CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – J’Mari Taylor sat on the bench and glanced up at the video board as Cam Ross settled under a kickoff late in the third quarter Saturday night against Coastal Carolina.
Ross fielded the ball just inside the Cavaliers’ end zone and broke straight ahead, finding a seam in the coverage. And Taylor stood up on the sideline.
“I was like, ‘Well, there ain’t no catching him,’” Taylor said. “So, might as well run down the sideline with him.”
Ross followed the hashmarks upfield to the 40-yard line before sliding to his left, toward the UVA sideline, the opposite direction as the return was designed. He raced past Coastal’s kicker on his way to a 100-yard touchdown return, part of the Cavaliers’ 48-7 season-opening win.
“It just parted,” Ross said. “With a hole like that, I have the easiest job on the field.”
Ross also scored a 29-yard receiving touchdown in the second quarter and had a 46-yard catch and run in the first quarter that set up UVA’s first score of the game. The 5-foot-11, 186-pound Delaware native finished with seven catches for 124 yards in his Virginia debut.
Saturday marked the second time in his college career that Ross has scored on a kick return and a reception in a single game.
Last season, against Southern Miss on Oct. 26, Ross returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for touchdown and caught a 7-yard touchdown pass to spark JMU to a 32-15 win that made it bowl eligible.
The last Cavalier to run a kick back and catch a pass for a score on the same day was Joe Reed in 2019. In 2018, Reed had a kick return touchdown and scored twice on pass receptions against Liberty.
Saturday, in front of an announced opening-day crowd of 46,143, Ross brought the kind of electricity to Scott Stadium that Reed captivated fans with during his UVA tenure.
It was no surprise to his new coaches and teammates.
“A couple of days into practice you saw that he’s a football player,” coach Tony Elliott said. “He’s got really, really good football instincts.”
Ross played four seasons at Connecticut before transferring to JMU last season, where he was a third-team All-Sun Belt selection as a return specialist and caught three touchdown passes.
He joined UVA in the spring, arguably the least heralded of the Cavaliers’ additions at wide receiver.
But while Notre Dame’s Jayden Thomas and Purdue’s Jahmal Edrine grabbed headlines, Ross showed up and just grabbed footballs, focusing in the spring and offseason on becoming a more consistent pass-catcher.
“He’s a guy that just came in and worked,” Elliott said. “Maybe some of the other guys might have been more talked about in terms of their transition, coming in the door. But he’s just a worker.”
In fact, Elliott paid Ross the high praise of comparing his approach to that of former star Malik Washington, who transferred to Virginia from Northwestern in 2023 and set the ACC record for catches in a season.
“He’s kind of cut from the same cloth,” Elliott said.
Ross said proving himself through hard work has been his approach at all three of his college stops.
“To me, it was just about earning my stripes,” Ross said. “You’re coming in a new environment. You’ve got to earn your role. So, for me it was just earning the trust of my teammates, my coaches and just trying to find a role on this team.”
Unlike Washington, Ross’s move to UVA was his first chance to prove himself at the Power Four level. He got to UConn, in large part, because he had a relationship with Randy Edsall and that coaching staff dating back to Edsall’s time at Maryland, where he coached Ross’s older brother.
UConn was Ross’s biggest offer out of high school. Feeling under recruited has helped fuel him.
“You have to have a narrative,” Ross said Elliott has told him. “I don’t mind having that narrative in my head. I’ve always been overlooked. I love having that chip on my shoulder.”
If Ross entered the season under the radar, he isn’t there anymore. Not after his electric debut.
And that’s fine with him. He’s eager to continue his ascension and show he can be just effective against ACC opponents, starting next weekend at North Carolina State.
“That’s why I came here,” Ross said. “I always wanted to do it at the highest level. I feel like every chance I’ve had has been kind of moving up a step. (Power Four) is definitely where I feel I should have been at. But I’m here now. I’m just trying to capitalize on it.”
