Virginia football's biggest mystery entering the 2026 season

It's pretty obvious that Virginia has some things to figure out this offseason, specifically in the wide receiver room and along the newly revamped defensive line, but the program's biggest mystery stems from a position that turned out to be a strength of the team last season.

Pribula and Holstein to the rescue?

Chandler Morris stepped into the starting lineup immediately in 2025 after transferring in from North Texas and was the main driver of the Cavaliers' offensive success, leading UVA to the ACC Championship. Now he's gone, but two exciting new players enter the picture for Tony Elliott and Co. in 2026.

Though Beau Pribula and Eli Holstein are incredibly talented players, one of them needs to separate themselves before Week One rolls around. Pribula is definitely the odds-on favorite to land the starting gig, but it's important to remember that Holstein was one of the better quarterbacks in the ACC for a period of time in 2024 at Pitt.

Beau Pribula deep to Jayden Thomas pic.twitter.com/A40uULXQgo
— Xander (@xandertilock) March 17, 2026

Regardless of who manages to officially win the job, Virginia's sustained success this year will almost solely rely on whether or not Des Kitchings can find consistency at the quarterback position.

One of the main reasons for optimism in this situation is that Kitchings doesn't really ask his quarterbacks to do much from a pure playmaking standpoint. He usually expects them to be efficient in the short to intermediate levels of the field, and have the awareness and ability to tuck the ball and run for easy yardage if plays break down.

It's not like these guys will be operating in the air raid, throwing 40-50 times per game. They just need to be able to hit open receivers in order to help supplement the ground attack.

The name of the game for Des Kitchings in 2026 will most likely be to pound the rock on early downs between the 20's, and then complement it with plays designed to scheme pass-catchers open 6-7 yards downfield.

TOUGH RUN from Chandler Morris 🔥 @UVAFootball takes a 14-0 lead over No. 8 Florida State 😳 pic.twitter.com/Amci2VBpFg
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) September 27, 2025

It sounds simple, but one of the main obstacles for Beau Pribula has been his decision-making under pressure. He absolutely has to limit the interceptions (11/9 TD:INT ratio in 2025) if the Cavaliers are going to consistently win games in 2026.

There were times when he relied on his arm too heavily and tried to squeeze balls into non-existent windows in order to make a big play. Those are the types of situations where he'll have to just tuck it and run for two to three yards this year.

As mentioned earlier, this offense wants to "major" in running the football and "minor" in throwing it. It's basically an "If/Then" type of strategy. For example, if the defense begins to stack the box or disguise run-blitzing, then UVA will throw the ball. If the defense bases with 6-7 players in the box, then they'll continue to run the ball.

Whoever plays quarterback in 2026 will simply have to focus on completing high-efficiency attempts and knowing when to tuck the ball and run. If they can do those two things effectively, then UVA football should have another successful season on the way.

Add us as a preferred source on Google