Virginia Releases Its Depth Chart Ahead of Week Ten Matchup vs California

What does Virginia's depth chart look like heading into its matchup against California?

Oct 25, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris (4) passes the ball in the fourth quarter at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Virginia is just a few short days away from their week ten matchup against California on Saturday, Nov. 1. The Cavaliers are still on a stellar hot streak, having extended their run to six consecutive wins for a 7-1 record. To date, the only game that they've dropped this season was against NC State when the Wolfpack clinched the 35-31 victory on Sept. 6. Fortunately, this was a non-conference game, so UVA is 4-0 in conference play at the time of this writing.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Virginia is currently a 4.5-point favorite to win the matchup, with the over/under set at 52.5. Numerous projections have shown the Cavaliers winning during week ten, but there have been several times in which UVA was projected to lose, yet they still found a way to come out on top.

"I'm confident in the coaches and the players that we got in this program to own the mistakes, get better, and see where we can put together a good plan, have our best week of preparation so we can go chase our best game versus Cal," head coach Tony Elliott said during his week nine postgame press conference.

With their upcoming matchup approaching rather quickly, Virginia has now released their depth chart.

Offense

Position	Starter	Backup #1
QB	Chandler Morris	Daniel Kaelin
RB	J'Mari Taylor	Harrison Waylee or Noah Vaughn
WR	Jahmal Edrine	Jayden Thomas
WR	Cam Ross	Kameron Courtney
WR	Trell Harris	Eli Wood
TE	Sage Ennis	John Rogers
LT	McKale Boley	Jon Adair
LG	Noah Josey	Grant Ellinger
C	Brady Wilson	Noah Hartsoe
RG	Drake Metcalf	Ethan Sipe
RT	Jack Witmer	Ben York

Defense

Position	Starter	Backup #1
DE	Fisher Camac or Cazeem Moore	Billy Koudelka
NT	Jahmeer Carter	Anthon Britton
DT	Jason Hammond or Hunter Osborne or Jacob Holmes
Bandit DE	Mitchell Meltonor Daniel Rickert	Billy Koudelka
WILL LB	James Jackson	Maddox Marcellus
MIKE LB	Kam Robinson	Landon Danley or Trey McDonald
SPUR	Ja'son Prevard or Corey Costner	Caleb Hardy
LC	Donavon Platt or Emmanuel Karnley
RC	Jordan Robinson	Kevon Gray or Josiah Persinger
FS	Ethan Minter or Christian Charles
SS	Devin Neal	Da'Marcus Crosby II

Special Teams

Position	Starter	Backup
Punter	Daniel Sparks	Elijah Slibeck
Kickoff	Daniel Sparks	Will Bettridge
Placekicker	Will Bettridge	Jorge Diaz Nicholas
Punt Return	Cam Ross	Jayden Thomas
Kickoff Return	Cam Ross	J'Mari Taylor
Long Snapper	Bryce Robinson	Stevie Bracey

Xavier Brown Out, Cam Ross In

Sep 26, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers running back Xavier Brown (20) catches a touchdown pass as Florida State Seminoles defensive back Edwin Joseph (3) looks on at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

While much of this week's depth chart looks similar to previous matchups, there is one stark difference: the absence of running back Xavier Brown is out of the mix. Due to a grueling ACL injury, Brown is now out for the rest of the season — a devastating situation for the Cavaliers. Brown finishes his season with 51 carries for 241 yards and one touchdown.

Although Brown is out, UVA did share the good news that wide receiver Cam Ross is expected to be back on the field this weekend after missing last week's action-packed overtime thriller.

Elliott confirms that RB Xavier Brown is out for the season (ACL), while WR Cam Ross is expected to be back this weekend.

— Jacquie Franciulli (@JacquieFran_) October 28, 2025

Concern has also been raised regarding the health of quarterback Chandler Morris, but he appears to be eligible to play again this weekend. As Elliott explicitly stated in the press conference:

"I mean, it's October, getting ready to go into November, and none of these guys are 100% healthy. They're all dealing with stuff, but he's battling, and you know, I think that we all know that the shoulder, you know, got hurt early, and that's something that's going to linger. I think back to like Tony Muskett. The same thing happened to Tony Muskett early in the season. And it's just something that you have to battle through throughout the course of the season. But he's a warrior, man. He's going to do everything he possibly can to be ready to go. And I know that at the end of the day, there's nobody in that locker room who wants to play their best more than Chandler. And so I'm excited to see how these guys respond as we get ready for a different week of preparation going out to Cal.”

Indeed, at this point in the season, most programs are grappling wit injuries left and right. UVA plays hard right up until the end, so still having the company of their leaders on the field truly shows that the season is on their side.