Maurice Canady and Tim Harris started all but three games at cornerback for Virginia in 2015. Canady and Demetrious Nicholson, who were both seniors, moved on, leaving new head coach Bronco Mendenhall left to find a starting corner opposite Harris for the 2016 season.

Lining up opposite Harris against the Richmond Spiders was No. 21 Juan Thornhill, who received a lot of praise from the coaches in the offseason months. Thornhill played in nine games as a true freshman in 2015, mostly seeing action on special teams. Positioned at safety under former Virginia coach Mike London, Thornhill made the move to corner this past spring under the new staff.

“Solid” was the word Mendenhall used to describe the 6’1”, 190-pound sophomore’s starting debut.

“Juan has been really impressive from spring in and through fall camp and for the most part in the game – had a nice first game, I would say solid,” Mendenhall said. “There were plays where the coverage could have been tighter. There’s plays where the coverage could have been more precise. There’s times where the communication could be at a higher level. However, for our first game, I think he did – had a solid performance.”

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