Three questions Virginia must answer against Syracuse

Cavaliers try to rebound from demoralizing loss at FSU when Orange visit

Oct 3, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Beau Pribula (7) throws the ball during the first quarter of the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In a span of three weeks, the vibe around Virginia's football program has gone from optimism to uncertainty. Discouraging performances away from home against West Virginia and Florida State allowed the same critics who doubted Tony Elliott's program before the season to reemerge.

Saturday's Homecomings game against Syracuse won't allow the Cavaliers to completely right the ship, but it can offer a chance to take a step in the right direction — especially with a difficult road trip to SMU on the horizon.

Here are three big questions the Cavaliers (3-2, 1-1 ACC) must answer against the Orange (2-2, 0-2) if they hope to salvage something memorable from a season that began with high expectations:

1. Who will step up?

One of Elliott's laments during his weekly press conference was that his team was still evolving, on the field and in the locker room. He has 31 graduate students on his roster, but many of them are new to the program.

Moments like this call for clear leadership, and he doesn't know who will take charge.

"This group from a leadership standpoint is still figuring out who's going to be the guy," Elliott said. "I think that little bit of kind of looking around to see who's going to go make a play instead of just going and make the play."

There are plenty of candidates: Beau Pribula, Kam Robinson, Brandyn Hillman among them. Leadership also can come from seasoned veterans who don't play high-profile positions, such as tight end Dakota Twitty or nose tackle Anthony Britton.

Elliott, his assistants and many of his players seem to have upbeat personalities, but adversity often requires someone to challenge his teammates when they're underachieving. HIllman, who played for JIm Harbaugh at Michigan. might be the one to make a subpar streak uncomfortable.

2. Can the offensive line bounce back?

Virginia's veteran front five were supposed to be the backbone of this team, but they got manhandled by the Seminoles. They'll try to rebound against a Syracuse defense that allowed 41 points to UConn two weeks ago but has six players with at least 2.5 sacks.

“That’s not our standard, and we know that’s not who we are,” Boley said this week. “We're not going to let that game define us. Yeah, we gave up 10 sacks. Now it's in the past. Now we can only focus on the next game, and the goal is to go out there and give up zero sacks ... And we've got to just show the team that everybody can count on us, they can trust us, because we've got to be the ones to lead this team.”

The best way to cut down on sacks is to reestablish a run game that mustered just 37 yards against FSU, including 62 yards lost to sacks. Syracuse allows 138.3 rushing yards per game (4.2 per carry), so playnig from ahead would be helpful.

3. Can the defense tackle better?

The Florida State tape is a classic example of how not to tackle and how to take bad angles. The Cavaliers hardly could have done worse.

Syracuse isn't Florida State, but quarterback Amari Odom threw for 335 yards and five touchdowns against UConn. He's big (6-4, 210) and mobile, just like FSU's Ashton Daniels was. Running back Tylik Hill is small (5-9, 190) and shifty and gained 140 yards against the Huskies.

If the Cavaliers don't tackle better against the Orange than they did against the Seminoles, it will be another long night.