Virginia managed just five wins last season, the most under head coach Tony Elliot in his three seasons in Charlottesville. However, the Cavaliers nearly stole a sixth and bowl eligibility at home against Louisville in mid-October. It took Tyler Shough leading a late fourth-quarter touchdown drive and a defensive stop in the final minute for the Cardinals to escape 24-20.
Now, with Virginia overhauling much of its roster with an offseason transfer portal haul and both teams entering the year with new starting quarterbacks, the two programs will meet again, this time a week earlier, before Louisville heads into a midseason bye week. The Cardinals have a good chance to reach that Week 7 bye unbeaten, but Virginia’s revamped passing game could present a few issues at home in Week 6.
Chandler Morris will test a largely unproven secondary
Jeff Brohm took to the transfer portal this offseason to address his defense’s back seven, and Louisville’s hopes of contending for a top spot in the ACC and potentially a College Football Playoff bid largely hinge on how well he did.
Louisville lost its top four cornerbacks from last season: Corey Thornton, Quincy Riley, Tahveon Nicholson, and Tayon Holloway. Redshirt freshman Rae’mon Mosby is the most experienced returner, but he’s likely to slot in behind the newcomers.
To counteract those departures, Brohm added Justin Agu from Louisiana, Nigel Williams from New Mexico, Jabari Mack from Jacksonville State, and Rodney Johnson Jr. from Southern. That rotation will be sorted out during fall camp, but whoever starts by Week 6 will be tested by one of the most prolific passers in the country.
In 2024, Morris, in his first season with North Texas after one year at Oklahoma and three at TCU, threw for a career-high 3,774 yards, which was the ninth-most in the country, with 31 touchdowns, which ranked sixth. Morris will spend his final season of eligibility leading the Cavaliers and, with a receiving corps led by Purdue transfer Jahmal Edrine, will attempt to recreate that staggering level of production against ACC defenses.
Many of Louisville’s transfers in the back seven come from Group of Five football, like Morris, so he could find success in this Week 6 matchup. Both Virginia’s passing game and Louisville’s secondary are so new that it’s hard to predict how either unit will perform in 2025, but Morris’s arm is likely to be the focal point of UVA’s attack, so the biggest problem for Louisville will be slowing him down.