CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia’s offense got rolling last weekend in a record-setting performance against William & Mary. It hasn’t slowed down any.

Trell Harris caught three touchdown passes in the first quarter, Chandler Morris had his biggest game as a Cavalier and Virginia rolled over visiting Stanford 48-20 in its ACC opener Saturday night at Scott Stadium.

“You dream and you pray for a half like that,” Harris said.

Morris threw for 380 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a fifth score as UVA piled up 590 total yards, its most in an ACC contest since putting up 636 against Georgia Tech in 2021.

“We felt like this week we were going to get some opportunities to put the ball in the air,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said. “It was good for Chandler to have a game like that.”

Harris finished with four catches for 145 yards and the three scores. J’Mari Taylor rushed 15 times for 85 yards.

A week after setting a program record with 700 total offensive yards against William & Mary, Virginia (3-1, 1-0 ACC) came out on an even more productive pace, racking up 207 yards in the first quarter. 

After a stifling three-and-out on Stanford’s first possession, UVA went 65 yards in seven plays. It scored on a nifty play design and call – a quick receiver screen to Trell Harris for a 3-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 4:52 into the contest. 

About the only thing that didn’t work on the Cavaliers’ first drive was a first-play flea-flicker that fell incomplete with Morris throwing under intense pressure. 

Stanford (1-3, 1-1) answered immediately, with Ben Gulbranson connecting with Bryce Farrell for a 60-yard gain after Farrell blew by UVA safety Ethan Minter. 

That set up a 5-yard scoring pass from Gulbranson to tight end Benji Blackburn, tying the game 7-7 with 8:27 left in the opening period. 

Harris scored his second touchdown of the night on UVA’s second possession, outracing the Stanford secondary and hauling in a Morris deep ball in stride for a 75-yard touchdown that put the Cavaliers up 14-7 just 10 seconds after the Cardinal’s first score. 

“He’s a spark,” Morris said. “He can blow the top off any coverage.”

Virginia got the ball back and Harris got back into the end zone. Morris was flushed out of the pocket but delivered a pass over the top of the defense for a 27-yard touchdown that gave UVA a 21-7 lead with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

Harris became the first UVA receiver with three touchdowns in a game since Olamide Zaccheaus in the 2018 Belk Bowl win over South Carolina. 

“Wasn’t our best outing defensively. I know we’re better than that,” Stanford coach Frank Reich said. “There were plays there to be made defensively that I think we would normally make.”

Morris completed 11 straight passes after the flea flicker failed to hit sending Virginia on its way to a convincing victory to open league play – and maybe give it a bit of momentum heading into Friday night’s massive showdown with Florida State.

NOTES: Kam Robinson had a team-high seven tackles in his first game of the season. Robinson missed the first three games with a fractured collarbone. … Center Brady Wilson left the game midway through the third quarter and, in the fourth quarter, was on crutches on the UVA sideline, wearing a protective boot on his right lower leg.