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Virginia’s Micah Gaffney, left, tackles Demick Starling, right, during the spring game at Scott Stadium.

Demick Starling is working this training camp to upgrade his receiving skills and he said he would like to contribute as a pass-catcher this fall. But he comprehends the situation at his position, too.

Virginia is loaded with returning stars — Dontayvion Wicks, Keytaon Thompson and Billy Kemp IV — at receiver, so while Starling diligently focuses on ways to improve on offense, the 6-foot, 188-pound speedster also wants to win a job to directly impact the Cavaliers this season.

“Special teams are important. It’s not just two sides of the ball,” Starling said earlier this week. “There are three.

“Hopefully this year, I am the starting returner,” he said. “That’s the goal.”

During the first week and a half of preseason practice, Starling has regularly caught and returned kicks and punts and is competing for the chance to do so come Sept. 3, when the Cavaliers begin their new campaign against Richmond. Others in the mix for a role as a returner include Kemp, Devin Chandler and Ethan Davies.

“We just got to get [Starling] going in the right direction,” UVa coach Tony Elliott said Saturday after the team’s scrimmage. “But definitely, he can be a guy. We’re trying to work him in at being a punt returner. He’s more comfortable catching kickoffs than he is catching punts.”

Starling said the biggest difference between fielding a kick and a punt is the trajectory of the ball. Punts typically come down in a spiral whereas kickoff fly through the air end over end.

As a standout for East Nashville Magnet High School in Tennessee, Starling returned a kickoff for a touchdown and a punt for a touchdown and racked up 500 special teams yards during his senior season.

“That’s probably one of the most wonderful feelings in the world,” Starling said of bringing back a kick for a touchdown. “I don’t know which one I like better — a receiving touchdown or a return touchdown — but that feeling of catching the ball, seeing the crease and hearing the crowd roar, it’s something you dream of and I’ve always dreamed of doing it at the college level, and hopefully this year will be that year.”

He said he’s thought about how a packed Scott Stadium could sound while he returns a kick or a punt for a score compared to the noise he formerly heard at high school fields on Friday nights.

Elliott said Starling still has work to do, though, to secure a spot as a returner for the Hoos.

“His biggest thing is he wants to make a play every play,” Elliott said, “and as a punt returner, you have to understand the game and when you want to take a chance, when you don’t want to take a chance and when you need to use your fair catch. And he’s the kind of guy that doesn’t want to use his fair catch ever.”

Starling was an All-State track athlete in the 100m, 200m and 400m, too, so he possesses the necessary speed for the responsibility, and Elliott said, “the dude is fast. I mean, he’s really, really fast and he’s very, very quick.”

Starling said he’s currently trying to take in as much of the teaching Elliott, offensive coordinator Des Kitchings and special teams coordinator Keith Gaither have provided.

“They coach the proper way to keep your elbows in and feet balanced,” he said, “so I’m focusing on the fundamentals and then everything will come after that.”

■ During the open portion of Virginia’s scrimmage on Saturday, the first-team offense put together a touchdown drive against the Cavaliers’ first-team defense. The series was capped with a touchdown run from quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Plays that led to the score included a first-down reception hauled in by Kemp IV and a first-down run by running back Mike Hollins.

■ Armstrong said he thought the scrimmage was a success for the offense and that unit played with a lot of energy.

He said he only played for two drives and both resulted in touchdowns.

“From my perspective, I thought we ran the ball well and had good tempo” Armstrong said. “We caught our passes when we needed to catch them, converted on third [down] and that’s kind of what the offense should look like.”

■ Elliott said backup quarterback Jay Woolfolk was “electric” when he was on the field.

“When he pulls the ball down, you better watch out,” Elliott said of Woolfolk.

■ Other players who had strong scrimmage performances, according to the coach, include defensive end Jack Camper, defensive tackle Ben Smiley III and running back Perris Jones.

Elliott said Camper has been “steady,” Smiley “continues to make plays,” and about Jones: “If I was to play today, Perris would be the guy I’d run out there first just because of his consistency throughout camp and his feeling for what we’re trying to do in the run game.”

Jones has outperformed Mike Hollins and Cody Brown among others in the competition for the top running back job to this point.

■ UVa will host its 2022 Meet the Team Day on Sunday at Scott Stadium. Elliott and his players will be available for autographs, beginning at 4 p.m. on the lower-level concourse of the stadium. The event is free, and a family movie will be shown afterward at 5:30 p.m.

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UVa quarterback Brennan Armstrong discusses the offense's performance during Saturday's scrimmage

Virginia’s Micah Gaffney, left, tackles Demick Starling, right, during the spring game at Scott Stadium.

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