Virginia Releases Their Official Availability Report For Saturday's Game vs Stanford

The availability report for the Cavaliers is now out ahead of Saturday's game
Sep 13, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott looks on from the field prior to the game against the William & Mary Tribe at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
Sep 13, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott looks on from the field prior to the game against the William & Mary Tribe at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

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After getting back in the win column this past Saturday, Virginia begins ACC play this weekend when it welcomes Stanford to Charlottesville for the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Cavaliers' offense continues to be one of the best in the ACC, but Stanford could pose some challenges for them this week. The Cardinal defense was instrumental in the big upset win over Boston College and is going to be looking for opportunities to create some turnovers against UVA.

Availability Report

Virginia Cavalier
Virginia s Daniel Sparks has his kick blocked in the end zone and recovered by Louisville s Jimmy Calloway for a touchdown in L & N Stadium. Nov. 9, 2023 | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The first availability report of the season is now out for Virginia and there are no real surprises on it.

Backup guard Ethan Sipe is out, as is running back Noah Vaughn. Offensive tackle Wallace Unamba will continue to be out as well.

Who will win?

Virginia Cavalier
Sep 13, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers running back Noah Vaughn (28) carries the ball against the William & Mary Tribe during the first half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Virginia is a big favorite this weekend and SP+ is predicting a victory for the Cavaliers. Bill Connelly's metric has UVA coming out on top with a 32-21 win while giving the Cavaliers a 76% chance to win the game.

What is SP+? Here is how ESPN analyst Bill Connelly describes it:

"In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. I created the system at Football Outsiders in 2008, and as my experience with both college football and its stats has grown, I have made quite a few tweaks to the system.

SP+ is indeed intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling -- no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you're lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you're strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise."

Tough Stanford Defense

Stanfor
Sep 13, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal linebacker Zach Johnson (left) sacks Boston College Eagles quarterback Dylan Lonergan (right) during the third quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Stanford's defense gave Boston College all kinds of problems last week and UVA head coach Tony Elliott had nothing but good things to say about them in his weekly press conference on Tuesday:

"Well, first of all, their entire defense is very experienced. I think they're all seniors or graduates. On the defensive side of the ball, 91 [Clay Patterson] is playing at a high level. He's a matchup problem for any interior guy in a one-on-one situation, so you've got to be smart and how you handle him, and I may have to slide in his direction. Then they do a lot defensively from a structure standpoint to create confusion, and then their second-level guys, their linebackers. When they pressure, they know how to get to the quarterback, so 91 has three sacks, and then they also got a handful of sacks from the second level, so they do a really good job schematically of testing your protection rules, and they get some matchup advantages on backs. That's always something that you're working on, trying to keep the big guys off your back. Their edge guys do a really good job of squeezing the pocket and forcing the quarterback to escape interior-wise, which allows the defensive line, the defensive tackles, to get the ball carried on the ground quickly."

It is a good thing that Virginia has plenty of playmakers on that the offensive side of the ball and that should give them the edge on Saturday.

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Jackson Caudell
JACKSON CAUDELL

Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell

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