CFB 27 simulated Virginia's 2026 season and UVA fans won't believe the results

We simulated UVA's 2026 season in the newly released College Football 27 game, and it delivered a finish that could have Cavaliers fans dreaming big.

Nov 24, 2017; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Virginia Cavaliers mascot "Cav Man" dances on the sidelines prior to the Cavaliers' game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The new college football game was just released to the general public yesterday, and the first thing we wanted to do was obviously simulate Virginia's 2026 season to see what the outcome would be. Well, we did, and the result was pretty surprising, to say the least.

Team record

• 12-2 record, lost in the CFP Quarterfinals to USC by a score of 45-37.

Crazy, I know. We were honestly expecting to see a 9-3/10-2 type of record and possibly a more legitimate bowl win. Making the College Football Playoffs as the #1 seed and losing in the quarterfinals wasn't on our bingo cards.

Here is how the regular season and the ACC Championship game played out:

vs NC State- W 33-11
vs Norfolk State- W 55-0
vs West Virginia (in Charlotte)- W 34-14
vs Delaware- W 45-30
at Florida State- W 31-24
vs Syracuse- W 31-13
at SMU- L 45-31
vs Duke- W 36-35
at Wake Forest- W 40-21
vs California- W 47-21
vs North Carolina- W 38-7
at Virginia Tech- 42-24
vs Miami (ACC Championship game)- W 35-33

Passing

QB Eli Holstein

• 382/599, 63% comp., 4,312 passing yards, 37 TDs, 7 INTs

Though Beau Pribula is probably the odds-on favorite to start in real life, Holstein definitely has the kind of talent to put up some astonishing numbers over a full season of work. These types of stats, on the other hand, are pretty much Heisman-level.

Rushing

RB Peyton Lewis

• 169 carries, 895 rushing yards, 5.3 avg., 18 TDs

QB Eli Holstein

• 138 carries, 604 rushing yards, 4.4 avg., 11 TDs

RB Jekail Middlebrook

• 89 carries, 456 rushing yards, 5.1 avg., 5 TDs

In terms of rushing, these stats could be fairly realistic for a team that might want to spread the ball around and utliize Peyton Lewis and Jekail Middlebrook in a "1A/1B" type of role. 500-600 rushing yards by a quarterback like Beau Pribula is probably pretty doable in 2026 as well.

Receiving

WR Jacquon Gibson

• 93 recs., 1,087 receiving yards, 11.7 avg., 12 TDs, 3 drops

TE Dakota Twitty

• 79 recs., 964 receiving yards, 12.2 avg., 8 TDs, 2 drops

WR Da'Shawn Martin

• 79 recs., 934 receiving yards, 11.8 avg., 5 TDs, 2 drops

WR Rico Flores Jr.

• 75 recs., 867 receiving yards, 11.6 avg., 8 TDs, 0 drops

RB Jekail Middlebrook

• 25 recs., 205 receiving yards, 8.2 avg., 1 TD, 0 drops

RB Peyton Lewis

• 21 recs., 185 receiving yards, 8.8 avg., 3 TDs, 0 drops

TE Connor Cox

• 10 recs., 70 receiving yards, 7.0 avg., 0 TDs, 0 drops

This is the area that's more skewed than the others in terms of what's realistic and what's not for 2026. Having four pass-catchers eclipse the 75-catch mark is literally video-game, air-raid-type stuff, and something that probably has a 5% chance of happening for UVA this year.

Defense

SPUR Corey Costner

• 103 tackles, 6 TFL, 3 sacks, 5 INTs

LB Kam Robinson

• 81 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 INT

S Ethan Minter

• 76 tackles, 1 TFL

CB Jam Jackson

• 63 tackles, 3 INT

DE Matthew Fobbs-White

• 54 tackles, 18 TFL, 11 sacks

S Brandyn Hillman

• 50 tackles, 2 INT

DT Jason Hammond

• 48 tackles, 12 TFL, 5 sacks

CB Donavon Platt

• 48 tackles, 1 TFL, 5 INT

DE Fisher Camac

• 46 tackles, 15 TFL, 8.5 sacks

DT Zion Wilson

• 38 tackles, 10 TFL, 6 sacks

Having players like Corey Costner, Matthew Fobbs-White, and Fisher Camac standing out with excellent individual seasons would be exciting, as they definitely have the ability to do so in John Rudzinski's defense this season.

It's important to note that the game still has Zion Wilson listed on UVA's roster, despite him signing with the Philadelphia Eagles after his eligibility waiver was denied.