The Sampler – a pu-pu platter look at the Virginia football team’s most recent game – is back for another season. I’ve updated the feel of it by eliminating the long list of bullet points at the end of the article and expanding on some of the more detailed observations from the previous contest. There will also be a pair of themes that carry through – the best and worst of the week.

So with that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, let’s dive in to the disappointing debut of the Bronco Mendenhall era. The Cavaliers lost to Richmond on Saturday, 37-20.

Brain Lock

I’ve seen a lot of descriptions for Virginia’s play from Saturday. Fans categorized it as everything from a lack of effort to a lack of talent to a lack of preparation. Mendenhall characterized what he saw as tentative or uncertain vs. fast and confident. It often falls along those lines in my experience. Fans see intangibles at fault, while coaches see execution errors and more tangible things like positioning. Sometimes, of course, it can be a blend of both.

For me, I have told some fans that it felt like the players were experiencing ‘brain lock’ a lot of the day Saturday. Often, it looked like there was a half-beat before a player truly started moving. I thought the defense was late all day in rotation and reaction, particularly at outside linebacker and in the secondary. I thought the offensive line lost its footing and leverage by reacting slowly on a lot of running plays. That’s just a couple of examples. I always see those sorts of things as a sign of thinking vs. playing.

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