Where does UVA stand mid-season, Unamba kicked off team, what needs to happen in the second half of the season

Well to say the least, this football season for UVA has been exciting for a couple of different reasons. For one, Virginia has only lost one game, 5-1. The Hoos are ranked at the moment number 18 in the country in the AP poll. UVA has pulled an upset over then number 8 FSU, a road underdog win against Louisville and take care of business over everyone they are supposed to with the exception of NC State. Across six games the offensive line has given up a combined 5 sacks. Quarterback Chandler Morris has found a rhythm that looks nearly unstoppable. A run game that has gotten consistent. Needless to say, there is a lot to be excited about in Charlottesville. So, have the Hoos exceeded expectations? What is the deal with Offensive tackle Wallace Unamba? What needs to happen the rest of the season? ACC Championship opportunity? Playoffs?? I'll break these and more down in this article.

Has UVA met or even exceeded expectations?

So, a quick and easy answer to this question is... YES. While a lot of Virginia fans expected an improvement of a season, I don't think anyone expected the Hoos to be ranked number 18 in the country. We all knew Virginia had a pretty easy schedule coming into this season and expected a much better record from Coach Tony Elliott. In this first half window, Virginia has played lackluster teams like Coastal Carolina, William & Mary, and Stanford. That is three of the five wins achieved so far right there. The sole loss of the first half coming against NC State which I will touch on more in a moment. Two very important wins for the Hoos came in the last two weeks before the bye, beating number 8 ranked Florida State, and an undefeated Louisville team.

The one loss coming against NC State had a lot of fans up in arms to fire Coach Elliott and the season was going to be a failure, "The same old Virginia." I tried mentioning in an X (Twitter) post to the fans to not hit the panic button... which let's just say did not go over well with certain fans. My point was it was WEEK TWO, NC State had a tough Quarterback in CJ Bailey, and we never guaranteed that NC State would be a win. Really, Virginia was one play away from winning that game, just an unfortunate read from Chandler Morris leading to a game losing interception. Virginia has not lost a game since and has looked red hot.

I think many fans were hoping Virginia would have 2 losses at most by the bye, with losses somewhere between NC State, Florida State, and Louisville. Going into the FSU game I thought Virginia just needed to escape that two game stretch with at least one win, and well they got two.

My preseason prediction in the first half included a 5-1 record, except I predicted a loss to Louisville not NC State. So yes, Virginia has met expectations in the first half and because of the number 18 next to their name, I would say they have exceeded expectations as well.

What is going on with Offensive Tackle Wallace Unamba?

Well, there is not much to say about this topic because of the unknowingness. OT Wallace Unamba transferred from Kentucky during the offseason was a pretty good offensive linemen for the Hoos for a couple games. However, during the Hoos loss against NC State he went down with a knee injury and has not been back since. With that being said, The University of Virginia announced his dismissal from the football program Monday night due to a violation of team policy. UVA also said that there would be no further comment. So Unamba's time in the UVA football program is done, meaning Virginia will be filling his void at Tackle. Really, UVA has been playing fine at offensive line with his absence, and with a couple of other linemen getting healthy, the Hoos should be ok without him. Just an unfortunate situation that whatever he did led to Virginia being down a solid transfer pickup.

What is there to expect the rest of the season?

Well, to be honest Virginia has gotten through the toughest stretch of the season already, and that was playing FSU and Louisville back-to-back. However, the Florida State win does not look quite as impressive now as the Seminoles have since lose to Miami and Pitt. The six opponents remaining on the schedule are Washington St, at North Carolina, at Cal, Wake Forest, at Duke, and the Hokies of Virginia Tech.

Washington State is an interesting opponent coming up this weekend as the Cougars are 3-3, coming off of almost upsetting number 4 in the country Ole Miss. So how will the Cougars respond after nearly a season altering win? I predicted North Carolina to be one of Virginia's three losses before the season... that was before the Bill Belichick project blew up in their face. That is a game Virginia should one hundred percent win. California will be tough with a cross-country trip; the Golden Bears are 4-2 with not really any impressive wins. Wake Forest is also 4-2 with a heart-breaking overtime loss to number 12 in the country Georgia Tech. The Demon Deacons can be pesky, but playing at home? Should be a very winnable game. The toughest game remaining on the schedule is traveling to Durham to play the Blue Devils. Duke was my pick preseason to be the third and final loss of the season. The Blue Devils sit at 4-2 and look pretty good, in third place of the ACC standings, and a three-game winning streak. Many believe that the game between Duke and UVA could decide who goes to play against Miami in Charlotte in the ACC Championship.

Finally, of course, who could forget about the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Commonwealth Cup. The Hokies started the season 0-3 leading to the fire of Head Coach Brent Pry, since then Tech has a record of 2-2. UVA one hundred percent has the talent to beat Virginia Tech this year and will likely be favored by more than a possession. The problem? The demons of the past. No matter the circumstances, you can never guarantee Virginia will have it their way against the Hokies. With that being said though, yes UVA should absolutely win that game.

So where does that leave the Hoos? All six of those games are very winnable and Virginia will likely be favored in all six with a close spread against Duke. The question is can UVA do what they are supposed to do the rest of the season, take care of business and not lose sight of what they are playing for. Virginia controls its own destiny to make it to Charlotte for the ACC Championship. They just need to run the table. And if they do so? You could maybe be talking about the Cavaliers as one of the final teams in that College Football Playoff bubble. Or maybe if they can get to Charlotte, maybe they could pull an upset in what many people are calling "The Miami invitational" and earn an automatic bid to the playoffs.

The sky is the limit for the Hoos

Virginia has exceeded expectations halfway through the season. The question is will they stay hot and will they take care of business like they should. With many of the games remaining on the schedule being winnable, the sky truly is the limit. If Virginia does what it is supposed to, we are talking ACC Championship in Charlotte, and certainly AT LEAST in the conversation for a college football playoff bid. Just have to take it one game at a time and execute.