UVA Football opens its 2025 ACC schedule with Stanford coming to town for a Saturday primetime game.
Follow here for live coverage, with drive-by-drive analysis, stats updates, video highlights and flavor from inside Scott Stadium.
The kickoff comes sometime in the 7:30 p.m. ET quarter hour.
Details
Series: First Meeting
Line: Virginia -16.5
Over/under: 49.5
Projected final score: Virginia 33, Stanford 17
Game Notes: Stanford and Virginia will meet for the first time on Saturday night in Charlottesville, with both teams coming off strong performances in Week 3.
The Cardinal (1-2) notched a 30-20 home win over Boston College in their ACC opener last weekend, giving interim head coach Frank Reich his first collegiate victory. Stanford has now opened each of its two seasons in the ACC with a 1-0 mark in conference play.
Running back Micah Ford led the charge with a career-high 157 rushing yards and a touchdown — his second 100-yard game in three weeks. Defensively, Stanford has been opportunistic, scoring two defensive touchdowns this season — tied for the ACC lead and one of just 11 FBS teams with multiple defensive scores.
Virginia (2-1) is coming off a dominant 55-16 home win over William & Mary, where the Cavaliers set a school record with 700 total yards of offense (379 rushing, 321 passing). Virginia is the only FBS team so far in 2025 with at least 800 rushing and 868 passing yards, according to Stats Perform. The offensive line has also been stellar — Virginia has yet to allow a sack this season, a feat it hasn’t achieved through three games since 2011.
Pregame coverage
- UVA Football | Could Saturday’s game be a must-win for Tony Elliott?
- UVA Football | Stanford presents challenges for ‘Hoos on both sides of the ball
- UVA Football | Injury, availability updates for Stanford game week
- UVA Football | What do we know about this team three weeks into the 2025 season?
- UVA Football | Stanford, set to face Virginia on Saturday, just upset Boston College
First quarter
First possessions: The UVA D got a quick three-and-out on Stanford, after good kickoff coverage – Stanford started the possession at its own 17.
The UVA offense then went 65 yards in seven plays – two passes to Cam Ross that covered 45 yards, and then a 3-yard TD pass from Chandler Morris to Trell Harris on third-and-goal.
Nice wideout screen executed to the right.
J’Mari Taylor: three carries, 17 yards.
UVA 7, Stanford 0, 11:08/1st
***
Quick strike: Ethan Minter was beaten badly on a post that went 60 yards to the UVA 5. Stanford scored on its next play, a 5-yard TD pass from Ben Gulbranson to tight end Benji Blackburn.
UVA 7, Stanford 7, 8:27/1st
***
Quicker strike: Trell Harris 75-yard TD pass from Chandler Morris on the first play from scrimmage.
UVA 14, Stanford 7, 8:17/1st
***
.@HarrisQuentrell STRIKES AGAIN‼️
Our last two plays? Trell TDs 💯
📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/PmblDpIv4n
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 20, 2025
***
WTAF? Another Morris-to-Harris TD pass, this one for 27 yards.
The UVA offense went tempo, not allowing the Stanford D to sub, and it obviously caught them.
Morris: 8-of-9, 184 yards, three TDs.
UVA 21, Stanford 7, 3:36/1st
***
📣 TRELL HARRIS HAS THREE TDS IN THE FIRST QUARTER 📣@HarrisQuentrell
📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/pZKaIVmEoY
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 21, 2025
Second quarter
Some winged T for your viewing pleasure: J’Mari Taylor took the snap, handed off to Chandler Morris, who had the option to run or throw, and ran, 13 yards for the TD.
Drive: 12 plays, 88 yards.
Tony Elliott went for fourth-and-one at the UVA 37 earlier in the drive.
UVA 28, Stanford 7, 9:05/2nd.
***
Got ’em 😏🪄@Chandleram4
📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/oP2yfguwTT
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 21, 2025
***
UVA fails in the red zone: A holding penalty wiped out a J’Mari Taylor TD run, Cam Ross couldn’t get a toe in at the back end of the end zone on a third-and-goal pass, and then Will Bettridge shanked from 24.
