CHARLOTTESVILLE – Quin Blanding and Micah Kiser surprised some people when they decided to return to Virginia for their senior football seasons. Then, the duo of defensive stars helped the Cavaliers surprise even more people, leading the program’s resurgence this year.
U.Va., a year after going 2-10, has its most wins since 2011 and is bowl eligible for the first time since that year. Kiser, a fifth-year senior linebacker, leads the ACC with 115 tackles. Blanding, a senior safety, is second with 104.
“People doubted us,” Blanding said this week. “People had us last in the ACC and barely winning two games.