Virginia football schedule preview: William & Mary

Virginia kicks off the 2021 season in three weeks on Labor Day weekend with a familiar foe, William & Mary. The Tribe are led by former UVa coach Mike London, who is in his third season in Williamsburg. W&M is looking for its first winning season since 2015, when it was co-champion of the Colonial Athletic Association. Let's get into more details for this in-state matchup:

When: Sept. 4, 7:30 p.m. Where: Charlottesville
Series record: UVa leads, 30-6
Last meeting: Sept. 6, 2019; UVa won, 52-17
Last year's record: 1-2 in shortened CAA spring season (in the Tribe's last full season in 2019, they went 5-7)
Win: vs. Elon, 31-10
Losses: at Richmond, 21-14; vs. JMU, 38-10
Coach: Mike London (third year, 6-9; 68-70 career)

Starters returning: every starter is back, according to The Virginian-Pilot
Offensive player to watch: QB Hollis Mathis. In two spring 2021 games, Mathis completed 60.8% of his passes for 379 yards, two TDs, and no INTs. He also ran for 92 yards and a score. Mathis missed the final game of the spring against JMU with a shoulder injury. London, the former UVa coach, said Mathis is still recovering. If he can’t start the season, the Tribe could turn to a transfer QB -- they picked up two in the offseason in Kevin Doyle (Arizona) and Cole Northup (Lafayette). Mathis, a junior, did play in the last meeting with UVa in 2019. He didn’t complete any of his four pass attempts. He was picked off once and sacked five times. For the entirety of that '19 season, Mathis completed 44.8% of his passes for 976 yards, four TDs, and three INTs. He rushed for 546 yards and eight TDs.
Defensive player to watch: DL Carl Fowler. As a junior in the spring, Fowler recorded eight tackles, with three going for losses, and one sack. He also had a pass breakup. In 2019, Fowler had 36 tackles, six for losses, three sacks, and three pass breakups. 
Special teams player to watch: KR Bronson Yoder. Named all-CAA in this preseason, in 2019, Yoder returned kicks an average of 26.9 yards and scored two TDs.
Season prediction: CAA media pegged W&M 11th out of 12 league teams.
Early game thoughts: Though W&M returns every starter, this is like any other season in which Virginia faces the Tribe. The 'Hoos needs to and should beat them by multiple TDs to feel good about where they want to go this season.