What should Virginia football look for against NC State?

The 2026 season opener is just over three weeks away. Soon, Virginia football will begin its campaign by taking on NC State at Scott Stadium. Both teams are still in the thick of training camp — but it is never too early to take a look at the first game action of the year.

Noah Teague, a contributor for SportCLT, spoke with UVA On SI to share some thoughts about the season opener a few weeks away.

Xander Tilock: To start off, give me the rundown on this NC State team — and what's their story heading into the 2026 season?

Noah Teague: The big story with this team starts with CJ Bailey. He's the third-year quarterback for the Wolfpack this year. He is somebody who is 6-foot-6 and is also a mobile quarterback with a good arm. He just needs to improve his consistency to be one of the top tier QBs in the ACC. But as far as he goes, is as far as this NC State team will go.

They've surrounded him with a lot of transfers, some of which were childhood friends of his, guys that played at Miami and have transferred to NC State this year, and so they've really gone all in on this year with CJ Bailey offensively. Defensively, it's a year where they hope to take a big step forward. They had a really young defense that also had just a lot of injuries last year, and so that forced a lot of players to get some playing time earlier than they would have.

And the hope is that with some additions like safety King Mack and linebacker Popo Aguirre, that they can kind of supplement those young players with experienced players and take that next step forward to get back to being the typical gritty defense that NC State typically has. So overall, you're looking at a team that I think is looking to be a top third of the ACC type of team, especially with the schedule they have.

XT: And then looking at the offensive line, I know there was some minor shuffling at some key positions there. How's that offensive line shaping up?

NT: The biggest loss was Jacarrius Peak, who transferred to South Carolina and was arguably one of the best offensive tackles in the transfer portal this cycle. He was a leader on and off the field for this offensive line. He was kind of the top player in that unit last year — someone who had a choice to make of going to the NFL or going to the transfer portal, and he's somebody that probably has a NFL future ahead of him.

So that was really a loss for NC State, but they supplemented it with Jimarion McCrimon, who actually played last season in their season opener with ECU, and so he's probably going to step in at left tackle. That's kind of the biggest move, and then they also brought in Daniel Cruz from Texas, who is a former blue chip prospect, four-star, who was not really getting a lot of playing time at Texas, but has a lot of athletic tools and is coming in going to compete definitely on the two-deep but could potentially start at center or guard. The rest of the offensive line is probably going to be returners, with the biggest piece being right tackle Teague Anderson.

XT: Looking at the running backs, Hollywood Smothers left in the transfer portal. What's the rundown on Duke Scott, and then also Davion Gause in that running back room?

NT: I think a big reason they were okay with letting Smothers go — and you never want to see a player like that leave just because he is so talented — is Duke Scott. He really broke out during the Georgia Tech game last year, where Tech came in as the No. 8 team in the country, and he just ran all over that defense, well over 100 yards.

As the season continued and Hollywood got a little banged up, Duke Scott was able to take on that role a little bit of being a 1-B type of running back. And now he's going to be the 1-A. He's gonna be the guy that they really lean on, and I think that he is a really good piece for them. That could be a breakout star potentially. He is someone who is a leader in that group. Kind of leads by example. He's a powerful but also quick runner. Somebody that is just kind of a do it all type of player. Maybe not the biggest factor in the pass game right now, but that's an area that he could potentially work on with CJ Bailey. Scott is someone I would expect to have 800 ish yards, maybe 1000 if he really really breaks out.

And then Davion Gause is kind of a shiftier, quicker, faster back. I think maybe the guy that they look to on third downs as that kind of speed option, and somebody who seemed to be a little bit misutilized during his time at UNC. Did get some experience, showed some nice potential there, and so I think that with Scott and Gause, they're going to have a one-two punch. I don't know if it'll be quite as good as Hollywood and Scott last year, but I think it will be very good. And then you've also got a little bit of an interesting situation with Will Wilson, who is officially one of the backup quarterbacks, but he has played some running back last year as a short yardage play guy who they bring in on fourth and one goal line situations. Wilson is just a really strong, powerful runner. So he's definitely somebody that you'll probably see.

XT: Zooming out, every time Virginia and State play each other, it's always interesting. Cavaliers offensive coordinator Des Kitchings came from NC State. In last season's matchup, both offenses went wild. What do you think this rematch could have in store this year?

NT: I mean, the last few times they've played, it's been really, really good close games, and I think we're in for another really close game. I think that Virginia with Tony Elliott has really established themselves, and for me personally, I'm really impressed by them. And so I think that I would expect fireworks. I think it is probably going to be a little bit higher scoring game, just because NC State is a little bit more offensive focused than defensive.

A little bit different from how Dave Doeren has typically had his teams, but that's kind of the way that they've built it in this transfer portal era. And so I would expect this to be a close game, a four-quarter fight that ends up in the 30s, probably similar to last year, probably a 31-28 type of game. I would favor Virginia still in this matchup just because NC State has so many new pieces to have to gel. I think NC State is going to be a much better team when you look at them in November versus the beginning of the season, but I think that this is close to a coin flip, probably a 55% chance for Virginia to win.

XT: From what you know about Virginia, which matchups are you looking out for as pivotal in this game?

NT: I think the biggest matchups for me are on the lines of scrimmage. It's something where whatever level of football you look at, typically the team that has the better line of scrimmage is the team that's going to win. NC State has a lot of transition in that area, where there's a lot of talent, but also new pieces, especially on the defensive line, and so I think of NC State's defensive line versus Virginia's offensive line.

Can the Wolfpack disrupt Virginia's passing attack? Can they stop the run early? That's going to be really key for NC State, and then for Virginia, can you establish your offense? Can you take advantage of some pieces that are still trying to gel and potentially get some points up early on them? So to me, it's the Virginia offensive line versus NC State's defensive line.

XT: Can I grab a final score prediction from you?

NT: I'm thinking Virginia wins 35 to 31. I think that was actually the score of last year, reversed with the teams, but I think it will play out similar to last year. I think that these two teams are very similar, it may come down to just who has the ball last. But given that Virginia had a better season last year, they're coming back with some of those pieces, they've got Tony Elliott back. I think that stability potential, you probably have a bit of an edge, especially with the home field there.

In this one, where it probably comes down to which team is at home, I would probably take them. But I do think that Virginia wins this 35-31, and you got to give NC State at least one field goal. Dave Doeren loves his field goals.

XT: Yes, he does. All right, thank you so much, Noah.

This interview was lightly edited for clarity.

Add us as a preferred source on Google