Tony Elliott has led Virginia to a 2-0 start this season. ~ Photo by Kris Wright/TheSabre.com
After securing a win to start ACC play, the Virginia football team returns to Scott Stadium this weekend for another non-conference game. Much like the season opener with Richmond, Saturday night’s matchup comes against a familiar foe as former ACC member Maryland rolls into town.
The Hoos fell to the Terrapins last year in College Park by a 42-14 score in a game that spiraled out of reach for UVA late in the second half. Beyond wanting to get a little payback for that result, the Wahoos are also chasing just the fourth 3-0 start for the program in the last 25 years (2004, 2005, 2019).
With that backdrop, Virginia coach Tony Elliott held his weekly press conference on Tuesday. Some quick hits on the topics he covered included the following:
- The Hoos are 2-0 on the season for the first time under Elliott and a reporter asked about handling success. He said that he showed the team a Mike Tomlin video to help set reasonable expectations and how to find success again, which is through real work.
- Coach Elliott addressed the challenges the current Maryland team presents with its quarterback, a big defensive line, and a well-coached team. He also was asked if he would like to play the Terps long term after this home-and-home set is complete. He indicated that he thinks the rivalry makes sense and that he would be fine with it on future schedules.
- Anthony Colandrea started last season’s contest in College Park. He led the team out to a 14-0 lead and still had the Hoos in a close 21-14 game at the start of the fourth quarter before a string of interceptions helped Maryland turn the game into a blowout. Asked about Colandrea’s growth since that game last season and how it showed at Wake Forest, Coach Elliott pointed to his demeanor throughout the game and his decision-making so far this season.
- After the team piled up 6 sacks at Wake Forest, the media asked questions about the pass rush and how the production went up in Winston-Salem. Elliott said it was partly how the defense had to defend the Demon Deacons’ scheme and partly the use of additional players in the pass rush.
- Elliott talked about the strong start to the season for Malachi Fields and what he’s shown so far through two games.
- During the Wake game, Kobe Pace made a demonstrable reaction near the goal line that showed frustration. Coach Elliott said he was OK with that emotion as long as it is channeled correctly. He also talked about the goal line offense and expectations in that area of the field.
- UVA linebacker Trey McDonald came into relieve Kam Robinson last week after the latter left the game with a knee injury. Coach Elliott said that Robinson got positive news that likely indicates a sprain, but his status is unclear for this weekend. He said he has confidence in McDonald to be the third linebacker and to step in as needed for the Hoos.
- Asked about Ugonna Nnanna and the O-Line rotation, Coach Elliott said he likes the development Nnanna has shown and that it will be important to continue to build depth and production with the unit.
- Wake Forest blocked a Virginia punt. Coach Elliott talked about that breakdown and the decision to punt late in the first half.
For a full read on what Coach Elliott had to say, check out the media session below.
Virginia Football Coach Tony Elliott Press Conference Transcript
Note: edited for clarity
You’ve talked about how a team has to learn how to win. When a team starts to win that hasn’t had a lot of success, what is the key and the challenge of handling that success?
COACH ELLIOTT: You’ve got to recommit to the process every single week. Each game is a season in itself, and what you did last week is not going to carry over. We had a great reminder this morning, I got ahold of a video of Mike Tomlin addressing the Steelers during one of their team meetings and he talked about reasonable expectations. The way that I have challenged the team was it’s reasonable for us to expect to win, but then there’s got to be realistic work. The reasonable expectation doesn’t produce the result. It’s the realistic work.
Celebrate the win for the night and then you’ve got Sunday to flush it and we show back up on Monday. It’s all about what’s next, constantly creating singular focus. We try to do that with the themes of the day, so today was Takeover Tuesday, and that’s all we’re focusing on is what we need to do today to get better so that we can play well, in essence, in the middle eight of the game because today is the second practice of the week, so this is kind of the second quarter. We try to just compartmentalize everything, create a singular focus, and understand that the reason that we’re successful is because they put in the work, but they’ve got to start right back over week after week to be able to put in the realistic work to have that reasonable expectation of winning.
You’ve obviously got a lot more pressure and sacks from the linebackers. Was part of that process of coming down against the [Wake Forest] mesh or was it a concerted effort to get more people involved in the pass rush?
COACH ELLIOTT: Both. Wake [Forest] is very, very good at what they do offensively, and they’re very well-coached up front. You have to try to create single blocks, and without added pressure from the second level, you can’t create those single blocks. In order to disrupt their timing, you’ve got to create single blocks and penetration. A lot of that was in run-down situations, too, where we were just trying to create single blocks and see could we disrupt their timing.
