Virginia entered the 2026 season with high hopes. In 2025, the Cavaliers lost just one ACC game (without their starting quarterback). Fast forward to the second half of the 2026 campaign, and Virginia has fallen to 2-2 in conference play.
Here is a stock report after the Cavaliers' loss at SMU:
Stock down: The entire Cavaliers offense
It is never good when an offense scores just 13 points in a game. It is especially concerning when that same offense scored seven points at Florida State, and had just 14 points against Syracuse until late in the game.
There are some systemic issues with the way offensive coordinator Des Kitchings has conducted this offense. The past few games have confirmed this fact. Virginia's offense is in a freefall down the national leaderboard.
Stock up: Justin Ross (and other reserve defensive backs)
Brandyn Hillman and Omillio Agard were out. Jacobie Henderson was playing through injury. Ethan Minter went down with an injury during the game. Despite all those injuries in the defensive backfield, a few backups performed rather well.
Ross was seldom heard from Saturday. As a cornerback, that is a good thing. Donavon Platt was torched for multiple big catches, and Jam Jackson allowed a big one too, but others were technically sound.
Stock down: Virginia's goals for the 2026 season
The Cavaliers do not control their own destiny in the race to Charlotte. In order to complete a near-impossible ACC title run, Virginia must win out and also have several other teams lose a game or two.
Based on the way the Cavaliers have played, they might struggle to find two more wins in their final five games. If Virginia somehow finishes with fewer than seven wins, some deep reflection is going to be had about the future of this roster and coaching staff.
Stock up: Cavaliers pass rush
SMU has one of the best offensive lines in college football. Even so, Matthew Fobbs-White almost had a historic outing. He tallied five quarterback hits, and was just a few inches away from a few of those turning into as many as four sacks. Virginia's pass rush performed well, even if it didn't have much to show for it on the stat sheet.
Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings looked uncomfortable for most of the afternoon. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, he managed to heave a few throws into positions where his receivers could turn near-disasters into big plays.
Add us as a preferred source on Google