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22 CAVALIER CORNER Fourth-year wide receiver Malachi Fields, who hauled in 58 catches for 811 yards and 5 touchdowns last year, is poised to be the Cavaliers' go-to pass catcher in 2024. (Photo by Matt Riley/courtesy UVA) HUNGRY FOR HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS SUCCESS After Several Close Defeats Last Year And An Infusion Of Talent In The Offseason, UVA Football Looks To Get Over The Hump 2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY JEFF WHITE T he UVA football team kicks off its third season under head coach Tony Elliott with a home game against Richmond Aug. 31, and there's growing optimism about the direction of the program. Much has happened, most of it posi- tive, since Virginia's offseason began in late November. When the transfer portal opened, the Cavaliers landed many of their targets, and then came a productive spring that culminated with the Blue- White game at Scott Stadium. In early June, the new Molly and Robert Hardie Football Operations Cen- ter opened next to the George Welsh Indoor Practice Facility, launching a new era for a program that had been based in the McCue Center since the early 1990s. "Virginia now has a first-class, industry- leading facility," Elliott said. "Football is a game that's all about the team. In order to build a team, you have to have time, space and opportunity. The new football operations facility is going to provide us what we need to compete as a team." The Wahoos are coming off a 3-9 season marked by close losses. Of the Hoos' defeats, five were by seven points or fewer. With strong cores of veteran players returning on each side of the ball, as well as punter Daniel Sparks and kicker Will Bettridge, UVA has rea- son to believe this season will be different. "I think they're hungry for success," Elliott said of his players. "I think they enjoy being around each other. You see a lot more ca- maraderie in the locker room." The coaching staff wants "to accumulate as much talent as we possibly can," Elliott said. "But talent doesn't win alone. You've got to be a team. So, that's my job, to create that envi- ronment. And I think that we've got guys that are bought into what we're trying to estab- lish here from a team-concept standpoint." Since the end of last season, the Hoos have added 14 transfers: quarterback Gavin Frakes (New Mexico State); offensive linemen Drake Metcalf (Central Florida) and Ethan Sipe (Dartmouth); tight ends Sage Ennis (Clemson) and Tyler Neville (Harvard); wide receivers Chris Tyree (Notre Dame), Andre Greene Jr. (North Carolina) and Trell Harris (Kent State); linebacker Dorian Jones (Cincinnati); defen- sive backs Corey Thomas Jr. (Akron), Kendren Smith (Penn), Jam Jackson (Robert Morris) and Kempton Shine (Eastern Michigan); and long snapper Payton Bunch (Coastal Carolina). Ten of the transfers enrolled at UVA in January — the exceptions were Sipe, Jones, Neville and Bunch — and went through spring ball, though Ennis was recovering from a knee injury and wasn't cleared for full contact until after the Blue-White game. Metcalf suffered an injury during spring ball but hopes to be cleared to play at some point this fall. Not only did the newcomers impress the coaching staff with their play, "they've done a really good job of just fitting in," Elliott said. "You always worry about that when you bring guys from different locker rooms," he added. "You don't know what culture they're coming from. I think some of it has to do with [the fact that] several of those guys are coming from smaller programs. "They have a great appreciation … and they're also humbling the guys that we have, telling them things like, 'Y'all need to be grateful for what you do have, because com- ing from other places, smaller schools, we didn't have the same things.'" Ennis and Tyree came to UVA from peren- nially powerful programs, "so you're getting a lot of different perspectives," Elliott said. "But the guys have done an unbelievable job of taking all of that and kind of channeling it in the right direction as we build the team." Not every team returns its starting quar- terback from the previous season. Virginia has two capable starters back at that posi- tion: Tony Muskett and Anthony Colandrea. Muskett, a graduate transfer from Mon- mouth, won the starting job last summer but suffered a shoulder injury in the season opener. He returned to the lineup after sit- ting out three games and directed the of- fense before getting hurt again and missing the Cavaliers' final three games. Muskett and Colandrea, who was a true first-year, each ended up starting six games last season, and both had memorable mo- ments. After the season ended, Muskett had surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, but he rehabbed diligently and was able to participate in spring practice, when quarter- backs are off-limits to tacklers. In the spring, Muskett and Colandrea split time with the first- and second-team offenses, and their battle for the starting job will con- tinue when training camp starts in August.