Three Virginia Players To Watch in Saturday's Game vs William & Mary

Who are the players to watch this week when Virginia faces William & Mary?

Aug 30, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott celebrates after a touchdown against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers during the second quarter at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

The Virginia Cavaliers appeared to have a lot of momentum as a program heading into last week's game vs NC State. While they had only beaten Coastal Carolina, UVA looked impressive and they had a real shot to win in Raleigh.

They did not win, though, despite putting up over 500 yards of offense. Crucial red zone mistakes killed any momentum this team had, and they dropped to 1-1. While the schedule is still favorable and the game against the Wolfpack did not count in the conference standings, it felt like a missed opportunity.

Now Virginia turns their focus towards an in-state FCS opponent William & Mary. Here are three players to watch on Saturday.

1. RB J'Mari Taylor

Sep 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack offensive lineman Rico Jackson (64) tackles Virginia Cavaliers running back J'Mari Taylor (3) during the first half of the game at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Taylor had a breakout game last week, finishing with 150 yards on 17 carries, scoring three touchdowns and averaging 8.8 yards per carry. Taylor has been one of the most talked about players on the Virginia offense and last week he showed he could be the lead back and get explosive plays.

Earlier this week, head coach Tony Elliott talked about the strides that Taylor had made when it comes to leadership:

"Just being himself. I think one of the challenges for any of these guys that are coming into a new program is you gotta try and figure out your identity and your role, but it starts with being yourself. And so he came in very humble, and he was a guy that was pushing 2,000 rush yards in his career, 23 plus touchdowns. played a lot of football. So he just was himself and fit in really well with the other guys in the running back room and just went to work. If you meet Jamari, he's very blue collar, doesn't say a lot, a student of the game.He's always seeking to get better. He's always asking ways to improve. He takes coaching well. So I think he just came in and was himself and it, garnered the respect of his teammates, which allowed him to go out to practice and in scrimmage situations and just be himself and find ways to make the routine play. But then also show that he has the ability to hit the home run when it presents itself."

Taylor is going to have the opportunity to have a big day on Saturday and further cement his status as RB1.

2. The run defense

Sep 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack running back Hollywood Smothers (3) runs with the football to score a touchdown during the second half of the game against Virginia Cavaliers at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

While there is a big difference in the running games of NC State and William & Mary, the UVA run defense needs to show it is better than what it showed last Saturday. The Cavaliers gave up 216 yards to NC State and that was a key reason that they lost the game.

Elliott said that UVA is going back to the basics to get better at stopping the run:

"Yeah, go back to the basics and first it starts with a high level of accountability on Monday as a team when we talk about it and talk about the right way and take ownership of it and then put together a plan throughout the course of the week to address it with the drills that we're doing in tackling and also the drills we're doing in our rush angles to make sure that we stay leveraged on the football and force it back up inside. The guys, they're going to take ownership of it. Coaches, we got to get better. We got to help them get better. We got to always be evaluating our drill work and making sure that it relates to on the field production,"

I expect a better performance from the run defense this Saturday.

3. QB Daniel Kaelin

Aug 30, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Daniel Kaelin (10) throws the ball against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers during the second half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

We have not seen much of UVA backup quarterback Daniel Kaelin so far this season, aside from the final quarter or so against Coastal Carolina, but one would assume he gets snaps on Saturday if the game goes the way it is supposed to. Kaelin has talent and could be the starter for Virginia next season, but it would be good to see a larger sample size of him in the offense before that becomes a reality.