Preview: Wahoos set to open the 2025 season against the Chants

The dog days of summer are over, and UVa embarks on the 2025 football season this weekend, when the Wahoos host Coastal Carolina at Scott Stadium on Saturday (6 p.m., ACC Network).

The opener kicks off the 136th season of Cavalier football and one of the most pivotal campaigns in recent program history. 

UVa enters 2025 with higher expectations in Year 4 of the Tony Elliott Era. Vegas has the Hoos pegged to have a winning season and play in a bowl game for the first time since 2019. They are just 13-22 under Elliott with just six home wins in three seasons. 

Last year, UVa fell a game short of bowl eligibility, starting the season 5-1 before fading down the stretch, losing six of their final seven including a disappointing performance in the season finale at Virginia Tech.

New faces finally see action

UVa’s 2025 roster is full of new names. The Hoos were aggressive in the transfer portal, adding 32 new players to go along with their freshman class, totalling 50+ new players on this year’s roster. Many of those new players are expected to take on significant roles this fall, headlined by transfer quarterback Chandler Morris, who comes to UVa after a successful 2024 season at North Texas. While the roster is very different, the coaching staff is intact: UVa is one of just a handful of P4 programs to return their head coach and the entire coaching staff from a season ago. 
Virginia’s opponent in the opener is a familiar one, as the Hoos and Chanticleers met last season. UVa handled Coastal on the road last fall, taking control of the game on the first play with a special teams turnover and never looking back in a 43-24 road victory. The offense made easy work of Coastal’s defense, rushing for 384 yards in the lopsided win. 
While UVa played Coastal last year, like Virginia, the Chanticleers have a lot of new faces. Head coach Tim Beck returns for his third season with the program, but brought in two new coordinators and more than 60 new players. Between the roster turnover and scheme changes, there should be quite a bit of mystery early in Saturday’s contest. 

The Coastal Offense

Coastal Carolina’s offense should look quite a bit different from what the Hoos saw last season, under new offensive coordinator Drew Hollingshead. Hired away from Western Kentucky, Hollingshead was the co-OC with the Hilltoppers last year, helping WKU have one of the nation’s top passing offenses. The offense could be described as a pass-heavy spread attack, and it will be interesting to see what Coastal’s run/pass splits are in Saturday’s game.

Coastal hasn’t quite landed on a starting quarterback just yet, and Beck said this week that several signal callers could take the field in Saturday’s game. Maryland transfer M.J. Morris is expected to get the start, however. Beck initially recruited Morris to NC State out of high school and a few years later, the two are reunited in Conway. Morris threw for 719 yards and seven touchdowns at NC State in 2023, wrestling the job away from former UVa QB Brennan Armstrong before redshirting and transferring to the Terps. Morris lost the preseason quarterback battle to Billy Edwards Jr, and transferred to Coastal last offseason. 

He has flashed P4-level talent, and probably has the highest upside of any of Coastal’s QBs. Beck said that Morris will start the game but how the snaps are split from there remains to be seen. Other QBs who could play on Saturday include UNC transfer Tad Hudson and junior college transfer Samari Collier. 

Coastal’s receiver group is headlined by fifth-year senior Jameson Tucker, who is a potential All Sun-Belt selection if he builds on a solid 2024 season. Tucker caught a touchdown in last year’s loss to UVa, and finished the campaign with a team-high 34 catches, 579 yards and six touchdowns. Bryson Graves also returns for the Chants, and was second on the team in receptions last year with 27. Graves also caught a touchdown in the loss to UVa, hauling in four receptions for 40 yards and the score in that contest. A 6-foot-4 senior, Cameron Wright is listed as a co-starter; he caught 19 passes for 314 yards last season with the Chanticleers. Coastal also added Miami transfer Robby Washington who played very sparingly with the Hurricanes, and Ball State transfer Malcolm Gillie, who was a productive return man last season in the MAC. At tight end there isn’t a lo of returning production. Zach Courtney is listed as the starter, and he caught just three passes last year for 18 yards, but did score a touchdown. 

On the ground, Coastal has several backs listed as co-starters. UMass transfer Jalen John is a player to watch, having come over from the Minutemen after a solid 2024 season. John was UMass’ lead back, rushing 111 times for 583 yards and five touchdowns. John played in 10 contests and received double-digit carries in six of them, with back-to-back 100+ yard performances late in the year against Liberty and Georgia. Coastal also lists junior Ja’Vin Simpkins, who missed most of last year with an injury, as a co-starter; he rushed for 129 yards as a freshman in 2023. Freshman Jevon Edwards is in the mix as well. The South Carolina native rushed for 2,634 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior at South Aiken. 

