Virginia Football Runs Over Richmond To Capture Season Opening Win

Junior quarterback Bryce Perkins, making his first start for Virginia, overcame an early pick-6 to lead the Cavaliers to a 42-13 victory over Richmond in the 2018 season opener. ~ Photo by Kris Wright

For a moment there, when University of Virginia football’s opening offensive series ended with University of Richmond linebacker Dale Matthews taking an interception 72 yards for a touchdown, Cavalier fans may have tempered their expectations of new starting quarterback Bryce Perkins, a 6’3”, 215-pound junior college transfer in his first season with the Cavaliers.

For Perkins, though, the interception served as a wakeup call. He recalls going to the sideline, taking a deep breath and saying to himself, “I got it now. Let’s just go play.”

Four plays later, Perkins responded to the unforced error with a 36-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7. This would be the first of four touchdowns on consecutive offensive possessions in the first half for the home team, which built a 28-10 lead by halftime and ultimately cruised to a 42-13 victory in its 2018 season opener.

“I was pleased with the victory,” said UVA third-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall, whose team is 1-0 for the second straight season. “Game one I think is always important for your team and for your season. I think, for a number of reasons, lending credibility to methodology through the year, or through the fall camp, it’s good to see return. So, camp was four weeks and to now have a return on their investment I think is always motivating and necessary. We have worked hard to reshape what we do offensively, that is still at the beginning stages, but I think you saw some of that direction with the combination of [Jordan Ellis] and [Bryce Perkins] and some of the throw game coming off of that.”

Perkins, a junior, finished his first game as an FBS quarterback with 185 yards passing and two touchdowns and 108 yards rushing and two scores. Fifty-eight of those rushing yards came on touchdown runs of 36 and 22 yards. Perkins is the first UVA quarterback to rush for over 100 yards since 2009, when Jameel Sewell rushed for 104 against Virginia Tech. Perkins becomes the 13th quarterback in school history to rush for over 100 yards.

While the spotlight was on Virginia’s exciting-but-unproven new starting quarterback, it’s ultra-hard-working grinder of a running back, Jordan Ellis, was outstanding as well. The senior out of Georgia scored twice – the first on a rugged 10-yard run in the second quarter and the second a 21-yard effort on Virginia’s first offensive series of the second-half. The latter boosted the Virginia lead to 35-10.

Jordan Ellis now has two career 100-yard rushing games after going for 146 Saturday evening against Richmond. ~ Photo by Kris Wright

In total, Ellis rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. He now boasts two career rushing games of 100 yards or more and becomes the 43rd player in Virginia history to rush for at least 1,000 yards or more (1,117).

Ellis and Perkins torched Richmond for 301 yards rushing, a marked improvement for a program that averaged only 93 yards per game on the ground last season and 113 rushing yards per game in 2016.

“It felt good out there,” Ellis said. “Obviously with Bryce having those two huge runs at the start of the game it opened up the run game for us. That’s what we plan on doing. We are going to have to carry the team in the ground game. That’s what we are going to do.”

While the ground game was in high gear, senior Olamide Zaccheaus provided the spark in the passing game. OZ hauled in six catches for 101 yards and a touchdown Saturday evening. He took a 4-yard pass and proceeded to outrun the Spider defense the remaining 34 yards to the end zone to give Virginia a 21-10 lead. A 33-yard catch on UVA’s next offensive possession set up Ellis’ 10-yard score.

Wide receiver Hasise Dubois closed out the game’s scoring with a 20-yard touchdown catch from Perkins less than one minute into the fourth quarter. The junior was second to Zaccheaus in terms of receptions and yards, finishing with three receptions for 36 yards in the win.

Virginia’s offense put up the points. Meanwhile, the Cavalier D, which returns eight starters from last season’s squad, was stout. Mendenhall’s defensive unit held Richmond to just 56 yards rushing and a measly 1.8 yard-per-carry average. The secondary was terrific as safeties Joey Blount and Brenton Nelson each recorded an interception off Richmond redshirt junior Kevin Johnson, who completed 12-of-29 passes for 191 yards and the two picks.

Junior cornerback Bryce Hall and sophomore defensive end Mandy Alonso accounted for Virginia’s two sacks. The Cavalier defense finished with seven tackles for loss while holding Richmond to nine first downs and 2-of-10 on third down conversions.

“I think on defense we played consistently,” Mendenhall said. “Turnovers were effective and timely. Good defense on third down.”

Overall, Mendenhall seems encouraged by his team’s season-opening effort. Certainly, it was leaps and bounds better than what the program exhibited two years ago, when Richmond waltzed into Scott Stadium and dominated the Hoos. Up next is an away contest versus the Big 10’s Indiana Hoosiers, who won their season opener as well.

“I am pleased with the progress our program is making,” Mendenhall said. “I recognize we are still at the beginning of what this season will look like, this offense will look like, and this team. But there is a different poise, a different maturity, a different clarity and confidence certainly from two years ago in our opener. Our roster is becoming deeper, our practice habits are allowing us to be more physical now that we have some injuries that are healing up. So a good start to the season.”

Box Score
Postgame Quotes