It’s a non-conference matchup of Power Five schools when the ACC heads west to battle the Big Ten on the gridiron. The Virginia Cavaliers are on the road as they travel to face the Illinois Fighting Illini Saturday afternoon. Virginia comes in off a season-opening 34-17 home win over Richmond last Saturday. Illinois battled but fell 23-20 on the road to Indiana in their conference opener last Friday. These teams have met three times previously as FBS opponents in their history with the Fighting Illini owning a 2-1 advantage. In the most recent matchup, Virginia rolled to a 42-14 victory at home on September 11, 2021.
Virginia had a tougher than expected time in their season opener but managed to start the Tony Elliott era on a positive note by knocking off Richmond at home. The Cavaliers now look to improve to 2-0 on the season as they travel to face a fellow Power Five program. Against Richmond, Virginia trailed 7-0 only to tie the game only 31 seconds later to jumpstart 21 unanswered points. The Cavaliers never let their lead drop below 11 the rest of the way to ensure the victory. Virginia held a 505-330 advantage in total offense, picked up 29 first downs while allowing a total of 20 and held a 32:48 to 27:12 edge in time of possession. That helped the Cavaliers overcome the fact that they committed the only two turnovers in the game.
Brennan Armstrong completed 21 of 34 passes for 246 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the contest. He contributed 10 carries for a team-high 105 yards plus a sc ore on the ground. Perris Jones contributed 19 carries for 104 yards plus a score while Xavier Brown (four carries, 25 yards) and Mike Hollins (eight carries, 24 yards, TD) were in the mix as well for the Cavaliers. Dontayvion Wicks led the team with six receptions for 47 yards in the game. Lavel Davis Jr. (89 yards, TD) along with Keytaon Thompson (55 yards) each had four catches while Billy Kemp IV (three grabs, 25 yards) added three. Jones (two receptions, 15 yards) caught the other touchdown pass in the contest. All told, seven different receivers caught at least one pass in the contest. Brendan Farrell hit four of five extra point attempts while not trying a field goal in the contest.