lexington, Ky., native has had trouble staying healthy during his career. He’s played in 23 of the team’s 34 games the past three seasons.
Having four backs the coaching staff feels confident giving the ball too means an injury to any one player should not derail UVA’s ground production.
Since being hired before the 2022 season, coach Tony Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings have aimed to have a balanced offense that can run the ball effectively, efficiently and even explosively.
“Our belief in the run game and how it builds toughness in the team, it helps our defense, it helps control the line of scrimmage for us,” Kitching said. “There’s a multitude of ways to try to run the football, and that’s what we’re assessing and trying to develop in this fall camp.”
The competition for carries is one to watch as the Cavaliers work through preseason camp ahead of their Aug. 30 opener against Coastal Carolina.
Here are four other position battles to keep an eye on:
Slot receiver: Virginia is fairly deep overall at the wide receiver position, but truly has a bevy of options in the slot. Junior Suderian Harrison and sophomore Kam Kourtney return after playing behind Chris Tyree last season. The team added freshman Josiah Abdullah and JMU graduate transfer Cam Ross. That group is competing for snaps as the team’s primary inside receiver, where senior Eli Wood has also taken work there this preseason.
Harrison, Kourtney, Abdullah and Ross are all under 6-feet tall, in the mold of Tyree, a converted running back. Wood is 6-1.
Starting corners: With Jam Jackson and Dre Walker both injured, UVA is once again trying to find answers at the cornerback position. The Cavaliers worked to address the position through the transfer portal, seeking to add size and length at corner. It added Army’s Donovan Platt, Miami’s Emmanuel Karnley, and Cincinnati’s Jordan Robinson, among others.
The position has been a revolving door since the team had an all-conference duo in Fentrell Cypress and AJ Johnson in 2022.
Second linebacker: UVA has a pair of experienced returners in James Jackson and Trey McDonald who could line up alongside Kam Robinson at the linebacker spots. The Cavaliers also added Eastern Kentucky transfer Maddox Marcellus to the group. Robinson is an impact athlete who can make plays from sideline to sideline. He ranked second on the team with 64 tackles and led UVA with five sacks.
McDonald ranked third with 58 stops, getting more playing time when Jackson missed five games with a foot injury.
“They each bring a physicality and an ability to communicate,” defensive coordinator John Rudzinski said.
Offensive line: UVA brought in seven transfers on the offensive line, building the deepest and most talented unit of the Elliott era. A spring knee injury took Louisville’s Monroe Mills out for this season and Arkansas State transfer Makilan Thomas was spotted late last week with his right foot in a boot and using a knee scooter.
Still the Cavaliers have returning starters in left tackle McKale Boley and left guard Noah Josey, and reserve Jack Witmer, they get Drake Metcalf back from an Achilles injury that cost him last season, and brought in center Brady Wilson from UAB. Witmer, Wallace Unamba, Ben York and Thomas, if he returns, can play on either side of the line, and JMU transfer Tyshawn Wyatt can be used at both guard and tackle.
