5 Things Learned From Saturday’s Game: OL Not Ready For Primetime

Five things learned from Saturday’s 35-21 loss by Virginia to N.C. State:

1. Virginia’s Offensive Line is Not Ready for Primetime. The sore point for the entire two and a half seasons of Bronco Mendenhall’s time at UVa has been an offensive line that falls short of expectations. This year’s edition seems to have made strides, and has performed admirably against the Richmond’s, Ohio’s, and Louisville’s of the college football world.

However, they’re not ready for Primetime. When Virginia stepped up a level in competition on Saturday in Raleigh, the Cavaliers’ Big Uglies struggled against an N.C. State defense that had been depleted by graduation, having lost most of its starters from a year ago.

Yes, part of the problem was that the Wolfpack loaded the tackle box and offensive coordinator Robert Anae didn’t call enough plays to the outside to prevent State from jamming the rush lanes. Even QB Bryce Perkins said after the game that Virginia needs to spread the field more and make teams defend outside so that they can’t load the tackle box.

Where are those option plays we saw in training camp? They’ve rarely been called in games. Where are some screen passes? Where is the creativity to reduce the clog in the middle?

Al Groh used to say, “all running backs run the same when there’s no hole.” Well, that’s why UVa RB Jordan Ellis had a season-low rushing total Saturday.

In addition, Perkins was being chased all over the place Saturday because his protection broke down. Thank goodness that he is a good scrambling QB, who has the patience to look for receivers once things break down.

We’re not sure that things are going to improve that much against the upcoming meat of UVa’s schedule in terms of blocking, so Anae is going to have to become more imaginative to loosen things up. The same old, same old just isn’t going to consistently work.

2. No pass rush, no ‘W.’ Bronco told us after Saturday’s 35-21 loss to N.C. State, that his defense prides itself on being able to hit the quarterback. Virginia had no sacks, and not many pressures or knockdowns of Wolfpack QB Ryan Finley. While Finley was far from his best, he still completed 22 of 32 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns. Some of his receivers, particularly Emeka Emezie (No. 86), made Finley’s numbers even better by making spectacular catches and beating UVa’s secondary to “50-50” balls. Virginia corner Bryce Hall told me afterward that State’s receivers just wanted those 50-50’s more than UVa’s defensive backs. Not sure about that, but the Wolfpack receivers made some impressive catches, and the ball was generally placed where no one but those receivers could catch them.

It didn’t help Virginia’s coverage that there was little, if any pass rush. Not sure how much of that was injuries to some key Cavalier personnel, or just great protection by State, but even UVa’s blitzes had little effect against Finley, an experienced veteran QB, who has seen it all.

For a defense that takes pride in hitting opposing quarterbacks to the point that it impacts his throwing ability, the Cavaliers failed miserably in that category in Raleigh.

With a bye week to get ready for the next game, UVa’s front seven will be facing a relatively young Miami quarterback, N’kosi Perry, who has seemingly taken the starter’s job away from veteran Malik Rosier.

3. Injuries Have Added to the Pressure on UVa’s Young Front Seven. With senior defensive end Richard Burney out for the rest of the season with a medical condition, junior inside linebacker Jordan Mack out for the next five weeks or so with a shoulder issue, and senior linebacker Malcolm Cook having missed the N.C. State game due to injury, their presence was sorely missed against the Wolfpack.

With those players out of the picture, that meant 9 of 12 remaining front seven players are either freshmen or sophomores with little game experience.

That partially explains why Virginia struggled to stop an N.C. State rushing game that was previously considered suspect, and partially why the Cavaliers couldn’t lay a mitt on Wolfpack QB Finley.

Bronco barked afterward that he saw the same nightmare that he had previously observed at Indiana when front seven, especially defensive line, issues occurred in terms of gap assignments and consistency. That simply meant Virginia’s D-Line was getting blocked out of their gap responsibility, making it twice as hard on linebackers to do their job.

That was against an N.C. State running game that had not flourished, and means that Virginia has two weeks to get that resolved before Miami, which does have a respectable running game, comes to town.

It didn’t help that safety Brenton Nelson left the game with a concussion. He is a reliable tackler that was sorely missed after he was concussed.

4. There’s No Quit in Perkins. We pretty much knew this from Indiana, but confirmed in Raleigh. Down 27-7 midway through the third quarter, Perkins inspired his teammates with a never-say-die performance.

Under heavy pursuit when pass protection broke down, Perkins was spectacular. N.C. State geared its entire defensive game plan to stop Perkins, but here’s what he did after the Cavaliers trailed by 20 points:

From that point on, he rushed five times, picking up 45 yards and two first downs. He was sacked four times when State knew Perkins was in obvious passing situations and the protection was overwhelmed.

The UVa quarterback also completed 13 of 17 passes from that point in the game until the finish, picking up 161 yards, seven first downs, and two touchdowns.

We didn’t include the final five plays on the last series because it was Virginia’s last gasp, State knew it, and dropped several players into coverage knowing that Perkins’ only chance was to throw the ball. He was 1-for-5 in that stretch, including one interception on UVa’s very last play, and not including one pass interference for a first down.

Two of those incompletions for a big first down and another on a touchdown, came on scrambling plays when he was under duress, and patiently waited until a receiver came free, and managed to spot them and put the ball on the money. He was pressure at least four times during that 13-for-17 stretch.

Perkins played so well that Mendenhall noted later: “I was impressed with Bryce Perkins’ effort, competitive spirit, and ability and effectiveness. He did a really nice job of keeping drives alive and keeping the ball moving.”

5. Virginia Unveiled Another Weapon for the Future. We had heard a lot about the speed of true freshman Tavares Kelly in preseason camp, and bits and pieces in the previous four games. We actually saw more of it against N.C. State, which is promising for what lies ahead.

Kelly hauled in three passes and was targeted a couple other times, for 57 yards, including a 32-yarder on Virginia’s drive that cut State’s lead to 27-14. He was targeted on a long pass on the ensuing UVa possession on fourth-and-four, but the pass sailed over his head and out of bounds. He caught another pass for 17 yards and a first down, and an 8-yarder.

With defenses well aware of UVa prime receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, who extended his streak to 34 games with at least one catch, and Hasise Dubois, the Cavaliers desperately need other receivers to step up and take some of the pressure off that duo. Joe Reed has had some moments, and Kelly’s emergence, particularly with his speed (arguably the fastest player on the team), is crucial in opening up Virginia’s offensive playbook for the remainder of the season.