99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff

A few articles back, the “99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff” series put the spotlight on returning linebacker Chris Peace. The rising senior helped coin the ‘new standard’ mantra that the program has embraced and he’s one of the most experienced players on the roster. In fact, he’s started all 25 games of the Bronco Mendenhall era.

Peace earned All-ACC Honorable Mention recognition last season. That distinction came in part thanks to one of his better skills. The “99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff” series looks closer at a defensive stat.

No. 41 – Designing Sacks

When Mendenhall came to Virginia, he brought his variation of a 3-4 defense back to Charlottesville. The Cavaliers ran Al Groh’s version before Mike London converted the Hoos back to a 4-3 scheme for his tenure. With that shift, Mendenhall gave the linebackers added opportunities to be involved in the pass rush.

That’s where Peace excelled in 2017. He tallied 7.5 sacks, a number that not only led Virginia’s defense but also led all ACC linebackers. He finished No. 5 overall in the ACC for sacks and tied for 38th nationally in the category. That production represented a jump from the previous season when Peace had 2.0 sacks. That improvement helped complement fellow linebacker Micah Kiser, who recorded 5.0 sacks last season. The prior year, Kiser put up 6.5 sacks, but no one else in the position group consistently broke through in 2016.

Peace credited the play designs for putting him in a position to make plays. The linebackers accounted for 15 sacks in 2016 and 19.5 in 2017.

“I think the play calling definitely helps,” Peace said. “Coach Mendenhall is pretty aggressive with the play calling and that allows me to actually get more chances to go after the quarterback. So that’s a big credit to the play calling. And the guys around me, the D-line, they help make pressures, help the quarterback step up into me. So it all just clicks together.”

The Cavaliers showed slight improvement from year one to year two under Mendenhall with sacks. Here is a look at the last decade (national rankings in parentheses) courtesy of cfbstats.com:

• 2008 – 29 (38th-tie)
• 2009 – 22 (72nd-tie)
• 2010 – 19 (91st-tie)
• 2011 – 20 (85th-tie)
• 2012 – 17 (103rd-tie)
• 2013 – 28 (47th-tie)
• 2014 – 34 (30th-tie)
• 2015 – 26 (64th-tie)
• 2016 – 25 (71st-tie)
• 2017 – 28 (50th-tie)

UVA’s production last season tied for the third best effort of the previous 10 years, trailing only 2008 and the high-pressure group from 2014. Of note, the linebackers’ 19.5 sacks from the last season surpassed the team’s sack totals from 2010 and 2012. Overall, however, the jump was modest with three more sacks despite one extra game, an improvement of .07 sacks/game year to year.

What’s also interesting to look at is how the first two years for Mendenhall at Virginia compared to his final eight years at BYU (cfbstats.com goes back to 2008). Here is a look at sacks from those years (national rankings in parentheses):

• 2008 – 22 (73rd-tie)
• 2009 – 26 (50th-tie)
• 2010 – 24 (65th-tie)
• 2011 – 23 (70th-tie)
• 2012 – 34 (20th-tie)
• 2013 – 24 (69th-tie)
• 2014 – 26 (71st-tie)
• 2015 – 40 (5th-tie)

As you can see, Virginia’s 28 sacks last season beat out all but two of those years at BYU. The 2016 number of 25 sacks ranked ahead of four seasons on that list as well. The only two seasons that produced more sacks than Mendenhall’s 2017 UVA team came in 2012 and 2015. What was different about those seasons? Both times, a Cougar came up with a huge individual number. In 2012, linebacker Kyle Van Noy posted 13 sacks. In 2015, lineman Bronson Kaufusi recorded 11 sacks.

If you throw out those two seasons from the last 10 years for Mendenhall-led defenses, the defenses created between 22 and 28 sacks with an average of 24.75 sacks per year. Obviously, the last two years brought that number up as the two-year average at Virginia stands at 26.5; the other six years at BYU averaged out to 24.2. For context, the top 10 sack leaders nationally have averaged 44.2 the past three years. Did Mendenhall dial up more pressure here or did the players just come through with a couple of extra plays over 12 or 13 games?

