The Virginia football team now knows its starting quarterback – East Carolina transfer Kurt Benkert – and the season kicks off in less than 10 days. “Ask The Sabre is back before the season opener against Richmond at Scott Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 3:30 p.m. It will also be streamed on ESPN3.
TheSabre.com introduced a new weekly football feature this season called “Ask The Sabre” where our staff responds to message board questions. This feature is brought to you by our newest sponsor Bundoran Farm, where you can Create Your Virginia Legacy.
The third installment of “Ask The Sabre” tackles the quarterback question and more things with the offense. Here you go …
What are your thoughts on Kurt Benkert being named the starting quarterback? ~ ScarletandGrayWahoo
Editor Kris Wright: I think it is the right choice. Matt Johns is an outstanding man and a team player – coach Bronco Mendenhall called him special as a person – and that makes the decision difficult, but it is the right one. Benkert has an edge when evaluating physical skills with Johns and Connor Brewer. He has a stronger arm for deeper throws or a more powerful short throw – this offense has both. He has a quicker release that allows the ball to get out quickly whether he is on the run or not – this offense has a lot of those too. He appears to be at least a little bit more mobile than his competition too – looks comfortable out of the pocket and still being under control. He’s physically bigger too just in terms of pounds. I just think he has all the right tools for this offense and a ton of potential.
Associate Editor Chris Horne: Seeing Benkert on the first day of preseason camp, it was evident he had physical skills the other two quarterbacks did not have. He has the total package physically. He has size, strong physical stature, a strong arm, and the athletic ability to escape pressure and make plays in the run game. Benkert entered camp with confidence having run a similar system in his time at East Carolina. Coach Bronco Mendenhall described his ideal quarterback as a “Thor-terback.” Benkert fits that description, minus the long blonde hair and the hammer of course, leaving the main question being whether or not he would be consistent throughout camp. He obviously showed enough in preseason practices and the upside is absolutely there if he and the rest of the offense can stay healthy. Matt Johns is a terrific leader and has had success playing on this level, so Virginia has a high quality backup, but Benkert has bigger upside. The fact that he has two years of eligibility remaining helps his case, too.
Sabre Analyst Ahmad Hawkins (check out The Ball Hawk Show podcast!): Kurt Benkert being named the starting quarterback wasn’t a surprise, if you had a chance to watch the team practice. The first time I saw this young man throw the football, I was very excited. The football jumps off of his hands and he has the type of confidence that you want from your QB. Matt Johns has the same confidence, but he wasn’t blessed with the arm talent that Kurt possesses. Kurt is a quarterback that can make the tight window throws vs. man coverage. The one knock on Kurt Benkert is his health and availability. Kurt definitely gives us the best chance to improve our vertical passing game this season, in my opinion.
If we experience attrition on the offensive line due to injuries during the season, which strategies do you think we’re best positioned to use to beat an increase in pressure on our QB? (Will we run more screens? Will we run more “hot read” quick passes? Will we utilize quick throws to our tight ends? Or?) ~ QBSacker
Editor Kris Wright: I alluded to this just a little bit above, but the offense in general is built in a way that will neutralize pressure regardless of the offensive line’s health. A lot of your parenthetical suggestions are regular pieces of the offense: receiver screens, quick slants, quick crosses, quick outs … it’s all in there. This offense wants to play fast and create mismatches – that doesn’t always mean over-the-top throws way down the field, though. There are plenty of throws that are out of there in two to three seconds at most. The other piece of the puzzle that will help slow pressure are the read option elements. That version of play-action can freeze a pass rush a little bit.
Lastly, while the depth on the offensive line is a concern because there just aren’t very many bodies there, this group actually performed well in pass protection for large parts of last season. On 413 pass attempts, the Hoos allowed just 21 sacks.
So, we will be going FAST on offense and we have no depth … worried? In general, I am bought in to the new plan of going as fast as humanly possible on offense. But, I keep reading about our frightening lack of depth for this season. How does Coach Mendenhall square the circle? ~ HiltonHeadHoo
Editor Kris Wright: Maybe just a little. I like the hurry-up element of this system. I like the concepts of the offense. I like how the players looked conditioning wise in our allowed media practice sessions – everyone looks leaner and faster to me across the board. Even in the ‘will development’ portion at the end of practice, a lot of the non-freshman players still looked fine with their conditioning. So that gives me some confidence in the time put in to make this work. With that said, I’d be fibbing if I said I wasn’t a little worried about late October and November. Pitt, UNC, Louisville, Miami, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech all come after the bye week on Oct. 8. Those are going to be some tough challenges and by then the wear of the season will be starting to settle in.
A field position follow up: the field position article was very enlightening and interesting how much impact it often had on the game’s outcome. Does the special teams’ coach deploy two deep or one deep on punt returns? ~ D.C.Scott
Sabre Analyst Greg Waters: In all the tape I’ve viewed of BYU football, I have yet to see a two-deep alignment on a punt. They may do it but I’ve not seen it. In general, there are few areas where Bronco Mendenhall’s BYU teams have not out-performed the Cavaliers over the last decade – often by wide margins.
Mendenhall’s Cougars were a better punt return operation than UVA’s, but it wasn’t by much. From 2008-2015, BYU has been ranked in the top 50 nationally in average yards per return only twice – Virginia did it just once and that was last year when it was No. 6. Virginia has been ranked 90th or below in the NCAA five times over the last 10 years and BYU three times. It should be noted however that BYU has not dropped below No. 67 since 2010. On average over the last seven campaigns, BYU has ranked 52nd nationally with a 9.003 yards per return average while Virginia was ranked 80.5 with a 7.31 yards per return.
The player who scores the first touchdown of the year is ________ ? ~ Chris-VA
Editor Kris Wright: Taquan Mizzell on a big run or a quick-hitting slant pass. Virginia’s scheme is going to be moving fast and it is going to put players in positions to take advantage of mismatches. One of the big beneficiaries, I believe, will be Mizzell. Plus, it will be the opener for Richmond with no film to go on in terms of this system at UVA. I suspect that all will lead to a big play touchdown for Mizzell on an early series in the first quarter.
Associate Editor Chris Horne: I’m tempted to go with Smoke Mizzell or Kurt Benkert on a running play, but given the experience Richmond has returning in the front seven, I’m going to go with Benkert to one of UVA’s tall receivers. I’ll go with Doni Dowling getting the Hoos’ first touchdown of 2016.
Sabre Analyst Ahmad Hawkins: The player who scores the first touchdown of the year is Andre Levrone. I believe our first touchdown will be through the air and this young man has displayed an ability to take the top off of the defense this offseason. I think he will be healthy. If he isn’t healthy, I can see Doni Dowling scoring first.
Sabre Analyst Greg Waters: Olamide Zaccheaus will score the first touchdown of the season on a 33-yard slant pass out of the slot. If Zaccheaus hasn’t bounced back from an apparent hamstring injury early in preseason practice, look for someone else on that same route.