The ends were close. Chico [Bennett Jr.] had hands on him a couple times. They had a couple opportunities to get their hands on him and they missed. But it was a little bit of both, helping the pass rush when we can, because getting pressure with four is very difficult. There’s not many teams that can just get a ton of pressure with four. So you’re going to need a little bit of assistance, but it was a combination of both.
I was pleased with the effort that those guys played with. I’m seeing the improvements from the drill work that we’re doing in practice with those guys. You’re starting to see them work a little bit better on their counter moves to continue to rush the quarterback. That group that you play against, that we just played against at Wake Forest, they make it tough. But I was pleased with just the effort. Some of those were effort sacks, like the one on Jonas [Sanker]. Jonas was blocked and he spun off. James [Jackson] was an add-on; he’s adding on late. Trey McDonald goes over the top of somebody. So just pleased with the effort, and hopefully that will just continue to spur the desire of getting to the quarterback in the future.
Malachi [Fields] is off to a monster start. You’ve talked about him trying to use his size advantage. How will defenses react? It seems like at times having to take a pass interference instead of not being able to cover him?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, he’s such a big body. He corrected me the other day. I said he was 6’3″, he’s like, “no, Coach, I’m 6’4″”. He’s 6’4″, 220 pounds and hard to tackle, and what you’re seeing is that he’s getting a lot of yards after contact because getting the ball in his hands, he’s making people miss, something that we didn’t see a ton of last year but we knew he was capable of.
Whenever they give us soft coverage we’re going to try and take that gift, and then when we get a chance to go down the field, it’s going to be interesting to see because you’ve got Malachi but then you’ve also got Trell [Harris] on the other side that’s balancing it out because you’ve got to honor and respect the speed and his ability to make plays. He had an opportunity – he was behind him, and I know if he had that back, he’d make that catch the next time. But that puts pressure – you’ve got to make decisions, and then hopefully with the success and the improvements and the production at the tight end position, you’ll be able to get more single coverage.
So that’s really what we’ve wanted to be able to do offensively is really stretch you from sideline to sideline, goal line to goal line, to make you – I’m hopeful what that’s also going to do is create some lighter boxes for us to be able to run the football because we didn’t run the football effectively as we did in the first game, and I challenged the guys this week to come out and run the ball. But Malachi is just playing his side, and Des [Kitchings] and AC [Anthony Colandrea] are doing a great job of just taking what they’re giving us.
There were times where we were playing with tempo and they couldn’t get lined up, so not as much [Malachi Fields] as it was just the system, playing fast and catching him off balance, and then he’s doing a much better job after the catch just running with a passion and a violence that we’ve been challenging him to do for his size.
Last year against Maryland the fourth quarter spiraled for Colandrea. Last weekend, he threw a third quarter interception but led two scoring drives after to rally you guys. Where have you seen growth, maturity wise, that’s enabling him to have a performance like that where he can bounce back?
COACH ELLIOTT: What I saw the other night is he [Anthony Colandrea] just had a very consistent demeanor throughout the game. The first interception he was doing the right thing. He was trying to get the ball checked down to the back and their guy made a play. Actually, two of their guys made two really good plays, a batted ball and a pick by a D-Lineman. But then to see him respond and go make the tackle, that was huge because he gave the defense a chance at the 9-yard line. Now, we didn’t play complementary football right there and tried to hold them to a field goal, but you’re seeing a more consistent demeanor, and he’s quickly learning to flush the bad plays and stay locked in.
Hopeful that as we continue to grow, he’ll be – because he’s going to have more moments likes that, and I think last year was a great learning experience for him because that game was, I think, a one-score game and we’re at the 11-yard line and then it turned us into kind of imploding.
Just really seeing him keep a consistent demeanor from play to play, from series to series, and what was awesome is as a coach, you’re always trying to find ways to make sure guys are motivated, and there in the fourth quarter, I was going to both the defense and the offense, and it was Malachi [Fields] that was like, Coach, hey, we’re not even thinking like that. When I was like, hey, we’re going to go win this game, and you guys are going to make plays, he’s like, Coach, we know that. They’re starting to believe, but AC [Anthony Colandrea] just is a natural – he’s a competitor, right. Like he’s a competitor. So the growth that you’re seeing is that he’s able to do a better job of now kind of controlling that and channeling it in the right direction at the right times.
