Virginia Football Coach Bronco Mendenhall Press Conference Notes: Liberty Is Sole Focus

Bronco Mendenhall looks on in Virginia’s 33-28 win over Georgia Tech. Virginia is 2-0 so far in November with two games remaining. ~ Photo by Kris Wright

Following its second and final bye week of the 2019 season, the University of Virginia football program (7-3 overall, 5-2 in the ACC) returns to action this Saturday at noon when the Liberty Flames (6-4) come to Scott Stadium. During his latest weekly Monday game-week press conference, Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall expressed his excitement about what he called the “final stretch of the regular season,” appreciation for a much-needed bye week, and appreciation for this weekend’s opponent.

Paraphrased as always, below is a summary of Coach Mendenhall’s November 18 press conference ahead of UVA’s 11th regular season contest of 2019.

Hoos Aren’t Overlooking Flames

With a win in their November 29 season finale versus Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers will be 2019 Coastal Division champions and head to Charlotte to take on Clemson in the 2019 ACC Championship game. Much is riding on next week’s matchup with the rival Hokies, so it’s no surprise Coach Mendenhall was asked if it will be difficult for his team to focus on Liberty. He was also asked if UVA had done any early prep for next Friday’s tilt.

One look at Liberty’s film, Mendenhall said, provides a “reality check” in terms of there being any notion of looking ahead to Virginia Tech. UVA’s coach says the Flames are scoring at a higher level compared to last year’s team, which was also a highly regarded offensive unit. Mendenhall praised the job first-year Liberty head coach and former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze has done, adding that any focus on next week would be “interference” in preparing for this week’s quality opponent.

Additionally, from a mindset perspective, it’s difficult to look ahead to Virginia Tech. Mendenhall has traditionally only focused on one team at a time (as opposed to preparing a little bit for an opponent coming further down the schedule). Liberty has Virginia’s full attention and the Cavaliers will use every available player against the Flames on Saturday. The Hoos will not hold out a player if they are available to play.

As Mendenhall mentioned, Liberty’s offense is potent once again despite an offseason coaching change. The Flames, who are averaging 36.4 points and 443.2 yards per game this season, are led by quarterback Stephen Calvert, who has completed 61.5% of his passes while throwing for 2,941 yards with 23 touchdowns and three interceptions. Running backs Frankie Hickson (637 yards, 5.3 YPC, 7 TDs) and Joshua Mack (621 yards, 6.0 YPC, 5 TDs) spearhead a rushing attack averaging 142.8 yards per game. Mendenhall says the offensive personnel is strong, the scheme may be more effective than last year’s, and Liberty does a nice job with run-pass option plays that comprise a large part of the offense.

6’4”, 220-pound senior Antonio Gandy-Golden (64 catches, 1,244 yards, 8 TDs) is back at receiver for the Flames and creating headaches for opponents. Virginia’s banged-up secondary will be tested by the senior, who Mendenhall says has “really strong ball skills” and catches the football with “great range.” In addition to his considerable natural talents, Gandy-Golden is benefitting from the scheme and how he is being used within the scheme.

Like Virginia, Liberty is coming off a bye week. The Flames’ last game was against Mendenhall’s former school, BYU. The Cougars won a tight contest in Provo, 31-24. Mendenhall noted that this was the first time he had watched BYU in action since he became UVA’s head coach in December of 2015.

Bye Week Allows For Healing As Well As Development

Heskin Smith Jr., pictured here in spring practice 2018, moved from wide receiver to cornerback after his freshman season. The Georgia native now figures to be an important player as Virginia tries to clinch its first-ever ACC Coastal Division title.

– Virginia surrendered four deep pass touchdowns to North Carolina and two touchdown passes of 25 yards or more in the first half against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets had two other long pass plays against Virginia. Largely because of injury, the UVA defensive backfield has become an area of concern (at least against the pass) in this late season. Discussing those defensive breakdowns, Mendenhall said there have been a few assignment mistakes and less coordination with new players that led to the big plays.

Last week’s bye enabled Virginia to work more closely with the players who now have bigger roles in the secondary because of the rash of injuries the Cavaliers have endured, most notably to starters Bryce Hall and Brenton Nelson, who are out for the season. Junior cornerback Heskin Smith Jr. now steps in as part of the 5-man defensive back rotation that also includes cornerback Nick Grant, cornerback/safety De’Vante Cross, and safeties Joey Blount and Chris Moore. Smith, who Mendenhall says tackles well, runs well, and has good ball skills, was targeted for increased development to prepare for a more significant role the rest of the season.

Working on coordination with new players appears to have been the primary focus on defense during the bye week. Offensively, continuing to work to identify the most effective player combinations was a primary goal.

– In what is good news on the defensive back injury front, starting safety Chris Moore went down with a leg injury in the first half of the Georgia Tech game. He would miss the rest of the win over the Yellow Jackets but is good to go against Liberty. Moore’s injury resulted in Cross moving from cornerback to safety and Smith coming in to play corner for the entire second half.

More Notes From Mendenhall

Linebacker Matt Gahm, pictured here making a key interception in Virginia’s win over Pitt to open the 2019 season, has played in all 10 games this season despite battling an injury. He has totaled 28 tackles including 4.5 tackles for loss. ~ Photo courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

– VirginiaSports.com Director of News Content Jeff White noted that junior outside linebacker Matt Gahm, who is part of a talented outside linebacker trio that also includes Charles Snowden III and Noah Taylor, is now playing without a knee brace. Mendenhall pointed out Gahm’s toughness in playing through a “significant” knee injury that he says many would not have been able to play through.

Gahm loves his team and loves the program, noted Mendenhall, who adds that describing the Texan as “gritty” would be “an understatement.”

– The offensive line is much improved and performing at a level that excites Coach Mendenhall, who is happy to see the confidence the linemen now have in themselves. Working to get to this point performance-wise has been hard and long and slow, but the unit in general has shown resilience. Resilience and hard work are winning out and the unit continues to improve.

– Coach Mendenhall complimented emerging junior wide receiver Terrell Jana by saying he is “completely trustworthy” no matter the situation. Jana has 28 catches in the past three games alone, breaking out with 13-catch performance in a win at UNC to start the November playoff race.

– Behind a terrific trio of established receivers (Hasise Dubois, Joe Reed, and Jana), Tavares Kelly Jr. and Billy Kemp IV are adding increased competition to practice. Those two sophomores were factors in UVA’s win over Georgia Tech. They are part of what Mendenhall said is the “next tier” of receivers, which also includes graduate transfer senior Dejon Brissett and true freshman Dontayvion Wicks. The receivers are one of the deepest units on the team.

– Punter Nash Griffin has been a “pleasant surprise” and is performing his role at a level that has helped the Cavaliers become Coastal Division contenders. Griffin, a redshirt junior who earned a scholarship over the offseason, has picked up where last year’s starter, Lester Coleman, left off in terms of being consistent and productive at punter.

– Virginia began the season with a run of night games. It will end the season with 3-straight noon games, including Liberty this Saturday and Virginia Tech next Friday (the VT kickoff was announced today).

As a coach, Mendenhall prefers early games. He jokes that, despite his vast experience, he has not mastered the art of remaining calm while waiting around throughout the day for kickoff. Early starts mean less anxiety. However, Virginia’s coach notes that his take of UVA fans is that they seem to respond better in terms of turnout to night games. That doesn’t mean the Cavaliers can’t have great support at noon the final two weeks of the season.

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