Either way, the 2018 team will try to show further improvement and continue to beat out many of the latter years at BYU. Doing that will not be an easy task, though. A pair of NFL Draftees left the defense. Over the last two seasons, Kiser’s 11.5 sacks are gone from the linebacker group, while Andrew Brown counted 9.5 sacks on the defensive line. The latter may be the bigger challenge for this particular team, though.

While Kiser’s overall tackle totals were impressive, his vacated spot may open up room for someone else to be involved in pressure schemes. Malcolm Cook may move to the inside, for example, where it would give a little speed injection to the group as a whole. The outside spots could push more snaps to Charles Snowden and Elliott Brown, who both flashed some pass-rush ability last year as true freshman. Those are just three names competing for time in 2018.

On the defensive line, however, it’s unclear right now exactly who the pass-rushing threats may be. Eli Hanback returns, but he’s not a regular visitor into the quarterback’s lap with 2.5 sacks over the past two years. Mandy Alonso will get more time as a sophomore so maybe he can make some sacks up front. Otherwise, as this series has noted previously, the defensive line is an unknown quantity for Virginia. Either position-switch tight end Richard Burney or someone among five newcomers, both true freshmen and transfers, might need to emerge in this category if the Hoos are going to beat their number from last season for sacks.

The “99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff” series has discussed much more. The previous articles are below. Click away.

• No. 99 – The Importance Of A Fast Start
• No. 98 – The Impact Of Early-Ending Careers
• No. 97 – Jordan Mack’s Role
• No. 96 – Welcome Back
• No. 95 – Han Solo Says
• No. 94 -Smart Addition
• No. 93 – The Center Spot
• No. 92 – Finding A Punt Returner
• No. 91 – Facing Running Quarterbacks
• No. 90 – Interceptions
• No. 89 – Kickoff Times
• No. 88 – QB Optimism Not Enough To Tilt Early Predictions Too Far
• No. 87 – It Starts With Jordan Ellis
• No. 86 – Virginia’s Most Dangerous Game
• No. 85 – The Tight End Swan Song?
• No. 84 – Teach A Man To Fish
• No. 83 – No Ordinary Joe
• No. 82 – Now Or Then
• No. 81 – How To Treat The Kickoff Rule Change
• No. 80 – Play, But Still Redshirt
• No. 79 – Which Red Zone Offense Is The Real One?
• No. 78 – Schedule For Success
• No. 77 – Who’s The Worst?
• No. 76 – ACC Coach Rankings
• No. 75 – Keep That Cold Weather Gear
• No. 74 – 1,000 Target For OZ
• No. 73 – Cross Out Cross-Training For Cross
• No. 72 – Punting Plans
• No. 71 – Redshirted … Ready?
• No. 70 – A June Jolt
• No. 69 – Who?
• No. 68 – Stops To Start Second Half
• No. 67 – Root, Root, Root For …
• No. 66 – Wildcard Extras
• No. 65 – Defense Showed Red Zone Improvement
• No. 64 – Welcome Back, Mr. Robinson
• No. 63 – The Florida Footprint
• No. 62 – True Freshmen Will Play, But Who Will Make The Most Impact?
• No. 61 – Four Fireworks-Worthy Moments In The Bronco Mendenhall Era
• No. 60 – Juan Thornhill Primed For An All-ACC Caliber Season
• No. 59 – Rebuilding The Offensive Line Is On Schedule
• No. 58 – Bouncing Back On The Defensive Line
• No. 57 – Underrated Hoos
• No. 56 – Lordy, Lordy, How ‘Bout 40?
• No. 55 – Peace Talk
• No. 54 – Hoos’ Handle On Social Media Bodes Well For Future Recruiting
• No. 53 – Filling The Void At Wide Receiver
• No. 52 – The Sixth-Year Seniors
• No. 51 – Borrowing A Burning Question
• No. 50 – Beat Tech!
• No. 49 – A Resolute Leader
• No. 48 – The Perkins Theorem
• No. 47 – Beat Pitt!
• No. 46 – A Look At Virginia Football’s 2018 Walk-On Class
• No. 45 – I Sense A Trend.
• No. 44 – The Need For (More) Speed
• No. 43 – Progress With Penalties
• No. 42 – Preseason All-ACC Musings