99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff

Virginia kicks off the season in fewer than 10 days.
Robert Anae directs players early in his tenure at UVA. ~ Kris Wright

A couple of weeks back, the “99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff” series broke down a troubling pattern for the Virginia defense. Over the past five years, despite a coaching change in the middle that shuffled schemes, the Cavaliers have given up explosive scoring plays at a high rate. Opponents have scored 72 touchdowns of 24+ yards in UVA’s last 61 games.

The good news, as that entry pointed out, is that the Bronco Mendenhall version of the defense improved from year one to year two. The Hoos gave up 14 25+ yard touchdowns in 13 games last season with four clean games.

What about the other side of the ball, though? The “99 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff” series continues with a look at the other side of that coin.

No. 11 – Increasing Explosive Touchdown Plays

Ever since offensive coordinator Robert Anae arrived at UVA two years ago with Mendenhall, a fair share of critical arrows have been slung his way. Critics offer that the offense is too predictable by formation and by personnel, while also pointing out some inconsistency overall with scoring. That last part appeared in the final two games last season when the offense scored zero points.

While Virginia message boards could rant endlessly on the critical side of the argument, one thing Anae’s offense has improved for the program is explosive scoring plays. His first season was better in that category than all but two of the previous five years and his second season with the Hoos provided the best number of long touchdown plays from 2011-2017. UVA, of course, had three different offensive coordinators over those seven years (Bill Lazor, Steve Fairchild, Anae).

Here’s how the numbers stack up for touchdowns of 25+ yards over those seven years:

  • 2011: 12 in 13 games (10 passes, 2 runs), 4 of 12 games with 0
  • 2012: 6 in 12 games (5 passes, 1 run), 8 of 12 games with 0
  • 2013: 4 in 12 games (1 pass, 3 runs), 9 of 12 games with 0
  • 2014: 5 in 12 games (4 passes, 1 run), 7 of 12 games with 0
  • 2015: 15 in 12 games (12 passes, 3 runs), 3 of 12 games with 0
  • 2016: 8 in 12 games (7 passes, 1 run), 6 of 12 games with 0
  • 2017: 17 in 13 games (16 passes, 1 run), 6 of 13 games with 0

As you can see from that list, 2017 topped the others in both total explosive touchdowns and in explosive touchdowns per game (1.3). In fact, the 2017 season surpassed the three seasons from 2012 to 2014 combined. Even the 2016 season, ranked ahead of those three seasons in the category.

A few other things jump out quickly:

  • Two of the three best seasons (2011 and 2017) resulted in bowl bids.
  • One playmaker can make a huge difference. For example, in 2015, receiver Canaan Severin accounted for six of the 15 explosive touchdowns (26, 32, 36, 30, 30, and 27 yards) with one in six different games. Taquan Mizzell had three that season. Last season, UVA had two. Olamide Zaccheaus had four scores of 30+ yards (30, 56, 81, 33), while Andre Levrone had seven (34, 73, 30, 64, 34, 27, 33).
  • UVA has had limited success breaking long runs for touchdowns (12 in the last 86 games), something that likely has been a combination of speed at running back, downfield blocking, and other factors such as defenses stacking the box.

The 2016 season represents the only one among Anae’s last five seasons as an offensive coordinator that his offense produced single digits in explosive scoring plays. Of note, last season’s 17 at Virginia is the best of the five years. Here’s a look at Anae’s three-year stint at BYU prior to taking the job at Virginia:

  • 2013: 15 in 13 games (8 passes, 7 runs), 4 of 13 games with 0
  • 2014: 16 in 13 games (13 passes, 3 runs), 3 of 13 games with 0
  • 2015: 12 in 13 games (7 passes, 5 runs), 6 of 13 games with 0

This is one area to monitor this season as the Hoos modify and shuffle their schemes to account for a change at quarterback. Kurt Benkert had the ability and willingness to throw over the top of the defense plus the accuracy to connect on some of those passes. One of his favorite targets for those passes, Andre Levrone, hauled in seven explosive scoring catches last season. Benkert and Levrone, of course, are both in NFL camps now. So as No. 40 in this series outlined, that’s a personnel spot (deep threat receiver) and production piece that must be rekindled this season with new faces.

New quarterback Bryce Perkins brings a different element to the QB spot, though. He has high end speed and the ability to break runs with his legs so the scheme will try to include that threat in the plans. Looking back at Anae’s last three years at BYU, Taysom Hill had similar skills in that spot and created six explosive rushing touchdowns despite missing time with injuries. Can Perkins also connect on deep passes that lead to touchdowns, though? Hill and Benkert both could in Anae’s offense. If Perkins can too, then Anae might be able to sustain this part of the offense in year three.

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