UVA Football opens its 2019 season at Pitt on Saturday night. Ahead of the road trip, this is your one-stop shop to get ready for the big game.
Pregame Previews
Pitt has dominated the trenches in series: UVA opens what looks to be a promising 2019 season as a road favorite at Pitt. Yeah, that Pitt. The defending ACC Coastal champ. Which happened in no small degree because of how much the Panthers dominated the ‘Hoos in Charlottesville in November in Scott Stadium. Remember that one? Virginia came in 4-1 in the ACC and atop the Coastal, but Pitt bulldozed its way to a 23-13 win on a Friday night in the rain.
What UVA fans need to know about Pitt: It’s been a while since UVA has beaten Pitt: all the way back to 2014. Last year’s 23-13 Pitt win at Scott Stadium proved to be pivotal, basically serving as the de facto ACC Coastal championship game, sending the Panthers to Charlotte to face Clemson for all the marbles. Heading into Saturday, Pitt, the defending Coastal champ, gets the preseason favorite in UVA on its turf. Coach Pat Narduzzi was quizzed on this extensively in his weekly presser on Monday, and largely didn’t take the bait to talk about being the defending champ, being picked fourth in 2019, any of it.
Briggs tops depth chart for first college game: Jowon Briggs is in line to get his first career start at nose tackle as UVA prepares for its season opener at Pitt on Saturday. Briggs, a four-star recruit, impressed in camp, dating back to the first practice of the summer, coach Bronco Mendenhall said on Monday.
Taulapapa wins tailback job heading into opener: Sophomore Wayne Taulapapa is atop the depth chart at tailback for UVA heading into the Cavaliers’ season opener at Pitt. The 5’9”, 210-pounder had come out of spring as the #1 tailback, and through the summer proved himself to be the “most trustworthy and the most versatile” of the available options, coach Bronco Mendenhall said Monday.
UVA’s Brian Delaney will be triple-threat at kicker: Junior Brian Delaney will handle placekicking and kickoff duties when UVA takes the field at Pitt on Saturday, which was not exactly unexpected. He’s also listed atop the depth chart at punter, along with former walk-on Nash Griffin. Coach Bronco Mendenhall conceded the scenario – one guy handling all three phases of the kicking game – is unprecedented for him.
Around the ACC
- ACC Football Week 1 schedule: Good luck finding them
- ACC Network Update: Still not available for Comcast customers
- Chris Graham talks ACC, NXT, more on ‘Mark Moses Show’
- ACC Network talk, UVA-Pitt preview: Podcast
- ACC Network, college football weekend: Podcast
- Seth Megginson: 2019 ACC Football Preview, Projections
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