Rejoice. It's ~finally~ football time in Tennessee.
Josh Heupel and his Tennessee program – who are coming off an 11-2 season in 2022 that included a win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl to put the icing on a remarkable campaign – will kickoff their 2023 slate on Saturday morning. Hitting the road to Nashville, the Vols will take on ACC program Virginia at Nissan Stadium.
Heading into Saturday's matchup in Music City, what's the overall outlook on Virginia's team? VolReport publisher Tyler Mansfield takes a look at the Cavaliers' makeup entering Week 1.
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– A NEW QUARTERBACK: With former Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong now at NC State, Virginia has turned to Tony Muskett – a transfer from Monmouth – to be the Cavaliers' starting signal-caller in 2023. A 6-foot-2, 206-pound quarterback, Muskett tallied 5,687 passing yards, 51 touchdowns and 16 interceptions over three seasons at Monmouth and was able to make the move to Virginia – his home state – and win the Cavaliers' starting job.
While at Monmouth, Muskett tallied four passing touchdowns in four different games, and tallied three passing scores in five different outings – bringing plenty of consistency to Virginia. It'll be interesting to see how Muskett will perform against a stout Tennessee defense in his first outing with the Cavaliers.
– YEAR TWO UNDER ELLIOTT: Virginia significantly struggled in Year One under new head coach Tony Elliott – who took over the Cavaliers' program after a long run as Clemson's offensive coordinator and running backs coach – and went just 3-7 overall with a 1-6 mark in ACC play. Virginia's three wins in 2022 came against Richmond, Old Dominion and Georgia Tech, and the Cavaliers lost their last three games of the season to Miami, North Carolina and Pitt.
Looking at Virginia's statistical numbers from a season ago, Elliott's squad averaged just 17 points per game while tallying an average of 344.1 yards of offense each outing. While the former quarterback Armstrong put up just seven passing touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions, he was also the team's leading rusher with 371 yards and six touchdowns. The next leading rusher only scored two touchdowns all season.
It's no secret that Virginia had a lot of work to do over the offseason, so we'll see what type of Cavaliers team takes the field in Nashville on Saturday. If Elliott's team is any identical to that of 2022, it could be an easy day at the office for Tennessee.
– A SOLID DEFENSIVE UNIT: While Virginia's offensive struggled last season, the Cavaliers' defense actually wasn't that bad. Over 10 games, Virginia allowed 24 points and 357.6 yards per game – being led by linebacker Nick Jackson, who made 104 total tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks. However, Jackson has since transferred to Iowa, and now Virginia needs a new anchor on the defensive side of the ball.
The good news for the Cavaliers is that they did bring back safety Jonas Sanker, who was behind Jackson on the defensive stat sheet with 63 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble last season. Alongside Sanker, linebacker James Jackson (60 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss) is another player that should play a big role in 2023.
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