You mentioned Jack [Witmer] and his performances. Can you think back 18 months ago, you approached him and said, hey, are you open to moving from tight end to offensive line?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, first he was probably, what, 250 pounds, so now he’s almost 300, so he was a lot skinnier then and hadn’t played any offensive line. We were challenging him to use his size as a tight end to his advantage, so he was learning how to be a more physical player, and then you move to a position where it’s basically hand to hand combat every single play. But he embraced it. He went to work. He transformed his body, got into the playbook.
It’s a little bit different going from a perimeter guy to now being in the box, and not only learning left tackle but you’ve got to know right tackle to give us flexibility. So just really, really proud of his investment. He’s invested in the group. You kind of wonder, okay, here’s a guy that’s a skill guy, now he’s going to an offensive line room because each position has a different temperament, and he fit right in with the guys. He’s really embraced it, and just super proud of the production that he’s been able to have in the absence of [McKale] Boley.
And what is the status of McKale Boley, Corey Thomas Jr. and Kam Robinson?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, so Corey [Thomas] is back full practice today. Kam [Robinson] is a little bit limited. We believe that we got positive returns on all of the scans and everything. Now it’s just more of getting to a point of being able to deal with the pain tolerance from that standpoint. Hopeful for this week. He’s out there moving around, involved in pretty much everything today, but still a little bit limited. And then [McKale] Boley is day-to-day, so he’s out, moving around, so we’re hopeful that we’ll get him back here pretty soon.
Is it hard or harder to stay committed to the run when you’re playing from behind and also when you were having success in the passing game?
COACH ELLIOTT: I think the first part, probably a little bit harder to force yourself to run the ball, especially when you’re in a possession-to-possession game, and then like I told the guys at halftime, man, we’re chasing a possession because we lost a possession on the turnover. You want to be balanced. You want to be effective. But it’s more so in the passing game, depends upon kind of what passing game you’re using.
If you’re relying on your play action, you’ve got to stay committed to the run. If you’re working drop-back, you want to use quick game, the screens and all of that to kind of supplement your run game. So there’s ways that you can generate similar outputs with the screen and the quick game but more so when you’re chasing points, chasing possessions it’s a little bit more difficult, especially if you’re not having success, and we weren’t having a ton of success, or when we did, then we had a self-inflicted wound. We get a good positive run, then we have a false start or we have a penalty that’s hard to overcome.
You mentioned the success of Trell Harris and Malachi Fields on the outside and the improvement of the tight end room. How do you expect that to help Chris Tyree and do you expect to continue to get him more involved?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, so I think it was good to see the ball in his hands, and I think that’s just going to boost his confidence, and then as you continue – again, a lot of what we have is built to go through that F position of ours that Chris [Tyree] is playing. Obviously, as he continues to become more comfortable with the system, you’ll see a lot more touches for him, but also you’ve got to go take what the defense gives you, so what I don’t want is I don’t want AC [Anthony Colandrea] to start pressing. So far, he’s done a really good job of whatever his progressions are, whether it’s a yes, no, presnap or whether he’s going triangle reads or progression, he’s been doing a really good job there.
Chris [Tyree] is going to get going. He’s practiced well the last week and today. I anticipate that you’ll see more involvement with him. But what I don’t want is it to just be forced, because then you’re going to miss opportunities, and what we need to do is focus on taking what the defense gives us, staying ahead of the chains, playing efficient, clean football, and the big challenge for us offensively is we’ve been explosive, but we’ve got to be more efficient. 3rd down we haven’t been as good as we need to be so we’ve got to be more efficient on 3rd down. I’m really proud of the long drive there late in the game, but we can’t just rely on the explosives. There’s going to be times where we’re going to have to put our hand in the dirt and we’re going to have to go manufacture drives, play complementary football.
Do you see Chico [Bennett Jr.] gaining some confidence now that he’s back in live games again and feeling better?
COACH ELLIOTT: I do, I do, and definitely starting to see his confidence grow, and he’s starting to trust the additional techniques that Coach Slade, Coach Rud [Rudzinski] and Mike Moore are challenging him on every single day. I think as he starts to get closer to that quarterback, that confidence continues to grow.
You know Kam Butler, as well; he’s a little bit banged up right now. I think as he continues to get his body back up under him, I think you’ll see more production there. You know, T.T. Jones, Terrell Jones, is one that I’ve really been pushing because I think he’s got a ton of ability. He was playing on the inside, then we moved him to the outside, but I think he’s got the size and the ability. I really want to see him get going. Then [Ben] Smiley [III], as well. I think as we can develop a good rotation with those guys, keep those guys fresh, I think you’ll see more production out of them as a group.
