When last Wake Forest and Virginia played, the Deacons were a few games into an 11-win season and Virginia had one of the most explosive offenses in the country, led by quarterback Brennan Armstrong.

Feels longer than three years ago, doesn’t it?

The Deacons won 37-17 in Charlottesville in 2021. That was what wound up being Bronco Mendenhall’s final season at Virginia, and Tony Elliott took over for the 2022 season that ended with an unimaginable tragedy.

To learn more about Virginia, we’ve enlisted the help of Brad Franklin, publisher of Cavs Corner on the Rivals network.

Here is our five-part Q&A:

1. I like to start these with a simple vibe check. Fresh off a 21-point win over FCS-level Richmond, what is the feeling with this program?

Answer: I would say that the vibe is pretty good but it’s also not at a place where it needs to be, if that makes any sense.

I think people are cautiously optimistic about some of the things that they’ve seen, but they’ve also seen Virginia go out and win games easily over Richmond in the past only to then get their heads kind of kicked in as a season is worn on.

Overall, though, I think fans are feeling more positive than not, and after the way last season ended that’s a pretty good step the right direction.

2. What, if anything, did you learn about Virginia’s strengths in the season opener?

Answer: Well, for starters, it’s clear that they picked the right quarterback, though I don’t necessarily think that was any earth-shattering truth.

Anthony Colandrea is clearly the right guy for this team and in so many ways his running style and how UVA used him on the ground was probably the biggest takeaway. I thought Des Kitchings and Co. kept a lot of things in the garage, and sort of went out there to just win the game without giving much thought to style points or anything of that nature.

Defensively, the back-7 is much better than I thought but at the same time the defensive pressure and the need for a pass rush is exponentially clear.

3. And kind of the inverse — what questions remain about the Cavaliers?

Answer: For me, it really comes down to pass rush and the offensive line. Everything about this team right now is about the trenches. They have the skill guys to be able to go out and score points and they’ve got the back seven that is good enough to play really good defense. But without lines that compliment those other pieces it doesn’t really matter.

Now, they were without their starting left tackle and the converted tight end who came in to play in that spot played very well. That’s a really good sign for them going forward. But going into this game this weekend, they really need their best out there and I don’t think they’re going to have it.

So, my biggest questions are pertaining to the lines and both how productive they can be and how much any lack of production impedes the overall progress of the program this year.

4. How much has Anthony Colandrea changed from the dazzlingly erratic freshman we saw last year to now?

Answer: I don’t think he is as hell bent on trying to push the ball downfield but I also don’t think that he’s risk adverse. What I saw in Game One, and granted it was just one game, was a quarterback who was more comfortable in doing the things both that the coaching staff wants him to do and in doing the things he wants to do.

He was elusive with his feet, but also happy to get out of bounds. He was happy to push the ball down but also happy to take the intermediate throws and short throws when they were there.

But all the intangibles? The swagger and the intensity and the confidence? All of that was still there but to an even bigger degree now that he seems more comfortable. This game this weekend will be a really good test to see just how much progress he’s made.

5. These typically end with a direction-of-the-program gauge, and given what Virginia has been through, this still feels tricky to navigate. So, moving forward from there: What would winning this game mean for Virginia?

Answer: The win over Richmond is one thing but to go on the road and beat a Dave Clawson team is another thing. So, a win would be huge.

I don’t think the Deacons are in a spot where they have been but I still think it’s still a talented, well-coached team and this is the kind of game that Virginia has not won in recent years. Especially considering this game is on the road, that ups the ante even more.

I feel like in a lot of ways the Cavaliers were happy to keep things in the holster last weekend but Saturday night in Winston-Salem, they’re going to need to release some of those. They’re going to need to do some things that are not just as simple as waiting to see what the defense or the offense gives you and just being more physical or being bigger or being deeper as a team.

I feel like a lot of the questions that last weekend‘s game did not answer, this one will. And if the Wahoos are successful, and they come back to Virginia with the victory, I do think it gives them a lot of confidence and it allows them to keep the dream of a good season alive considering how important this front end of the schedule is in terms of finding wins.

Any win is a good win when you’ve won such few games over the previous few seasons but an ACC victory on the road? It would be especially helpful for both this year and potentially beyond given the ramifications of every win for this staff.