Three-List Game Preview: Virginia Football At Boise State

The Virginia football team plays at Boise State on Friday.
Malcolm Cook and the Hoos face another quarterback question this week. ~ Kris Wright

Another week, another quarterback question for the Virginia football team. For once, however, that sentence has nothing to do with UVA’s offense.

No, the question for the fourth week in a row is which quarterback or quarterbacks will the Cavalier defense face.

William & Mary went through preseason camp with five candidates and listed three as “or” options on its depth chart before the opener. Tommy McKee ended up playing most of the game. Indiana was expected ride with Richard Lagow handling most of the snaps, but backup Peyton Ramsey became more than a change of pace as he led the offense for most of the game. UConn used David Pindell for much of its opener before turning to Bryant Shirreffs. The Hoos expected Shirreffs to start and he did, but they weren’t sure if they’d also see Pindell.

Now, Boise State week arrives on the schedule. Junior Brett Rypien entered the season on numerous watch lists and as an All-Mountain West preseason selection. Rypien, however, got injured against Washington State and missed the New Mexico game. That left Montrell Cozart in charge of the offense and he played well in that win.

This week, Rypien has been cleared to play but it sounds like both quarterbacks might get some snaps. That may not be good news either way for Virginia. Rypien lit it up during BSU’s trip to Charlottesville in 2015 with 321 yards and three touchdowns as his team cruised to a 56-14 win, though that was before Bronco Mendenhall’s arrival.

On the other hand, Cozart gives the Broncos a running option at quarterback and they feel like their offense needs to boost the running game. He had 71 rushing yards with a 28-yard rushing touchdown against New Mexico. The Cavaliers have had trouble with quarterback runs so far this season. McKee put up 89 yards and a touchdown. Ramsey tallied 32 and a touchdown. Shirreffs finished with 90 rushing yards.

How the Hoos handle the quarterbacks in Boise could be a big piece of the story line.

Essentials

Three Big Trends

  1. Rushing yards. Before rushing for 171 yards in last week’s game with UConn, Virginia had rushed for less than 100 yards in six of the previous 10 games. It marked only the second time in that span that the offense produced more than 110 yards rushing (189 vs. Georgia Tech is the other one). For the 15 games of the Mendenhall era to date, the Hoos have rushed for less than 100 yards in nearly 50% of the games (7 of 15 games) and for less than 125 yards in 67% (10 of 15).
  2. Road wins. Winning outside of Charlottesville has been an elusive task for the program in recent years. UVA won at Duke last season to snap a 17-game road losing streak that spanned nearly four years between Nov. 3, 2012 and Oct. 1, 2016. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers lost three road games on both sides of that streak too bringing the current road string to 23 losses in the last 25 games. That trend started after the Hoos closed the 2011 season with three straight road wins at Miami, Maryland, and Florida State. Boise State has won 24 straight non-conference games at home and is 104-6 at home since 2000, the best home winning percentage in the country.
  3. Wonderful touchdowns of OZ. Receiver Olamide Zaccheaus has caught a touchdown pass in seven of the last 12 games for UVA, including one in last week’s win. More importantly, however, Zaccheaus has caught a touchdown pass in all four victories (15, 82 yards vs. Central Michigan, 12 vs. Duke, 17 vs. W&M, 30 vs. UConn) of the Mendenhall era to date.

Three Big Questions

  1. Can Virginia prevent big scoring plays? The Cavaliers continue to show improvement on defense, but they’re still vulnerable to big plays. Connecticut scored on plays of 60 and 30 yards late last week to become the ninth straight FBS opponent to score at least one touchdown of 26 yards or more. The last time the defense made it through a FBS game without allowing a scoring playing that covered at least 25% of the field came in the road win at Duke last October (the Blue Devils’ two touchdowns were of 23 and 4 yards). In five of the nine FBS games, UVA gave up multiple touchdowns of 26 yards or more. That includes the last four FBS games: 67, 54, and 60 by Georgia Tech; 39, 32, 42, and 31 by Virginia Tech; 26, 29, and 32 by Indiana; 60 and 30 by UConn. This week’s opponent Boise State is currently riding a 22-game streak with at least one offensive touchdown of 26 yards or more.
  2. Will the 2017 turnover trend continue? Through three games, Virginia has given up just one turnover. That came against UConn last week when Kurt Benkert through an interception on a shot to the end zone. The Hoos have been flirting with disaster, though. They’ve fumbled the ball seven times in the first three games, but managed to recover all of those. Plus, two turnovers against Indiana were negated by Hoosier penalties. Boise State is currently tied for seventh nationally with eight take-aways (four fumble recoveries, four interceptions) this season. Both teams are on quite a turnaround from 2016 when UVA committed 26 turnovers (tied for 117th nationally) and BSU gained only nine (tied for 126th nationally).
  3. Are UVA’s special teams up to the task? Boise State’s Avery Williams ranks 10th in the country with a punt return average of 17.3 yards. The redshirt freshman returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown against Troy and set up a touchdown with a 29-yard return against New Mexico. He also has added a 48-yard kick return this season. He’s the reigning Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week. Overall, BSU is ranked 16th nationally in punt return average (15.6) and 20th nationally in kickoff return average (26.71). UVA is ranked 104th in punt return defense (15.7) and 113th in kickoff return defense (26.78). The Hoos gave up a 44-yard punt return touchdown against Indiana.

Three Big Foes

  1. Tight end Jake Roh. The redshirt senior scored three touchdowns last week against New Mexico. He’s up to six catches for 45 yards on the season. For his career, Roh has posted 84 catches for 923 yards and six touchdowns. The Cavaliers have shown some issues covering the tight end spot this season with both William & Mary and Indiana getting production from that spot. Covering combination crossing routes, in particular, has showed up on film as a possible weak spot so keep an eye on that with Roh involved Friday night.
  2. Safety DeAndre Pierce. The sophomore leads the team with 3.5 tackles for loss and is tied for third on the team with 20 total tackles. He tallied a career-high 12 tackles against New Mexico last week. Pierce had 19 tackles as a true freshman last season.
  3. Defensive tackle David Moa. Nicknamed “The Moa Constrictor” so that in and of itself makes him a great candidate for this section, but he’s earned opponent’s attention without the nickname. Last season, he posted 30 tackles from the nose tackle spot with 8.5 sacks. He’s got eight tackles with one sack so far in 2017. He will be lined up at times across from Virginia redshirt freshman Dillon Reinkensmeyer, who is making just his second career start at center. Moa helps anchor a tough Boise State run defense that is ranked 16th nationally (2.77 yards per carry) and 26th nationally (98.67 yards per game allowed) in the two key rushing defense categories.