Virginia has just under two weeks left of spring practice, culminating in the annual Spring Game on April 15 at Scott Stadium. The Wahoos are breaking in a number of new players and looking to replace plenty of production from last season, on both sides of the ball.

Spring ball is an opportunity to install any scheme changes and adjust to a new-look roster before prep for the season begins in earnest in the late summer. In all, UVa has to find new contributors on both sides but in next weekend’s Spring Game, there’s little doubt that all eyes will be on the offense.

Needless to say, it was a rough debut season for Tony Elliott’s offense last fall. The Cavaliers averaged just 17 points per game, scoring one touchdown or less in five of their 10 games.

Statistically, it’s harder to find areas that don’t need to improve than it is to find those that do need work. UVa wanted to run the ball more and do so effectively, but ended up averaging just 3.74 yards per carry last fall. The Hoos also had a negative TD-to-INT ratio, with 12 picks to seven touchdowns, and weren’t able to capitalize on all of the returning talent in the passing game. They only converted 32.1 percent of their 3rd-downs, ranking 117th nationally, and ranked 120th in explosive plays created.

UVa also faces quite a bit of attrition on the offensive side of the ball. Gone are two position coaches as well as the starting quarterback and almost all of their pass-catching production. Normally attrition can be tough and it could be in this case. But there’s also potential that UVa can benefit from a bit of a fresh start in Year 2, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

With just 11 days left in spring ball, we’re taking a look at five key questions the offense will need to answer between the remainder of spring and fall camp, with the season opener against Tennessee just 151 days away.

This is the biggest question heading into the summer and is a question that many programs will ask annually in the era of the transfer portal.

UVa identified former Monmouth QB Tony Muskett early in the offseason and locked him down, beating out Missouri and a host of other interested programs. It’s a big step up for Muskett going from the Big South to the ACC, and he will certainly use this spring begin that adjustment process.

Jay Woolfolk is certainly in the mix, too. He has one career start under his belt and hasn’t really played much otherwise, so he’s a bit of an unknown heading into his third season with the program. His commitment to baseball has probably not helped him in the race to win the starting job and at this point, it’s probably fair to give Muskett the edge.

Having a new signal caller come in and have so much to learn can be a challenge, though many transfer quarterbacks across the country make it work every year now. The ability of QB coach Taylor Lamb and OC Des Kitchings to develop Muskett (or Woolfolk) to be the guy will be the most critical factor in UVa’s success this fall.

The QB position is the biggest question as things progress through spring ball into summer workouts but the offensive line is almost as critical.

The O-line struggled to maintain consistency last season with a lot of new faces up front, having lost nearly all of their linemen from the 2021 season. UVa suffered further attrition after the 2022 season, including offensive line coach Garett Tujague.

Virginia has added a pair of transfer linemen, and former Houston Cougar Ugonna Nnanna seems on his way to a starting spot. McKale Boley appears to be a potential breakout candidate and could to have a good shot at the starting left tackle spot. UVa needs to iron out the center position after waffling back and forth between Jestus Johnson and Ty Furnish last fall. And the right side of the line looks like it might still be up for grabs.

So while that doesn’t necessarily spell disaster, having so many question marks up front with a new quarterback behind them is a bit ominous as spring practice winds down.

The job ahead of new offensive line coach Terry Heffernan was outlined above. Joining UVa after two years at Stanford, Heffernan has to not only learn the program and the players in his position room but he quickly needs to get a young group ready to contribute and demonstrate improvement in the fall. UVa ranked 92nd in sacks allowed and didn’t really open up holes in the running game on a consistent basis. The line held up okay against less athletic fronts, but when faced with more physical defensive linemen against teams like Miami, it was rough going for UVa’s line.

Heffernan has two major jobs this spring and into the summer: identify his top guys and develop the entire group which is still young and raw.

Receivers coach Adam Mims is being called upon to fill big shoes, with Marques Hagans departing to Penn State. He also has to replace Dontayvion Wicks, Keytaon Thompson, Billy Kemp and the late Lavel Davis and Devin Chandler. It’s a lot for a new position coach to manage, but the receiver room does appear to have some potential.

We mentioned UVa’s lack of big plays last season above, and for an offense that struggled to do much of anything well not having explosiveness to make up the difference was brutal.

UVa’s offense wasn’t nearly efficient enough to move the chains consistently to score, and in both the pass and run game big plays were few and far between.

It’ll be a largely new skill position group for the Hoos in 2023, with a new quarterback, a lot of young players being asked to step up, along with transfer Malik Washington, and some additions to the running back room. Muskett or Woolfolk’s ability to deliver the ball downfield to open receivers could reverse the fortunes of the offense in a big way after those plays weren’t successful last year.

UVa will need its speed merchants at receiver to step up and get behind the defense too, and the development of Demick Starling could prove crucial in this regard.

And perhaps UVa can get more from the running back room. Perris Jones, Xavier Brown and Mike Hollins showed some flashes last season but there weren’t a lot of long runs from either. UVa fans haven’t seen much of Miami transfer Cody Brown yet, and Clemson transfer back Kobe Pace did have a knack for creating chunk plays with the Tigers.

If UVa can figure out the ground game, and potentially find a home-run hitter, that would be a big boost to the offense.

The quarterback position is the most critical in sports, and figuring out the answer at that spot is Virginia’s top task this spring and summer.

But this final question might be just as important: Who do the Hoos want to be?

Last year, there was plenty of talk about being more balanced and getting the ground game going. Effort was certainly made there, but success was spotty and in some games UVa ended up being more pass heavy.

Virginia had what amounts to an air raid offense in 2021 and while that doesn’t always lead to success, it was clear that the 2021 Cavaliers knew who they were and made it work to be a productive group.

A lot was made last fall of play calling and the performance of Kitchings as the team’s play caller. With the offensive philosophy seemingly more established in Year 2, the identity of the offense should start to show through.

This group desperately need to find a few things they can do well and a few key players they can lean on. If they do that, the rest will follow. If they cannot, and the scheme isn’t coherent enough to put points on the board, a lot more questions will be asked of the offensive staff, starting with the head coach.