Confidence and corrections. That’s what two of Virginia’s leaders focused on during Virginia’s weekly press conference Monday. On the heels of a season-opening loss to UCLA, Matt Johns and Vincent Croce expressed confidence in the leadership on the team to remain confident and execute needed improvements in preparation for another big game against Notre Dame.
Johns stated that a clear area to improve upon is working on putting the ball in the end zone. UVa scored one touchdown in three red zone trips against UCLA; the Hoos managed a touchdown in the red zone just 46.9% of the time last season, which ranked 116th among the 128 FBS teams. Johns said “we need to get the red zone percentage up” and that this was “something we need to work on this week.”
While fans have been critical of offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild’s calls in the red zone, the team is focused on execution. “Every system has its flaws, but we like our system and we’re going to build off of it,” Johns said with confidence.
Croce, a team captain, confirmed the need for improvement in this area as well. “It’s our job to trust in that game plan and execute fully and we didn’t do that,” Croce said. “Football is a game of inches, and in that red zone it’s more like a game of centimeters.”
The Hoos reflecting back on other parts of the UCLA game too. Johns said he felt relaxed going into the opener and told himself to play his game and focus on what he needs to get done. He was able to draw on three previous starts from 2014. He also described how this season’s opener against No. 13 UCLA “sets the tone” for the caliber of opponents like Notre Dame this week.
Despite the 34-16 loss to the Bruins, Johns said Virginia must remain confident.
“We can beat these teams, we just need to have confidence in ourselves,” Johns said.
Croce echoed that the key to that confidence is the team’s leadership.
“The leadership on the team has been so effective because we’re on the same page,” Croce said. “It’s our job as leaders to make sure we’re on top of our mistakes and correct them.”