To follow up on the running game, down near the goal line early against Wake, Kobe [Pace] was visibly upset. Are you okay when a player is showing that much frustration, and what’s your message?
COACH ELLIOTT: As long as it’s respectful and controllable, I don’t mind a guy being emotional and letting coaches and his teammates know he wants the ball. Now, he got the ball, and so he knows, because he played for me as a freshman, he knows that, hey, if we get down there, they’ve got us outnumbered with hats, so you may only get one touch, and then when you run the quarterback, you pick up an extra hat.
So he had an opportunity to touch it. My expectation is on the 3-yard line you give it to a back, he’s got to get in the end zone, and that’s anybody, from Kobe [Pace] to Jack [Griese] to Xman [Xavier Brown]. Anytime for those backs, they know my expectation is it doesn’t matter how they block it, you give me the ball, I’ve got four yards.
Then AC [Anthony Colandrea], it’s a growing moment for him. We’re running a scheme down there that he’s getting used to, and he’s a little bit too fast. With a little bit more patience on his run, we walk in for a score. Happy that we were able to overcome it, and it didn’t end up costing us, but it’s a great opportunity for us to teach all the way around because there’s a certain mentality when you get down there. Then on the flipside I was proud of the defense. [Wake] got down to the 5-yard line, and they did the same thing, they held for a field goal.
Trey McDonald coming in for Kam [Robinson], what have you seen from his development, and how good do you feel with him in the game right now?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, so during fall camp with James [Jackson] being down coming off of surgery, he got a ton of reps and I saw him get better. I don’t know if there’s a more fierce competitor on our team than Trey McDonald. He’s extremely physical. He’s very, very smart, and now he’s really starting to be able to come into his own because he’s getting the physical reps. I’m excited about his opportunity if Kam [Robinson] is not able to play. He came in, finished the game, was productive. So I feel good. I’m confident in him.
We’ve got to also get Dorian Jones going. It’s another guy that I think physically can help us. It’s just a function of getting him up to speed to be able to make all the calls, adjustments, everything you’ve got to do at linebacker. And then Landon Danley would be the next one that I’m excited to see should his number be called because he’s practicing well. He’s shown a lot of progress and improvement. But I think that Trey McDonald is the next one in line ready to go fill the void if Kam is down.
Is Trey [McDonald] the next guy at either linebacker position?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, he would be the third guy that we would put in the game when you saw that. Then we’ve got some flexibility, too, with James [Jackson]. You can move James over to the Mike spot if you need to. You can put Trey in there at Will, and then same thing with Dorian [Jones], trying to cross-train those guys because you’ve got to be flexible with those two.
What is Kam’s [Robinson] injury?
COACH ELLIOTT: Right now, it looks like it might be like a sprain, so just got to let it calm down. Obviously all the checks and scans worked out good. A little bit scary there anytime a guy goes down with a knee. But it seems like it’s really positive and it’s more sore with just a pain tolerance type deal.
Maryland has been gone from the ACC for a while now. When you watch them on film, do they look like a stereotypical Big Ten team?
COACH ELLIOTT: You know, I don’t know what a stereotypical Big Ten team looks like. I just know they’re a good football team. They’re very well-coached. They’re fast on offense. The quarterback looks very, very comfortable in the system. They play really, really good football, and when I think about the coordinators that they have, they’ve got ties to outside the Big Ten, so to speak.
Offensively you’re going to see it’s not a Power I type of offense. They’re going to be in the gun, they’re going to have some unbalanced [sets], they’re going to shift and motion, everything that you see that we do in this league.
The difference I would say for them is they’re really, really stout and big on the D-Line. A little bit heavier than what we played last week. Wake [Forest] has made a living on undersized guys that are very disruptive with slanting and angle and movement. This is going to be a true 3-4 heavy, 300-pounders, just big, four I, five techniques that you’re going to have to double to move. That would probably be the only thing that I would say would – when I think back to my times playing Bama, Bama was the same way in the SEC. It was just big, thick bodies on that D-Line.
But no, they’re a very good football team, very well-coached. Kids look like they’re having fun, and they’re playing hard.
Ugonna [Nnanna] is playing in roughly a third of the snaps. What have you seen from him in your rotating him with Ty [Furnish]?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, so Ugonna [Nnanna] is a guy that I think – he looks the way you want him to look. He’s explosive. He’s athletic. Seen improvement with his discipline with his hands. There was a time where he was playing very wide with his hands, but I’m seeing a lot more discipline there. Man, he’s a high-energy, he exerts himself a lot, too, so it’s been good to split snaps so he stays a little bit fresher. He gives us some flexibility; if we need him to kick out to right tackle, he can possibly do that, too.
