CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – After six games, what was, in many ways, a Virginia football team of strangers in the offseason, now knows each other well. And they know they have the pieces in place to make a run at an ACC title.

“Every game that we play, we keep getting better, keep getting to know each other,” said defensive end Daniel Rickert, a graduate transfer from Tennessee Tech. “As we go on, we’re just going to continue to get closer and better.”

Among the many challenges for coaches in the modern NIL era of college football is building a cohesive team from a roster of players who have only known each other for a matter of months.

Transfer portal additions bring talent and experience to lineups and plug holes in depth charts. But chemistry is not included automatically.

In a make-or-break fourth season at UVA for coach Tony Elliott, it appears he’s done that.

For Virginia, six games into its season and a win shy of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2021, the experience of the first half of the season – combined with the timing of the team’s open date – could have it positioned for a run at an ACC title.

“We’re chasing our best game,” said wide receiver and returner Cam Ross, a transfer from James Madison. “None of us feel like we’ve played our best game yet, collectively, as a team. That will ultimately lead to the result we want.”

This past week, with an open date, Elliott and his staff were able to reassess the things they’re doing with this year’s team through the lens of familiarity with their new players and a better handle on how the pieces on the team fit together.

“You’ve got half your season, so it’s a good body of work,” Elliott said. “So now you’re more comfortable and familiar with your players that you brought in. You know their strengths and weaknesses, so you can add a little bit more. Or you can go back into the install that you put in during fall camp that you may not have been able to pull out.”

What UVA (5-1) showed through the first half is an explosive offense led by transfer quarterback Chandler Morris, an improved running game highlighted by transfer running back J’Mari Taylor, an impactful pass rush led by transfer defensive end Mitchell Melton and the potential for explosive plays on special teams, especially with Ross.

The latter of that list is an area Elliott said he wants to see his team do more with in the second half of the season.

The Cavaliers rank second in the ACC in scoring and total offense and third in rushing offense. Despite an injury-riddled offensive line, they’ve allowed the second fewest sacks in the league, while recording the third most. They’re the second-best team in the ACC converting on third down and the second-best defense at stopping opponents on third down.

That second half starts with Saturday night’s non-conference matchup with Washington State, a team that nearly stunned Ole Miss last weekend, dragging the fifth-ranked Rebels down to the wire before falling 24-21 in Oxford, Miss.

“I think Ole Miss kind of maybe wasn’t focused that week on them, looking ahead, team like that coming in,” Rickert said. “It’ll be the same for us. We just have to focus on them and not look ahead.”

Virginia expects a crowd of over 50,000 for the Washington State game, a source said. Its best turnout so far this season was the 50,107 that came to Scott Stadium for the Florida State game on Sept. 26 and, according to the source, ticket sales for Saturday are ahead of that game’s pace.

Elliott is 4-0 coming off an open date in his UVA tenure, including beating Boston College and Pittsburgh last season.

This is the first of two open dates, with the second coming before the regular-season finale against rival Virginia Tech.

This break in the action also allowed Virginia to get some key players healthy for the second half of the season.

Elliott said punter Daniel Sparks and left tackle McKale Boley will play Saturday against the Cougars. Center Brady Wilson is still “working himself back into practice” but Elliott said he’s “optimistic that he’ll be available here soon.”

Elliott did reveal that short-yardage quarterback Grady Brosterhous, who has yet to play this season due to a foot injury, suffered a setback in practice and is likely to miss the rest of the year.

That matchup with the Cougars will be UVA’s final non-league contest before ending the season with five straight ACC games, three coming on the road.

The remaining league teams on the Cavaliers’ schedule are a combined 20-14 overall and 6-6 in ACC play, with half of those conference wins coming from Duke.

Of course, those are exactly the kind of details Elliott doesn’t want his team to be thinking about going into the Washington State game.

“That’s the hard part with the success is everybody starts talking about it,” Elliott said. “That’s when you get distracted, and then you don’t take care of what’s in front of you.”