CAVALIERS PLANNING MORE WRINKLES FOR LOUISVILLE
Four weeks into the season, with the ACC portion of the schedule here already, Virginia continues searching for its offensive identity.
As the Cavaliers (2-1) brace for Saturday's 12:30 p.m. visit from Louisville, questions persist: Is the offense the unit that was held to a pair of touchdowns in the rain at Indiana two weeks ago, or is its true identity the one that seemed to throw at will in last week's 45-31 win over Ohio?
Though third-year coach Bronco Mendenhall still isn't sure exactly what he has offensively, he's learning week by week.
“I have a better idea, but I wish I could say I had a perfect idea,” he told reporters this week in Charlottesville. “We are becoming clearer of where the ball needs to go and to whom, how frequently, the balance necessary, where potential weak spots are, what's been uncovered that way at least through the competition we've played. And we think we can project that now into ACC play, at least in formulating game plans.”
Two things about the offense have become evident. Quarterback Bryce Perkins can be as
effective throwing the ball as he is running it, and U.Va. stands a much better chance when dynamic receiver Olamide Zaccheaus gets his hands on it frequently.
Zaccheaus, a senior from Plainfield, N.J., with blinding speed, set a singlegame school record last week with 247 receiving yards, most of which he generated after the catch.
Zaccheaus’ potential is part of the reason Perkins thinks the Cavaliers have only partially defined themselves on offense.
“Oh man, we have a lot more to show,” Perkins said. “Each week we keep adding, we’re changing plays. The playbook that we have run in these past few games is not even close to complete.”
U.Va. could possibly further stretch its playbook against a team that’s struggled on both sides of the ball so far.
The Cardinals (2-1) are 11th among 14 ACC teams with 21.7 points per game and 10th in scoring defense, surrendering 25 points per contest.
A season-opening 51-14 loss to No. 1 Alabama doesn’t offer much of a barometer on Louisville, but the Cardinals needed a touchdown in the final 5:01 to get away with a 20-17 home win over Western Kentucky last week.
“We’ve got to play better football,” Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. “That’s the bottom line, is we’ve got to play better football. We’ve got to take it from the practice field on to the game field with the right timing and the right precision in the passing game and put it all together.”
Petrino said redshirt freshman Malik Cunningham, and not sophomore Jawon “Puma” Pass, would start Saturday. Pass, who began the season as the heir apparent to Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, went 0 for 3 with an interception against Western Kentucky before he was benched in favor of Cunningham.
Defensively, U.Va. sits in the middle of the pack among ACC teams, allowing 21.3 points per game. Lowering that number this week will require the Cavaliers to mind the pass and the run.
“Quarterbacks can get out of the pocket and scramble, so we have to latch on to our man,” said sophomore cornerback Darrius Bratton. “Be real disciplined with our eyes and really focus on our man and doing our jobs exactly right.”
It can only help that they’ve practiced against Perkins, who is averaging 79.7 rushing yards per game.
Asked about the pass-first approach against Ohio, Perkins said it doesn’t matter to him how U.Va. gets it done.
“I just like winning, to be honest,” he said. “If I got to carry the ball 25 times to win or 10 times to win, we have great players around everywhere.”