Position grades for Virginia’s win over NC State: Cavaliers excel

Virginia routed NC State with a 34-8 decimation to begin the 2026 season. It was a game the Cavaliers controlled from start to finish, making a very talented Wolfpack team appear brutally underprepared to play a football game.

Virginia now owns sole possession of first place in the ACC. But even after a fantastic showing, Coach Tony Elliott noted that there is still room to grow. Here are position grades for this week zero contest.

Quarterbacks: A

Beau Pribula executed the gameplan. No, he did not throw all that often (11 pass attempts), but it did not matter. He took over the football game with his rushing ability, and completed an astonishing 81.8 percent of his attempts. He also made his big plays count, throwing a pair of touchdowns for 45-plus yards.

Running backs: B

Pribula did most of the rushing work. Xavier Brown was fantastic (90 total yards and two total touchdowns), but aside from him and Jekail Middlebrook (15 carries for 65 yards), most of the runs served the purpose of draining the clock.

It was surprising to see Middlebrook, a prolific receiving back, finish with zero catches. It was also surprising to see both Peyton Lewis and Xay Davis finish with averages under two yards per carry. This was a so-so day heightened by Brown’s dual-threat demolition.

Wide receivers: B-

The gameplan did not involve a whole lot of throwing, but wideouts collectively only caught six passes. Two of those happened to be for gains of 20-plus yards, but even so, it was a quiet day for the receivers. They were tasked with a lot of run blocking and performed well for their position, though.

Tight ends: B-

Connor Cox’s catch for seven yards was the only reception by a tight end in this game. The lack of receiving contribution brings this grade down significantly, but the run blocking was stellar. Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings often deployed 12 personnel, giving Virginia a balanced look.

Offensive line: A

By all accounts, this should be an A+ — but Elliott said that there is room for improvement, and he isn’t wrong. Pribula took a sack (albeit a coverage sack), and this was the first game in which all five starters played together. The offensive line was phenomenal. The scary thing for Virginia’s opponents is that it should get even better.

Defensive line: A

The statistics may tell a different story, but the eyeball test is real — the Cavaliers defensive line simply mauled the living daylights out of a talented NC State offensive line. Virginia shedded blocks with more ease than a child building a tiny LEGO set. This statement applies to the Cavalier backups too. Complete domination in the trenches.

Linebackers: A

With Kam Robinson out, all attention turned to this group and how it would respond. They limited Bailey well — holding him to 33 yards on 10 rushing attempts. The bigger story was the emergence of third-year Myles Brown, who led Virginia with eight tackles. Maddox Marcellus and Landon Danley were close behind. Marcellus had half a tackle for loss and Danley recovered a fumble.

Defensive backs: A+

CJ Bailey was held under 100 yards passing for the first time in his career. The Wolfpack had zero receiving touchdowns, and no player eclipsed 25 yards. This was a historically elite performance by the Cavalier defensive backs — especially newcomer Brandyn Hillman, who forced a pair of fumbles.

Omillio Agard, Jacobie Henderson, Donavon Platt, Ethan Minter, Hillman and others were elite in both man and zone coverage concepts. This was complete domination against a really talented receiving corps.

Special Teams: B+

It was a clean day for the special teams unit — no missed field goals, only one big return and some underclassmen got involved at times. Virginia would like to see fewer missed tackles and to pin opponents deeper, though.

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