U.VA. BACK IN DRIVER’S SEAT
The Cavaliers control their fate in the ACC Coastal Division, plus a look at what’s ahead for Virginia Tech and William & Mary.
CHARLOTTESVILLE — In handling North Carolina for a crucial ACC Coastal Division victory Saturday, Virginia did what it had to do.
Now, the Cavaliers hope to continue to do what they’ve done all season.
U.Va. (6-3, 4-2 ACC) seized full control of first place in the Coastal with a dramatic 38-31 road win over the Tar Heels. The game marked the Cavaliers’ first victory away from Scott Stadium since the season opener at Pittsburgh.
Since then, U.Va. has lost on the road at No. 15 Notre Dame, Miami and Louisville, going 4-0 at home along the way.
With three home games in four weeks remaining in the regular season, including Saturday’s divisional showdown with last-place Georgia Tech (2-6, 1-4), the path to a Coastal title and a berth in the ACC championship game couldn’t be more clearly defined.
First, though, the Cavaliers had a hump to overcome.
“We’re certainly all glad to be home, but we wanted to demonstrate that we were capable and could win again on the road before we came home,” fourth-year coach Bronco Mendenhall told reporters Monday in Charlottesville.
“And that became really important not only for the team but our program. Those are two different things. It was a challenge for this team, but it’s also something the program had to do.”
Now that it’s done, U.Va. is in complete command of how the division race shakes out. After Georgia
Tech and a bye week, Liberty comes calling for a nonconference contest. That’s followed by a visit from rival Virginia Tech, which has beaten the Cavaliers 15 straight times.
Then comes, perhaps, a shot at No. 4 Clemson and a league title, followed by a bowl game.
But for now, U.Va.’s players are just pleased with the position they’ve earned.
“This is definitely the best situation that we could be in, just being home games, then also with the bye week coming after this week,” said junior defensive end Mandy Alonso. “It’s just perfect going into postseason play.”
Mendenhall, whose team has achieved bowl eligibility for a third straight year after going 2-10 in his debut season, agreed.
“If you consider it or if you frame it basically as a playoff race, home-field advantage is something that we have for the remainder of the way, which gives us as good a shot as anyone to finish the way we would like to,” he said.
“So we’re looking forward to getting back to work.”
Perkins returns to form
Senior quarterback Bryce Perkins passed for 378 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s win, and he accounted for 490 yards of total offense, including 112 rushing.
For his efforts, Perkins was named the ACC Quarterback of the Week on Monday.
A transfer from an Arizona community college before last season, Perkins completed 30 of 39 passes and ran for a 65-yard touchdown in the third quarter as part of his best performance this season.
Mendenhall said it was the Perkins he’d been waiting to see.
“Bryce’s game … was, I think, reflective of what he’s capable of,” Mendenhall said. “(It’s) what we certainly would love to see down the stretch and most likely what we’ll need to see down the stretch to help us finish out the Coastal playoff race, as we’re calling it.”
Perkins’ previous season high in passing yards was 334, at Notre Dame. It had been the only time he’d broken the 300-yard barrier this season.
Last season a healthy reminder
As great as the Cavaliers’ position is, they’ve been here before and failed.
Last season, with control of the Coastal late in the season, they dropped three of their last four, including overtime losses at Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
It was, Mendenhall said, a valuable lesson.
“I think what we learned from the race a year ago in this setting was that ACC road games are hard to win,” he said. “They come down to last drives. They come down to overtime. They come down to critical stops. They come down to critical scores, which is just what we saw last week. So we haven’t applied those lessons perfectly, but we certainly have framed it correctly where we know what it’s going to take.”
Stakes go up against Yellow Jackets
Virginia’s players considered the UNC game a must-win, and they were right within the context of the division race.
Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech is no different as the Coastal wire approaches.
“Every win matters,” Mendenhall said. “And all the North Carolina game did was make this one more important than even that one. The players, the reason they labeled it that way is they want to win the Coastal division. They want a chance to compete for the ACC championship. They want to move the program forward. They want this team to do something the previous three teams haven’t done.”