MENDENHALL KNOWS NOT TO TAKE LIBERTY LIGHTLY
At first glance, Saturday’s 3 p.m. nonconference game against Liberty looks like one Virginia should win handily.
The Cavaliers, after all, play in the mighty Atlantic Coast Conference, and their opponent is a former FCS school making the transition to play with the major schools at the FBS level.
But third-year U.Va. coach Bronco Mendenhall is outwardly wary of the Flames (4-4), whose 329.3 passing yards per game would rank ninth nationally if their transition were complete.
“And so the statistics jump out,” Mendenhall said.
“Not hard to see on film that they have some talented players, a nice scheme design and are very clear about what their identity is and the speed in which they want to do it.”
The good news for the already bowl-eligible Cavaliers (6-3, 4-2 ACC) is that Liberty plays right into a U.Va. strength. Holding opponents to 197.3 passing yards per game, Virginia is fifth in the ACC and among the national leaders in the category.
The Cavaliers, led by senior safety Juan Thornhill’s four interceptions, are fifth in the league with 10 picks this season.
The strength-against-strength matchup on NBC Sports Washington has implications beyond mere Commonwealth bragging rights. U.Va. sits alone in second place in the ACC Coastal Division, and with some help from first-place Pittsburgh’s opponents, is still in the hunt for a division title.
Never mind the Cavaliers’ lapses in last week’s 23-13 loss to Pitt, which switched places with
U.Va. in the standings.
With games at Georgia Tech and rival Virginia Tech remaining, the Wahoos can only move forward
“I'm very confident (we'll bounce back),” junior linebacker Jordan Mack said after the Pitt game. “We have a great group of guys. We will take this, learn from it and move on to the next one.”
The next one, at last, has arrived.
Mendenhall said nothing gets the sour taste of defeat out of a team's mouth like getting back at it.
“None of us like to lose,” he said. “That feeling isn't something you want to linger. So there is an urgency added, regardless of the next game, where you want it to go away, that feeling.”
Liberty quarterback Stephen Calvert presents a challenge at any level. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound native of Plantation, Fla., has passed for 2,528 yards and 18 touchdowns, but he's been intercepted 11 times.
Calvert has distributed the ball to 14 receivers, none more capable than 6-4 junior Antonio GandyGolden, whose nine touchdown grabs lead the team.
The Cavaliers, conversely, showed evidence of weaknesses in their passing game against Pitt. Junior quarterback Bryce Perkins was held to 205 passing yards and sacked five times, some of them at key moments.
He connected with versatile playmaker Olamide Zaccheaus, the school's all-time leading passcatcher, just four times, a number Mendenhall said has to improve.
Asked whether Perkins should've done a better job of getting rid of the ball, senior tailback Jordan Ellis said the team's confidence in its leader had not wavered.
“We trust him with the ball when he is able to scramble around,” Ellis said. “He has done it all year, and we trust him every time he scrambles around and tries to make a play. I mean, he is special with the ball in his hands, so anytime he can scramble around, he is just trying to make something happen, and we've got to give him the credit for that.”
Perkins, who transferred from Arizona Western Community College before the season, has earned his team's trust by passing for 1,828 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 568 yards and six more scores in U.Va.'s run/ pass-option offense.
Perkins, though, owned his mistakes.
“I got to be more critical, especially in those tight situations in the fourth quarter,” he said. “I can't take those sacks. I got to be more smart and play smarter, especially when it comes down to crunch time.”
For the Cavaliers and the rest of the jumbled Coastal Division, a larger crunch time has arrived. After last week's setback, which bumped U.Va. from 23rd in the national rankings, the players and coaches are just happy to get another shot — no matter the opponent.
“You just want that feeling to go away and replace it with something better,” Mendenhall said. “Sometimes who you're playing helps; other times it's just we just need another game as fast as we can play.”