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2025 Virginia

11–⁠3 (7–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Tony Elliott, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Virginia in 2025, game by game: won vs. Coastal Carolina 48–7; lost at NC State 31–35; won vs. William & Mary 55–16; won vs. Stanford 48–20; won vs. No. 8 Florida State 46–38; won at Louisville 30–27; won vs. Washington State 22–20; won at North Carolina 17–16; won at California 31–21; lost vs. Wake Forest 9–16; won at Duke 34–17; won vs. Virginia Tech 27–7; lost vs. Duke 20–27; won vs. No. 25 Missouri 13–7+41−7Won 48–7 vs. Coastal Carolina+41Coastal CarolinaLost 31–35 at NC State-4NC StateWon 55–16 vs. William & Mary+39William & MaryWon 48–20 vs. Stanford+28StanfordWon 46–38 vs. No. 8 Florida State+8No. 8 Florida StateWon 30–27 at Louisville+3LouisvilleWon 22–20 vs. Washington State+2Washington StateWon 17–16 at North Carolina+1North CarolinaWon 31–21 at California+10CaliforniaLost 9–16 vs. Wake Forest-7Wake ForestWon 34–17 at Duke+17DukeWon 27–7 vs. Virginia Tech+20Virginia TechLost 20–27 vs. Duke-7DukeWon 13–7 vs. No. 25 Missouri+6No. 25 Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsCoastal CarolinaW 48–⁠755%
Sep 6atNC StateL 31–⁠3538%
Sep 13vsWilliam & MaryW 55–⁠1676%
Sep 20vsStanfordW 48–⁠2069%
Sep 26vs8Florida StateW 46–⁠3857%
Oct 4atLouisvilleW 30–⁠2725%
Oct 18vsWashington StateW 22–⁠2065%
Oct 25atNorth CarolinaW 17–⁠1659%
Nov 1atCaliforniaW 31–⁠2152%
Nov 8vsWake ForestL 9–⁠1674%
Nov 15atDukeW 34–⁠1737%
Nov 29vsVirginia TechW 27–⁠780%
Dec 6vsDukeACC ChampionshipL 20–⁠2751%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvs25MissouriGator BowlW 13–⁠743%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Missouri 13–⁠7 in the Gator Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; first in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 24
  2. Wk 7: 19
  3. Wk 8: 18
  4. Wk 9: 16
  5. Wk 10: 15
  6. Wk 11: 12
  7. Wk 12: 20
  8. Wk 13: 19
  9. Wk 14: 17
  10. Wk 15: 16
  11. Wk 16: 20
  12. Final: 16
Record
11–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠2 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 12
Points
431–⁠274
Coach
Tony Elliott
Elo
1607 +151 this season
SP+ rating
11.1 No. 31 of 136; offense No. 56, defense No. 19, special teams No. 56
SRS
9.8 No. 30 of 136 in FBS
Returning
28% of last season’s EPA, No. 77 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 58 roster talent No. 62 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Desmond Kitchings
Defensive coordinator
John Rudzinski
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense59th of 136
  • Defense25th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted57th of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted27th of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1140%1.2859th of 136
Defense0.0138%1.2225th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.01 def		41% off
37% def		—57th off
27th def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense42%6.9 yds9%3.1013%
Defense39%10.7 yds23%3.0016%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.6own 3114% allowed
Defense3.0own 2718% caused

CORE rating 8.9, 39th of 136 (offense 1.9, defense -7.0).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsChandler Morris QB3,000 yds
Passing touchdownsChandler Morris QB16 TD
Rushing yardsJ’mari Taylor RB1,062 yds
Rushing touchdownsJ’mari Taylor RB14 TD
Receiving yardsTrell Harris WR847 yds
Receiving touchdownsSage Ennis TE5 TD
TacklesDevin Neal S88 tkl
SacksDaniel Rickert DL7 sacks
InterceptionsJa’Son Prevard S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Josiah Abdullah WR★★★No. 563
Evan Ward DE★★★No. 583
Bjorn Jurgensen QB★★★No. 636
Corey Costner S★★★No. 721
C.J. Spence CB★★★No. 728

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.00.872
Running backs13.00.859
Receivers53.00.866
Offensive line33.00.868
Defensive line23.00.871
Linebackers23.00.863
Defensive backs33.00.876
Athletes and specialists13.00.862
Whole class193.00.868

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 123

The 2025 roster

123 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 74 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 31

The 2025 portal
Monroe Mills OT★★★★from Louisville
Emmanuel Karnley CB★★★★from Miami
Hunter Osborne DL★★★from Alabama
Cameron Ross WR★★★from James Madison
Chandler Morris QB★★★from North Texas
Christian Charles S★★★from Tennessee
Jahmal Edrine WR★★★from Purdue
Jordan Robinson CB★★★from Cincinnati
Kevin Wigenton II OL★★★from Illinois
Makilan Thomas OL★★★from Arkansas State
Cazeem Moore DE★★★from Elon
Da’Marcus Crosby S★★★from New Mexico State

And 19 more, lower-rated or unrated.

Transfers out 23

Malachi Fields WR★★★★to Notre Dame
Blake Steen OL★★★to Mississippi State
Anthony Colandrea QB★★★to UNLV
Michael Diatta DL★★★to Oklahoma State
Ben Smiley III DL★★★to UConn
Ugonna Nnanna OL★★★to North Texas
Charlie Patterson OL★★★to Georgia State
Gavin Frakes QB★★★to Northwestern
Malcolm Greene CB★★★to Massachusetts
Bryce Carter DL★★★★to Texas State
Aidan Ryan S★★★no new school on file
D.J. Jones DE★★★to Florida A&M

And 11 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2025 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia7–⁠211–⁠316
Miami6–⁠213–⁠32
SMU6–⁠29–⁠4
Georgia Tech6–⁠29–⁠4
Duke6–⁠29–⁠5
Pittsburgh6–⁠28–⁠5
NC State5–⁠48–⁠5
Louisville4–⁠49–⁠4
Wake Forest4–⁠49–⁠4
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠6
California4–⁠47–⁠6
Stanford3–⁠54–⁠8
Florida State2–⁠65–⁠7
North Carolina2–⁠64–⁠8
Virginia Tech2–⁠63–⁠9
Syracuse1–⁠73–⁠9
Boston College1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.