***
Stanford answers: Eight plays, 80 yards, a couple of big pass plays, capped by a Micah Ford 3-yard TD run.
UVA 28, Stanford 14, 0:55/2nd
Halftime recap
Only UVA fans can look at 401 yards of total offense and a 28-14 halftime lead and feel like something was left out there.
But actually …
Virginia scored on its first four possessions, and had a first-and-goal on its fifth – and failed to score on that one, with Chandler Morris overshooting Dakota Twitty on a second-down pass into the back of the end zone, and then connected with Cam Ross in the back corner, but Ross wasn’t able to get a foot down in bounds.
Will Bettridge then shanked the ensuing short field-goal try, leaving the game at the time at 28-7.
The Stanford offense drove 80 yards on eight plays, and we have something of a ballgame again, with UVA leading 28-14.
Morris 15-of-19 for 279 yards and three TDs – the three TDs all in the first quarter.
He added a 13-yard rushing TD on a winged T option.
Trell Harris had four catches on five targets for 145 yards, with three TDs.
Notes
- Morris had only attempted five passes that went 20+ yards through the air in three games coming into tonight. Tonight, he is 4-of-5 for 167 yards on passes of 20+.
- Morris is 3-of-3 for 59 yards on passes in the 10- to 19-yard range.
- The ground game has 122 yards on 21 attempts.
- The D has two sacks and three QB hurries.
Third quarter
‘Hoos score on opening possession: Virginia picked up a third-and-3 at the UVA 41 with a J’Mari Taylor run.
The drive ended with a 13-yard TD pass from Morris to Sage Ennis. Nice patience to let the crossing route develop.
Drive: seven plays, 68 yards.
UVA 35, Stanford 14, 11:21/3rd
***
Bettridge makes this chippie: The drive stalled out after a second-and-1 at the Stanford 6 – a delay of game and then a false start being key issues.
Will Bettridge got a chance at redemption, and was pure from 27 yards.
UVA 38, Stanford 14, 5:35/3rd
***
Donavon Platt beat on a 68-yard TD: Stanford went deep on third-and-3 at its own 32. Bryce Farrell got behind the D, caught the ball at the UVA 25, and streaked in untouched.
The secondary is getting punked.
Ben Gulbranson is 14-of-18 for 242 yards and two TDs.
Stanford went for two, failed.
UVA 38, Stanford 20, 4:18/3rd
Fourth quarter
Bettridge had it all the way: Man, that kid.
He made the 26-yarder. The crossbar is 10 feet. That one cleared the bar with at least a foot to spare.
Dear goodness.
Two field goals and one miss in the red zone.
Something to clean up going forward.
UVA 41, Stanford 20, 12:26/4th
***
Daniel Kaelin has entered the discussion: Kaelin subbed in on the fourth-quarter drive, and led the ‘Hoos to a TD, completing the drive with a 4-yard TD pass to Eli Wood.
First career TD pass for Kaelin.
UVA 48, Stanford 20, 4:26/4th
Quick recap
Virginia rolled up 590 yards of total offense, and Chandler Morris passed for 380 yards and four TDs, and ran for another, in a 48-20 rout of Stanford on Saturday night in front of 36,000 or so in Scott Stadium.
The win was the first of the season over a Power 4 program for the ‘Hoos (3-1, 1-0 ACC).
Stanford (2-2, 1-1 ACC) had beaten Boston College last week in Palo Alto.
UVA never trailed in this one, leading 28-7 early in the second quarter, before Stanford got back to 28-14 at halftime on a 3-yard TD run by Micah Ford with 55 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Cavaliers scored on the opening possession of the third quarter, going 68 yards on seven plays, capped by a 13-yard TD pass from Morris to Sage Ennis.
Backup QB Daniel Kaelin got some snaps in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, and led Virginia on a scoring drive capped by a 4-yard TD pass to Eli Wood, his first college TD pass, to finish out the scoring.
Support AFP
Share
Chris Graham