So really trying to keep those guys fresh and build experience, too, as we go, because we want to have multiple offensive linemen in case you have injury, you’ve got guys that have experience that can go play. But I’m pleased with just the things we’ve challenged him with, footwork, hand placement, pad level. You’re seeing improvement there.
Coach, three straight night games to open up the season. Do you like playing in primetime?
COACH ELLIOTT: Man, love playing in primetime. That’s what you do it for. Now, am I going to say that you love the buildup and the wait at the hotel for the kickoff? No, but actually playing in primetime, that’s what you want to do. It’s what every team aspires to do is be able to play in primetime.
I’m excited about the opportunity to come home to Scott Stadium and the fans, the students showed up. They were awesome last time we were at home, and I really want to challenge the fans, let’s pack the stadium. Here’s a rivalry that’s being renewed. You’ve got a football team that – I thank Scott [Fitzgerald] for giving me all the facts and details on that, but you’ve got a football team that’s trying to be the fourth team in 25 years to start 3-0, and we have a chance to do that right at home in front of our own fans, and we’re going to need them because we’ve got a very, very good football team coming in here that’s really confident. They beat us last year, so there’s no reason for them to think that they can’t do the same. They’re coming off of a loss. They’re going to be hungry.
I think Coach [Mike] Locksley, being from that area, knows the rivalry. I’m trying to get our guys to understand because, again, it’s been a while since the rivalry was full-blown, but I was reminded today by a former player coming off the practice field of just how fierce this rivalry is to all of the Virginia faithful. We have a great opportunity to help this football team with the energy and the passion because that’s what it’s about.
No better way than to be playing in front of your home crowd with a packed stadium, and why not. Like, why not? This is the University of Virginia. We take pride in everything that we do. So man, let’s pack the stadium. Let’s have an unbelievable – we get to showcase who we are, what we’re about on a national stage for the entire country to see. This is big time. This is where we all wanted to be. Now, we have to all do our part. We have to prepare well to come out and play well, but we’re going to need the fans. They’re supporting us doing their part creating an unbelievable environment, and man, I’m excited about the opportunity that we all have, fans, players, administration, University, with this game Saturday.
Who was that former player?
COACH ELLIOTT: It was Tim Conway. Tim Conway actually works with our Cavalier Circle program, the mentoring program that’s been instrumental getting former players back engaged and involved, but he stopped me on the way out and let me know that. And I’ve gotten messages from other folks, too, about what this rivalry means.
Would you like to see when this contract is done this game [Maryland] back on the schedule?
COACH ELLIOTT: It makes sense to me. It makes sense because we’re recruiting against each other. We’re battling for the same players. They’re not far away. It’s convenient for either fan base to travel to the game. I’m all for it, if it works out.
Late in the first half against Wake [Forest], you guys had eight seconds left before halftime and punted. What do you have to clean up there, and was there any thought of throwing a Hail Mary to Malachi [Fields]?
COACH ELLIOTT: Yeah, so great question, and you always have 20/20 hindsight, so there’s a play that we work where you roll out and you just throw it up out of bounds as high as you can. That’s typically an end of game situation. But eight seconds is stretching it. So you roughly can get about six seconds off the clock with that play. With that, it’s an incomplete pass and the ball is spotted right there with them to have a chance to have a Hail Mary, and then if you throw the Hail Mary and it’s incomplete, then they get the ball probably with two seconds left on the clock.
So the thought process there was just get the punt off. The way it’s designed is we can’t block them all. The operation time has to, where we did not do a good job as coaches is really stress the point of, hey, let’s one-step punt this and get it off. We were, in the moment, just making sure we had everybody up there. We could have done a better job of just really stressing how quickly we’ve got to punt off, and just very similar to the last punt of the game. So it was kind of the same situation.
We corrected it, we got the ball off, and it ended up being a big play, so the thought process there was, and as we talked about it as a staff, roughly six seconds is what you think you can get off then, and if you hand off and run, you’re probably going to leave two seconds, and if you don’t pop – if you pop a big one, then you might could run out to eight seconds, but either way, you’re going to turn the ball right over there in position for them to take a shot at the end zone. So the thought process was let’s try and get it off, but we didn’t do a great job coaching-wise of really stressing and emphasizing. The breakdown wasn’t necessarily a breakdown in the protection from guys up front. It was more we have to get that ball off knowing that they were coming.
