Virginia Opens as a Home Underdog vs No. 7 Florida State

Can Virginia shock the world and defeat Florida State on Friday night?

Sep 20, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Trell Harris (11) catcher he's a pass en route to a touchdown as Stanford Cardinal safety Mitch Leigber (32) chases during the first quarter at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Virginia Cavaliers are 1-0 in conference play with their 48-20 victory over Stanford. The offense was again electric, especially through the air, and now UVA is 3-1 heading into their big matchup against Florida State on Friday night.

To no surprise, Florida State is going to be a big favorite against the Cavaliers on Friday night.

Big favorites

Sep 20, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris (4) passes the ball to Cavaliers wide receiver Cam Ross (6) as Stanford Cardinal linebacker Ese Dubre (30) chases during the second quarter at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, Florida State has opened as a 7.5-point favorite against the Cavaliers, and the over/under is set at 57.5.

Elliott says that preparation is going to be underway for next week's massive game for Florida State, though they can't make the game bigger than it is:

"One. don't make it bigger than what it is. At the end of the day, it's a conference game. It's the next step in the progression. Don't try to be superhuman, but you got to have a good understanding of your opponent, what you're going up against. Then you got to prepare to the standard. You got to block out the noise. The difference in games like this is everybody's going to be ready. Everybody's going to be excited, man. It's a prime-time game. There's all these things associated with it, but it's still about the preparation.

I know you'll be ready, but we got to make sure that we don't just try to skip the preparation and get to the game thinking that being ready is going to get it done, because now you're going to have to go out and you want to play well, take care of the football. The same thing that you had to do tonight, versus the team that we played. You got to take care of the ball. You got to protect the quarterback. You got to win the line of scrimmage, and then you got to communicate so that you don't give up a big play."

It is going to be arguably the biggest of the Tony Elliott era on Friday night when they host Florida State. Can they make a statement?

Big night on offense

Sep 20, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Trell Harris (11) celebrates with Cavaliers wide receiver Jahmal Edrine (7) after catching a touchdown pass against the Stanford Cardinal during the first quarter at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

It was another big night on offense for Virginia, as they racked up over 500 yards for the third straight game (590 to be exact) and quarterback Chandler Morris threw for 380 of them, including three touchdowns to wide receiver Trell Harris. After the game, Elliott had plenty to say about their performance on that side of the ball:

"Just good complementary football. For the offense to get off to a fast start. First, special teams create good field position. Defense getting stops, offense going down and scoring, and playing good complementary football, and then finishing the fourth quarter. Not giving up any points there in the fourth quarter. Just really pleased with the team effort. There's plenty for us to coach better at and to clean up, but just super proud of the guys showing up with the business-like mentality. They continue to have that each week, and playing good complementary football, and then also give us some opportunities to grow in the process of having success.

We felt like this week we were going to get some opportunities to put the ball in the air, and you were starting to see it with all the guys. It was good for Chandler to have a game like that, where he just kind of got really settled in and got into rhythm and made some plays and extended some plays and found some big plays down the field. And really good for Trell. A guy who's kind of been working his way back to have a breakout game like that. So just super, super happy for him."

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