Greg Madia: What we learned from Virginia football's win over Delaware
Virginia wide receiver Kameron Courtney (5) evades Delaware safety Kahlil Ali (2) during the second quarter of a game on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.
Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula (7) heaves a pass during the second half of a game on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Saturday night didn’t mark the first time this season Virginia called a bubble screen for slot receiver Kam Courtney.
But Courtney and the Cavaliers have never executed the play as well as they did during the second quarter of Saturday’s 42-3 blowout victory over Delaware.
“In reality, you throw that ball out there on the bubble to get 4 yards,” UVa coach Tony Elliott said afterward. “It’s extension of the run game to keep you ahead of the chains. But when guys will give that extra effort, then you can turn that into a big play.”
And with the Hoos leading 14-3 with less than four minutes remaining until halftime, the effort of Courtney, his fellow receivers and the rest of the offense was undeniable from the instant the ball was snapped.
He was lined up as the inside most receiver in a three-receiver set to quarterback Beau Pribula’s left. Rico Flores Jr. was out wide, and Da’Shawn Martin was aligned between Flores and Courtney.
When Pribula fired the swing pass to Courtney, Martin already had his hands on Delaware safety Kevin Moore while Flores was sprinting to force the Blue Hens cornerback Jaquise Alexander off of the line of scrimmage.
As soon as Courtney caught the football, he had space in front of him. He made sure, he said, then to apply the lesson wide receivers coach Adam Mims had taught repeatedly about the bubble screen.
UVa used the bubble screen for Courtney early and often during its loss to West Virginia in Charlotte on the previous Saturday.
“Coach Mims always tells us to make the first man miss,” Courtney said, “and after I made that first man miss, there was just green grass.”
Martin pancaked Moore into the ground, and Flores was locked on Alexander down the field.
“Shout out to Rico,” Courtney said. “He had a great block. He was holding the block for like five seconds.”
Said Flores: “You’ve just got to play through the echo of the whistle. That’s what Coach always tell us and the play wasn’t over until that whistle hit, and it hit when [Courtney] was in the end zone.”
The result was a 52-yard touchdown catch for Courtney, who successfully turned what was intended to be a gain of four or five yards for the Hoos into the longest reception of Courtney’s career and the longest completion of Pribula’s career.
Courtney’s touchdown extended the Cavaliers’ lead to 21-3, also, and the willingness of Flores and Martin to block with that level of determination is one thing I learned during UVa’s lopsided win over the Blue Hens on Saturday.
Martin and Flores never relented, and their blocks coupled with the speed and elusiveness of Courtney allowed him to score. Considering, UVa’s group of wide receivers entered Saturday still trying to find itself, this singular play within an encouraging collective performance by the position unit should give the Hoos belief that their wide receivers have enough talent and desire to be good in order to evolve into a strength for the team.
“We’re going to need those kinds of plays down stretch,” Elliott added.
Here’s what else I learned during the bout.
Flores enhances the WR unit
Flores made his UVa debut during the Cavaliers’ loss to West Virginia after overcoming a hamstring injury that he suffered in training camp and that forced him to miss the first two games of the season.
He was on a snap-count limit against the Mountaineers, but that was no longer the case against the Blue Hens on Saturday.
Flores, the UCLA transfer who began his career at Notre Dame, made nine catches for 113 yards and a touchdown for the third 100-yard game of his career. Six of his nine grabs went for a first down or a touchdown. He averaged 12.6 yards per reception.
“The experience he has,” Pribula said about what Flores has added to the Cavaliers group of pass-catchers since returning, “and he’s just a savvy guy, reliable guy and he knows how to play the game of football. But when you have experience like that, I think it helps the whole [group].”
As long as Flores stays healthy, he’s got the potential to be the Hoos’ No. 1-targeted wide receiver moving forward.
D-Line still working to get to QB
Elliott said he was pleased with UVa’s pass rush because it impacted Delaware quarterbacks Nick Minicucci and Braden Streeter.
Minicucci, who threw for 3,683 yards and 23 touchdowns last season and went into Saturday with 814 yards and five touchdowns this season, couldn’t find any comfort. He was 4-of-8 for 24 yards before exiting with an injury.
Many of those eight throws were rushed.
“It’s always good to get him off of his spot a little bit and throw errant passes and stuff like that,” UVa defensive end Matthew Fobbs-White said. “It felt good to be able to do that.”
Defensive tackle Sichan John and Fobbs-White sacked Streeter on consecutive plays in the third quarter, but those were the first two sacks UVa had in the game. Fobbs-White said he wants for the Cavaliers to rack up more sacks moving forward.
“The sacks will come,” Fobbs-White said.
Two-minute offense looked sharp
UVa ballooned its lead to 28-3 when Pribula connected again with Courtney on a 19-yard pass for a touchdown with 1 second remaining in the second quarter.
Courtney’s second touchdown of the evening capped a nine-play drive in which UVa went 85 yards in 1:16 while flawlessly moving the ball in its hurry-up, 2-minute offense. That possession is now a positive for the Cavaliers to look back on whenever they’re faced with a late-half or a late-game scenarios.
“It was really, really good to work clutch offense,” Elliott said. “We practice it every Wednesday, but it’s so hard to practice and replicate.”
Elliott said all UVa was trying to do in this case was to get the ball in field-goal range to keep piling onto its lead. Instead, the Cavaliers got it all the way into the end zone.
“I thought [Pribula] did a good job of distributing the ball,” Elliott said, “understanding from a protection standpoint what his protections were and when he needs to get the ball out of his hand. It was just awesome to see the group go down the field.”
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Virginia slot receiver Kam Courtney discusses his bubble-screen touchdown during the Cavaliers' win over Delaware on Saturday.
