The Virginia football team picked up a 27-3 win against Louisville on Saturday and did it in truly convincing fashion. The Cavaliers never trailed and were rarely threatened outside of a turnover that set up the Cardinals’ only score. It certainly felt like a giant step forward in the rebuilding process.
Sure, there likely will be steps backward in this non-linear rebuilding effort. And, yes, UVA has done similar things in recent seasons. This is the third straight win in ACC openers for the Cavaliers under Bronco Mendenhall, after all, and one year ago to the day, the Hoos blasted Boise State on the blue turf, 42-23.
Still, the way Virginia rolled into the winner’s circle this time is important. The Hoos weren’t perfect on Saturday. Three promising first-half drives, for example, resulted in just six points thanks to a missed field goal and two trips that stalled inside the 10. An early second half interception threatened to derail their chances. Yet, imperfection didn’t turn into self-destruction. The Cavaliers remained poised, physical all around the field, and pushed through to a fairly dominant win.
This wasn’t a case of everything going right on a given afternoon or a break here or there swinging fortunes either. The Cardinals even slowed down two of the bigger threats the Hoos have in Jordan Ellis and Olamide Zaccheaus, who had 68 rushing yards and 29 receiving yards. The visitors neutralized the sack threat of Chris Peace. Even without some of the biggest producers piling up stats, however, the Hoos controlled the game and took care of business.
UVA also answered some of its own lingering questions for a week. Sudden change opportunities following turnovers had swayed heavily in the opponents’ favor the past two seasons. Against Louisville, UVA owned the points after turnover category 17-3. The hosts held a 3-1 edge in turnover margin.
In the first half, a Charles Snowden interception led to a field goal. In the second half, a Bryce Hall interception was followed by a touchdown bomb to Joe Reed on a 44-yard completion. Finally, Bryce Perkins capped off the scoring by hurdling over a defender for a touchdown that was set up by a forced fumble from Aaron Faumui.
The offense capitalizing on the defense’s take-aways followed perhaps the biggest moment of the game. Perkins threw an interception on the first possession of the second half, but prevented a pick-6 when he stopped Rodjay Burns at the 3-yard line. The D then stuffed Louisville on three straight plays that gained no net yardage to force a field goal. Linebacker Zane Zandier flew through an opening to stop the final run.
“That was huge,” Snowden said. “I think that really defined our defense. Last week versus Ohio, any time we had turnovers we gave up big plays. We really emphasized that this week. So to have a sudden change like that versus Louisville really showed our growth as a team. I can still vividly see Zane smacking that dude on third down. It is ingrained in my memory. It really meant a lot to the coaches and the whole team.”
“We knew at that point that if they scored it was going to be a really tight game,” UVA defensive lineman Mandy Alonso said.” It would have changed the outcome of the game, maybe. And we held it down and knew what we had to do. … It got everybody fired up. Once we got to the sideline everyone was fired up and it really changed the game.”
Indiana gashed the Hoos with the running game and exposed inconsistent run fits. Louisville, an offense that banks on running the football, couldn’t generate anything all day on the ground and finished with 66 yards on 2.3 yards per carry. Redshirt freshman quarterback Malik Cunningham, who had rallied his team to wins in a sub role the past two weeks, made his first career start and couldn’t break free to replicate his previous running success. He ended up with 26 yards and gave way to Jawon Pass.
Ohio fired off two explosive scoring touchdowns of 29 and 36 yards. That’s been a recurring theme during Mendenhall’s rebuilding efforts. The Cardinals didn’t cash in at all, much less on an explosive play. In fact, their longest play of the day overall was just an 18-yard completion. UVA hadn’t held an ACC opponent without a touchdown since 2009 (Maryland in a 20-9 UVA win) and Louisville hadn’t gone without a touchdown in a regular season game since 2010 (Pitt in an old Big East matchup).
All of that together, even against a Louisville team struggling to put things together consistently this season, added up to a potentially giant step forward in the rebuilding process at Virginia. The Hoos, who are now halfway to the six needed wins for bowl eligibility, showed resoluteness to grind through some imperfection. They provided tangible evidence of development and growth by overcoming some of their own challenges.
This is the type of win that boosts long-term promise.
“I remember the last play [of the 2016 Louisville game] and the frustration I felt in year one just trying to get the program, even one wheel on the rails, just going somewhere in the right direction,” Mendenhall said. “Today, it was not perfect but it was 27-3 in our opening ACC game at home. There was a confidence when my team arrived in our locker room in our stadium. My wife asked me last night – how do you think you’re going to do? I said ‘We’re going to win.’ They’re becoming, I don’t know, they’re becoming more resilient and more confident. And rarely do I say that to her or anyone else, but there’s a different level of confidence that’s coming with this team and program. It does not mean we’ve arrived and it doesn’t mean there’s not things to work on, but I’m seeing it unfold.”
