Virginia football took care of business on Saturday, defeating in-state FCS foe Richmond by 29 points in the 2018 season opener for both schools. As if winning the season opener wasn’t enough, UVA tacked on a recruit Saturday night, when class of 2019 4-star offensive tackle Ja’Quay Hubbard announced his commitment to the Cavaliers.
Below are some notes and observations from Virginia’s big day.
Offense
– Running back Jordan Ellis and quarterback Bryce Perkins exhibited patience in their runs throughout the game. I felt both players showed good natural running instincts, picking their way through the Richmond defense, accelerating at the right times, and in general being tough to take down. Sophomore P.K. Kier had a strong fourth quarter showing, rushing five times for 26 yards.
– Coach Mendenhall has indicated before that Perkins is tough to catch once he gets in the open field. I think we saw exactly what he was talking about in the Richmond game. The 6’3”, 215-pound signal caller showed off his acceleration and game-breaking speed on his touchdown runs of 36 and 22 yards. The 22-yard score gave Virginia the lead for good.
– Passing remains a question for me with regards to Perkins. Obviously we’ll find out more as the season goes on. I thought he was sharp for the most part, though, once he settled in. Virginia will need to be able to establish a deep passing game to keep teams from stuffing the box to stop the run.
– If the final spring practice and the Richmond game are any indication, Perkins has some resiliency. If you recall, he started slow in the final spring practice. When backup Lindell Stone put together an impressive drive, Perkins responded and played very well. Kind of a similar theme against Richmond. Nervous start, but he came back strong and played well the rest of the game. This goes to his mental toughness and bodes well for him and the team.
– I really like the option play where Perkins fakes to Ellis and heads to the edge with Olamide Zaccheaus. Perkins’ second touchdown run came on this exact play. Virginia ran it again the next drive for positive yards. A pick-your-poison scenario there. The good thing is Perkins looks comfortable running this and other option plays. As we’ve seen with other speedy quarterbacks in the past (I’m thinking of David Watford), just because you have speed doesn’t mean you are a good read-option quarterback.
– Zaccheaus had a quiet 101 yards receiving, if that’s possible. I think we’re just used to the speed senior making plays for the Hoos. But make no mistake, his catch-and-run 38-yard touchdown was excellent. Zaccheaus turned on the jets, and once he got outside he was gone.
– Zaccheaus is a proven playmaker for the Cavaliers in the receiving game. Who else can we look to step up at wide receiver this season? Hasise Dubois had three receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown in the win. In addition to the 20-yard touchdown pass, Perkins connected with the junior from New Jersey for a third down conversion on UVA’s first offensive drive. Back in the final spring practice, Perkins found Dubois for a touchdown. All of these things considered, perhaps some chemistry is growing there.
Junior Joe Reed had two catches for 34 yards against the Spiders, and the only other receiver to make a catch was sophomore Terrell Jana (1 catch, 10 yards). UVA did try to hit true freshman speedster Tavares Kelly deep on the first offensive play after Perkins’ pick. Perkins underthrew the pass, though, and Kelly did well to force an incompletion.
– Starting right guard Jake Fieler left the game in the first half due to what appeared to be an ankle injury. He would return. With the senior sidelined, though, Virginia moved redshirt freshman Ryan Nelson to right guard and inserted 6’10” redshirt freshman Ryan Swoboda at left tackle.
With Nelson and Swoboda on the field at the same time, Virginia’s offensive line was comprised of two redshirt freshmen, two sophomores (left guard Chris Glaser and center Dillon Reinkensmeyer) and one graduate transfer (right tackle Marcus Applefield). Obviously you don’t want it to come at the expense of an injury, but getting the up-and-coming Swoboda some time is a positive in terms of establishing depth.
Defense
– A solid opening effort at inside linebacker from sixth-year senior Malcolm Cook, who moved over from outside linebacker in the spring. Cook, who finished with 5 tackles (1 solo) in his first start on the inside, made an impact from the start, stopping UR quarterback Kevin Johnson a yard short of a first down on third down on the Spiders first offensive drive.
– Fellow inside linebacker Jordan Mack can really run. On one run play, Mack sprinted to the sideline to make the tackle, holding Richmond to either a no gain or short gain on the play. Richmond then successfully went after him in the pass game; however, the coverage was good. The throw and catch were just better.
– When Tim Harris returned for a sixth year, I think it’s safe to say most felt he would assuredly be the starting cornerback opposite Bryce Hall. Sophomore Darrius Bratton had other plans. The Roanoke (VA) native emerged this spring and summer and earned the starting nod over Harris.
Bratton had two pass breakups, one of which came around the Virginia goal line. I thought he played with confidence and played well against some talented and experienced wide receivers. Harris didn’t look as solid, but that’s to be expected from someone who has missed the majority of two straight seasons with an injury.
– It was interesting to see sophomore Joey Blount and then sophomore Brenton Nelson getting interceptions considering those two were in such a tight battle for the starting free safety spot this spring. Competition bringing out better play.
Special Teams
– Brian Delaney’s performance on kickoffs was excellent. Of his seven kickoffs, six went for touchbacks. Mendenhall called this a bright spot on special teams, which otherwise were so-so.
– A.J. Mejia’s 35-yard field goal attempt looked good in terms of height and distance; however, it sailed left. Not a great sign considering field goals have been such an issue for this program under Mendenhall, but hopefully Mejia can bounce back.
– Senior Lester Coleman punted four times, averaging 38.2 yards per punt. This included a 28-yard effort that gave Richmond great field position in the third quarter. Virginia’s defense held the Spiders to a field goal. Overall not a terrible game from Coleman, but we have certainly seen better and I expect he’ll be just fine as the season goes on. He was absolutely booming his punts in warmups.
Other Notes
– Redshirt freshmen who played: Tommy Christ (DL), Germane Crowell (CB – Crowell played last season but was injured), Nelson, Swoboda
– True freshmen who played: Bobby Haskins (RT), Tavares Kelly (WR), Billy Kemp (HB), Aaron Faumui (DL), Jordan Redmond (NT) and Noah Taylor (OLB). Kelly, Faumui and Redmond received the bulk of the action from this group.
Chris-
The offense came through although we still don’t know our offensive line is going to do against P5 teams and we will find that out this next game against Indiana. But, we did see that this defense in Bronco’s third year is lights out giving up only 225 total yards, only 34 rushing and only 6 points by the defense (the 7 came on an interception). If we can stay healthy on defense and improve on the DL we will be in great shape.