William & Mary Tribe (0-0)

Head Coach: Mike London (63-61 Overall, 6-9 at W&M)

Series: UVa leads the series 30-6-1

Last Meeting: The Hoos beat the Tribe 52-17 in 2019

For the first time in nearly two years, Virginia will take the field in front of thousands of Cavalier fans on Saturday night. The Wahoos will open their 2021 campaign at home against William & Mary, led by former coach Mike London and a staff full of UVa alums and connections ( 7:30 p.m., ACC RSN/ESPN3).

The Cavaliers will be looking to start 1-0 for the fifth straight season, last losing a season opener in Bronco Mendenhall’s first game in charge. That UR game was also UVa’s last loss to an FCS squad, having beaten Richmond in 2018 and William & Mary in both 2017 and 2019. The Tribe, on the other hand, kick off their fall season after playing a truncated three-game spring schedule, after the 2020 season was wiped out by COVID-19.

They went 1-2 earlier this year, losing to JMU and Richmond but beating Elon. Heading into what is technically his third season in charge, it still looks like a rebuilding effort for London and his staff. William & Mary was picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the CAA this summer, so most pundits expect the Tribe to struggle through 2021.

Performance: William & Mary featured an avalanche of gadget plays and interesting formations the last time the Tribe came to Charlottesville. Then offensive coordinator Brennan Marion has moved on to Hawaii and now Pittsburgh, and the offense is now led by Christian Taylor, a former William & Mary QB. Prior to his return to Williamsburg, Taylor led successful offenses at the University of San Diego, finishing top 10 in FCS in scoring offense in both 2018 and 2019.

The Tribe struggled to move the ball in the spring, averaging 18.3 points per game and 293 total yards per contest. They had a balanced attack, skewed more towards the running game. William & Mary averaged 124 yards per game on the ground, and just 169 yards through the air per game. The Tribe converted 35 percent of their third-down tries, and finished the three-game season -1 in turnover margin. Like Virginia, they have thrived when they have won the turnover battle and struggled when they fall behind. Since 2018, William & Mary is 7-2 when winning the turnover battle and also wins quite a few low-scoring games, going 11-3 over the past three years when scoring a mere 20 points.

W&M brings back every starter on offense from its spring season, led by an experienced offensive line. The Tribe have nearly 80 combined starters up front and they have seven seniors expected to start on the offense. But it’s also worth talking about who the they won’t have tomorrow: Starting running back Malachi Imoh has been ruled out due to injury after a solid spring season. Imoh was on Phil Steele’s Third Team All-CAA and averaged 9.2 yards per carry in the spring.

Starting QB Hollis Mathis has an injury concern as well. London mentioned in his press conference this week that Mathis has been able to go through some of practice, but as he is returning from injury, his status is still up in the air. Having to play without him would be a game-changer for the Tribe. The Pittsburgh native, who started at Scott Stadium two years ago, led the CAA in total offense per game in the spring and is a threat with his legs in addition to his throwing ability. True freshman Darius Wilson is listed as Mathis’ backup on the depth chart.

RB Donovyn Lester: With Imoh out, the Tribe will turn to Lester to carry the load. He played just one game in the spring, rushing for 26 yards on six carries against rival Richmond. Lester recorded 271 yards and four touchdowns on the ground as a true freshman in 2019. Lester should get the ball plenty, but he may be leaned on even more if Mathis can’t go, and a true freshman starts under center.

WR Cole Blackman: The former Cavalier is wrapping up his college career in Williamsburg, playing for the coach who recruited him to Charlottesville six years ago. Blackman transferred from UVa after several injury-plagued seasons and saw one year at Illinois State before landing at William & Mary. He started all three games in the spring, averaging just under 65 receiving yards per game and 16.2 yards per catch. The former Wahoo could see his name called by the PA announcer several times on Saturday night.

Performance: W&M should look familiar to Cavalier fans, as it is the same scheme UVa ran under London for many years. The Tribe will line up in a traditional 3-4 when UVa has the ball, under the direction of defensive coordinator Vincent Brown. Another UVa/William & Mary connection having spent time on London’s staff before leaving for UConn, Brown has their defense in a better spot than the William & Mary offense. The Tribe allowed just 23 points per game in the spring and just 322 yards per contest. As was the case on offense, they also return all of their starters from the spring season on defense.

The strength of the defense has been playing the pass, a trend that goes back to previous coach Jimmye Laycock, who oversaw some strong secondary units. In the past 47 games, William & Mary’s defense has only allowed 14 teams to score multiple passing touchdowns in the same game. Virginia did it twice during that span, with both Kurt Benkert and Bryce Perkins finding the end zone multiple times through the air against William & Mary’s secondary.

The Tribe will also be without a key player on defense, with linebacker Tyler Crist set to miss the game with an injury. Crist is a significant loss for the Tribe. The team captain converted from fullback to linebacker in 2019 and has excelled in that role since.

DL Will Kiely: One of the Tribe’s most experienced players, Kiely is heading into his fourth year as a starter on the William & Mary defensive line. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound end was All-CAA in 2019 and has recorded 133 tackles (2.5 for loss) and nine sacks in his career. Virginia’s offensive line is expected to be a strong unit this year, but they should be tested by Kiely right out of the gate.

LB Trey Watkins: With Crist out, Watkins will have to lead the way for the Tribe at linebacker. Watkins was the team’s top tackler in 2019 with 83 stops. In his only game last spring, he recorded 12 tackles and one TFL. Now in his third season as a starter, Watkins is expected to be one of William & Mary’s most impactful defenders.