The Chanticleer D

Just as Coastal is breaking in new schemes on offense, the Chants are doing the same on defense. Beck hired defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson away from Louisiana Tech, where he spent one year as the Bulldogs’ DC. Johnson has bounced around a bit in recent years, coaching at Northern Iowa and Kent State, serving as coordinator for one year at each school; before that Johnson spent 15 years at Northern Iowa including nine as DC. At Louisiana Tech last year, Johnsons defense was solid, allowing 21 points per game and just 3.6 yards per rush. The Bulldogs held five opponents to 10 points or less, including, ironically, holding Coastal’s new offensive coordinator to just one touchdown in a 12-7 La Tech win over Western Kentucky. 

Johnson’s defense is listed in a typical 4-3 alignment on the depth chart. Coastal’s defense is led by returning linebacker Shane Bruce, who was one of the most-effective defensive players in the conference in 2024. Bruce recorded 75 tackles last year, including 11 in the loss to Virginia. He was named a team captain earlier this month, as well. Senior Luke Murphy and junior Wyatt Gedeon are listed as the other two starters at linebacker. Murphy comes to Coastal from Eastern Michigan where he recorded 94 tackles last year and six TFLs. Prior to EMU, Murphy was teammates with UVa receiver Trell Harris at Kent State. Gedeon started 10 games last year for Coastal, recording 36 tackles and one sack. 

In the secondary, Coastal has quite a few new faces, or players that didn’t play a ton for the Chanticleers last year. Sophomore Zach Cody played in 12 games last year with Coastal but didn’t have a start; he finished with 15 tackles on the season. Myles Mooyoung is listed as the other cornerback starter for the Chanticleers. Mooyoung is another transfer from Miami, and also didn’t see a lot of game action with the Hurricanes. Coastal lists a “rover” position with Avyonne Jones and Dre Pinkney listed as co-starters. Jones had 17 tackles in 13 games last year with Coastal and Pinkley, another team captain, missed almost all of last season with an injury, but played in 12 games in 2023. At safety, senior Xamarion Gordon and sophomore Myles Woods are listed as starters. Gordon had 36 tackles and a pick six last year, while Woods saw action as a reserve last year with the Chanticleers, recording 16 tackles and forcing one fumble.

Up front, Coastal is a bit more reliant on transfers. New Mexico State transfer Noah Arinze is a starter at one of the end spots. Arinze, who played with UVa transfer DB Da’Marcus Crosby last year with the aggies, had 15 tackles and 4.5 TFLs last year, recording a pair of sacks. Johnson brought Zeke Campbell along with him from Louisiana Tech. The redshirt junior defensive end played in four games last year, recording six tackles and one TFL. Defensive tackle Sawyer Goram-Welch started his career at Texas before moving to Coastal last season. The senior had 32 tackles last year, starting all 12 games for the Chants. He’ll play alongside Idaho transfer Aamarii Notice on the interior. Notice comes to Coastal from Idaho, where he recorded 60 tackles and two sacks in 34 career appearances for the Vandals. 

UVa’s Path to Victory

Run the ball effectively: UVa dominated Coastal on the ground last year, and if they the Hoos it again on Saturday, they should win the game. It will be interesting to see just how good the new offensive and defensive lines look on Saturday against a G5 opponent, and with a solid group of running backs running behind a bigger, more-productive line, that should bode well for the Hoos against a smaller Coastal front. 

Start fast: The best way to avoid any sort of upset or late-game drama is to nip things in the bud early. The Cavaliers did just that in last year’s opener against Richmond, and got on Coastal early in that game, too. There are a lot of new faces on UVa’s roster and there are always first-game jitters, but if the Hoos can get out to a multi-score lead in the first half, they should be able to stay in a strong position as they play from ahead. 

UVa’s Path to Defeat

Struggle to identify Coastal’s new schemes:** It’s going to take UVa’s coaches a quarter or so to figure out what Coastal is trying to do on both sides of the ball. As they’ve prepared for this game, the staff has had to study schemes and players from other schools, and that doesn’t always translate to a new school and a new team. The question is how much damage can Coastal’s new coordinators do before UVa identifies the plan of attack and make moves to shut it down? UVa doesn’t want to give up a few scores early in the game, as that will keep Coastal viable for a lot longer. 

Lose the turnover battle: This is probably the easiest way to lose any game, and is the most direct path to an upset loss. UVa will be looking to spread the ball around and get out to an early lead, they’ll just need to play clean football to make that happen. If UVa gets a little too fast and loose offensively and turn the ball over, they could set themselves up for second-half drama that they certainly don’t want in this opener. 

Outlook

Coastal Carolina is a much more viable opponent than UVa’s typical FCS openers, but this is still one of UVa’s most winnable games. The Chanticleers come in with a lot of new faces and schemes so that may take some time to figure out, but UVa looks like the far more physical team, and that’s exactly how they took it to the Chants in Conway last year. We expect UVa to feel things out for a quarter or so and eventually get going on both sides of the ball, winning through their advantage in the trenches which should wear down Coastal throughout the game. Expect the Chanticleers to make some plays and get into the end zone, but for Virginia to ultimately pull away and control this one down the stretch. 

The Pick

Coastal 20

UVa 35