99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff

By: Kris Wright |
Virginia kicks off the season in fewer than two weeks.
Bryce Perkins makes some throws early in practice. ~ Kris Wright

The countdown clock for the 2018 season is about to dip into single digits and among the things Virginia football fans are excited about, the potential of quarterback Bryce Perkins may top the list. The intrigue is equal parts potential and mystery.

The “99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff” series continues.

No. 12 – Mystery Man

On one hand, Perkins came to Charlottesville with some NFL pedigree in his family tree and he led Arizona Western Community College to the junior college national title game last fall. He offers some highlight plays on scarce film clips. After transferring to UVA in January, he almost immediately drew praise from coaches and teammates in workouts and then again spring practice. “Wow” was one word Mendenhall mentioned when discussing Perkins’ possibilities as a quarterback. So, yes, the potential has created some hype.

On the other hand, however, Cavalier fans have little evidence to go on with Perkins. Practices have been closed to the public with the exception of the final one in April that was a spring game scrimmage where Perkins and his fellow quarterbacks were off limits for contact. Media viewings have been limited as well. First-hand reports and video clips of live action, as a result, are virtually non-existent. Still, in combination with the in-house musings of Perkins’ potential, imaginations dream up scenarios – or should we say hopes? – of grandeur. That’s what discussions of speed races with Olamide Zaccheaus and the arm capable of making every throw will spark.

In Perkins’ case, that usually means visions of him making magic out of everything from called keepers to scramble drill brilliance thanks to his dual threat ability to run or pass. That’s also where some mystery remains. Will UVA fans see Perkins get through his reads or take off too soon or somewhere in between? The art of balancing those skills is often where quarterbacks with scrambling ability are judged.

“You don’t always want just running, you don’t always want running out of the pocket,” Virginia quarterbacks coach Jason Beck said. “You need to stay in there at times and deliver it, you need to extend it and deliver it [sometimes], and just get out of there [sometimes] and take off running. That’s part of that deal absolutely.”

Perkins has yet to take a snap in a FBS football game so the decision-making in those situations will be an evolving story. What will that decision-making look like in real time? In week one? Week three? Two Techs week?

UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall said early on that Perkins’ potential for success will hinge on his ability to read defenses and make good decisions, in part because the Hoos are installing an offense with option schemes. Beck said that Perkins came to Charlottesville well trained in recognizing coverages with a good understanding of reads. Perkins himself told reporters that he has the program’s single-season passing records written on his mirror and he correctly quoted the records (3,207 passing yard by Kurt Benkert and 28 touchdowns by Matt Schaub) he’s chasing.

Still, Perkins also has the ability to take the ball to the end zone on any play with his legs. When athletes have that kind of ability, they’ll sometimes trust it first to escape trouble. That can lead to scramble plays, which can have good or bad results depending on the moment.

Beck said that the challenge as a coach is to help the quarterbacks find the sweetspot on those decisions.

“We kind of refer to them as unscripted plays,” Beck said. “At a certain point, plays become unscripted so, yeah, when do you take off running, when do you extend the play eyes downfield to throw, when do you hang in there and keep working the pocket. So that’s a fine balance. It’s an instinct and you’re trying to train those instincts. The best way we try to do that is put them in those situations every day as much as possible so then you can evaluate and think about it. You can replay that scenario if you could do it over and look to adapt the next time.”

The potential for Perkins to harness those abilities as a weapon AND a threat that makes his teammates more dangerous is where a lot of the excitement for the 2018 season lies. If he strikes a balance there that makes the offense hum along at a better scoring level more consistently than in recent history, then the chances of back-to-back bowl appearances grow.

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