Three Biggest Questions Facing Virginia Football in Their Week Zero Game vs NC State

College football season is finally here, and the Virginia Cavaliers are playing in arguably the biggest game of week zero.

This is perhaps the biggest week zero slate in college football history, and at the center of it is going to be the ACC matchup between UVA and NC State, two teams that are hoping to find themselves in Charlotte playing for an ACC Championship at the end of the season. The Wolfpack won last year's meeting between the two teams in a thriller, but that game did not count as an ACC game. This year's contest does and the winner will have a leg up in the conference race, while the loser will be playing catch-up.

Here are the three biggest questions facing Virginia heading into Saturday.

1. New Look Offense

Beau Pribula Missouri Tiger — Nov 22, 2025; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula (9) throws during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

New look offense is not meant to imply that I think UVA's offense is going to be poor, but it will look much different than last season.

Virginia is goign to have a new quarterback, new running back group, and a new receiver group. Change is common in the transfer portal era and the good thing is that Virginia is going to have one of the best offensive lines in the ACC. The front five is loaded with experience and will be the guiding force of the offense early in the season.

With a bye week next week and then a game against an FCS opponent, will UVA opt to run Beau Pribula a lot this week and take advantage of his legs? How will the wide receiver room look without Rico Flores out there? Will Jekail Middlebrook and the running back room live up to the hype they have received since spring?

This will be our first chance to look at the Cavaliers offense this season.

2. Can UVA slow down CJ Bailey?

CJ Bailey NC Stat — Dec 19, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; NC State Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey (11) throws a pass against the Memphis Tigers in the first quarter during the Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

CJ Bailey is one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC and had a fantastic game against Virginia last season.

However, NC State is going to be missing some proven playmakers that made their offense so dangerous last season. Hollywood Smothers, Justin Joly, Noah Rogers, and Terrell Anderson are gone and there are not many known commodoties for the Wolfpack on that side of the ball.

That does not mean that there is no talent though and Bailey directs everything. He can pick apart any defense and the Cavaliers will have to be ready for him.

Virginia head coach Tony Elliott knows what he is up against on Saturday and talked about Bailey earlier in the week:

"Man, I don’t know if you can contain him. I think you’ve just got to maybe hopefully minimize the impact that he has on the game. Going back and watching him, you realize just how good he really is. He’s one of the best in the country. And he’s multifaceted, right? He can beat you from the pocket with his arm. He can beat you outside the pocket with his arm. He can beat you running between the tackles with his legs. And he can beat you outside the pocket with his legs.

And so we’ve got to do a great job of having rush-lane integrity. Right? We can’t give him opportunities to escape the pocket. We’ve got to make sure that we disguise whatever we can disguise pre-snap and not give him the ability to really know exactly what he’s going to get post-snap and see if you can maybe throw off his timing a little bit.

I know he’s working with a new core of receivers, right? So they’re just like us. They’re trying to get to the game so they can build some chemistry. And hopefully we can be in a position where we’re supposed to be so that we don’t give him easy indicators of what the coverage structure is."

3. How crisp can Virginia look in week zero?

Tony Elliott Virginia Cavalier — Dec 27, 2025; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott looks on from the sideline during the third quarter against the Missouri Tigers at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

No team is going to look perfect early in the season, but when you are playing in a high stakes game like this in week zero, you have to limit your mistakes as much as possible.

Week zero games are notoriously sloppy (think back to Miami vs Florida in 2019) and this is the first time that UVA or NC State is going to be going against another opponent. The turnover margin might be an indicator of who wins on Saturday.

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