News and Notes: Details From Coach Mendenhall’s Monday Press Conference

By Jerry Ratcliffe

If you read our “Five Things We Learned” on Saturday about why Virginia lost to Pittsburgh last Friday night, then you already know a little bit about what UVa coach Bronco Mendenhall thought went wrong for the Cavaliers in the 23-13 setback.

“After reviewing the film and just being very thorough about the analysis, the game was pretty simple in that Pitt won both sides of the line of scrimmage,” Mendenhall said at his weekly presser on Monday. “That really was where the difference of the game emerged, especially in the second half.”

If you read my game column late Friday night, early Saturday, I wrote that the reason Virginia lost was as simple as cornbread, that Pitt was the more physical of the two teams on both sides of the ball, controlled both lines of scrimmage, and reiterated those facts in “Five Things” the following day.

Now, you have it straight from the Bronco’s mouth. The coach was really disappointed because he and his team were anticipating a physical game and hoping for one.

Last Home Game

Virginia, now 6-3/ 4-2, will play its final home game of the season on Saturday at 3 p.m. against nonconference Liberty. It will be Senior Day, and a chance for the Cavaliers to post their first winning season since 2011.

“I love the idea of controlling what we can control and focusing on improving our football team this week with urgency, knowing there is just a three-game stretch left before postseason, and how much improvement and how much success can we have within that time frame – knowing there is plenty to play for,” Mendenhall said.

Not only will UVa be playing for a winning season, but a better bowl game, and is still alive for a Coastal Division title and a chance to play in the ACC Championship game, although the Cavaliers would need outside help to make that happen.

All they can do, is control what they can control, and that’s this weekend against the Flames, then back-to-back road battles against the Techs – Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, where the Cavaliers haven’t won since 1998.

“I would love to have a great outing at home to finish this season,” Mendenhall said. “I’m very appreciative of our fans, and a noticeably different feeling in Scott Stadium this year to me in terms of energy, the support, the student section. For me to notice it on the sideline is pretty significant.

“I have felt it and seen it and acknowledge it,” Mendenhall added. “I’m so appreciative, and would love to have to finish this season appropriately for everyone.”

The coach said his team is going to fight for the Coastal Division title “right to the end,” but his focus and the team’s focus for the remainder of this week is on Liberty.

The Flames, coached by Turner Gill, a former collegiate star at Nebraska, are 4-4 overall as an independent. Liberty lost a triple overtime, 62-59 decision at UMass this past weekend.

In that game, UMass stacked up 777 total yards of offense, with its quarterback passing for 540 yards and four touchdowns, while the Minutemen also rushed for 237 yards.

Meanwhile, Liberty rushed for more than 200 yards and passes for 272 with four interceptions. The Flames, who average 36.9 points per game, are ranked No. 9 nationally out of 129 FBS teams in yards passing. Liberty averages 477 yards of total offense per game, but also surrenders 524 per game along with 38 points per game by opponents.

More ‘O’ for the Offense

I couldn’t figure out why Virginia’s best or second-best playmaker, Olamide Zaccheaus,  (QB Bryce Perkins is the other) only got his hands on the ball five times against Pitt. Of course, he was targeted a few more times on incompleted passes, but five times? Really?

Had to ask Bronco about this during Monday’s presser and here’s what he said:

“He has to have more touches,” Mendenhall said. “We know that our offensive production as well as our team _ opportunities to win are tied not exclusively to, but has a lot to do with Bryce and Olamide.

“Those are our two most dynamic and productive offensive players,” the coach said. “And so we just simply struggled to get on track, find rhythm, find momentum, and assemble the continuity of a plan that got us the points and yielded what we needed.

“And so the number of touches kind of reflects just the way the game went in terms of lack of production, lack of points. We got the Pitt versus Notre Dame team; we didn’t get the Pitt versus Duke team in terms of style of play, which we expected and kind of wanted. We just thought we would win that type of game.”

Zaccheaus, UVa’s record-breaking slot receiver, caught only four passes fors 31 yards (longest 14) and ran the ball once for five yards.

In the Cavaliers’ loss at Indiana, Zaccheaus, who admittedly didn’t play well that game, had similar statistics: five catches for only 15 yards, and one run for five yards. In Virginia’s other loss at N.C. State, Zaccheaus had nine catches for 109 yards and ran the ball twice for 39 yards.

Those numbers pretty much confirmed what Mendenhall said and how Wahoo fans feel.

My thoughts? Heck, if you’ve got a big gun, shoot it. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae and QB coach Jason Beck have got to find more creative ways of getting Zaccheaus involved in the offense.

Give Me Liberty or …

While many SEC schools play a nonconference opponent the next-to-last weekend of their seasons, prior to playing their chief rivals, Virginia’s nonconference game against Liberty comes at an unusual time.

The Flames come to Charlottesville with three weeks remaining in the regular season, somewhat unique.

“Yeah, it’s a unique challenge, and that doesn’t mean bad or good, but it is a challenge,” Mendenhall said in relation to the timing of the game, which was scheduled before he arrived at UVa for the 2016 season.

“Having been an independent before, very few teams that were involved in conference play wanted to then break and schedule an independent,” Bronco said. “We (at BYU) usually found the most success or anyone wanting to play us at the beginning. It was harder to find those games at the end, so that’s a challenge (for Liberty).”

Mendenhall said he looks upon the game as a chance for his team to get better and to work on things that have not gone right.

Liberty will become a familiar opponent for more than the next decade. Counting Saturday, UVa and the Flames are scheduled to play six times: 2018 in Charlottesville; 2019 in C’Ville (Nov. 23); 2020 in C’Ville (Nov. 7); 2027 at Liberty (Sept. 11); 2029 at Liberty (Sept. 15); and 2030 in Charlottesville (Sept. 14).

“I like the idea (of playing Liberty),” Bronco said. “In terms of scheduling philosophy, close and regional, and intriguing. It makes a lot of sense. So, in our own state it certainly makes sense. Where and how it goes from there, we’ll certainly see.”

Got the feeling that Mendenhall had no idea that the series went so far into the future until media relations director Jim Daves mentioned that the games are scheduled through 2030.

“Okay, so there you go,” Mendenhall said after learning the news. “Right now I know it’s Monday, and that’s about as far as I’ve looked.”

Preserving Freshmen for Redshirts

The new NCAA redshirt rule allows freshmen to play in four games and still keep their redshirt status. Any more than four and they lose it.

Mendenhall hasn’t really held back on any freshmen deemed ready to play this year, except for one: quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who played in the Louisville game.

“Intentionally we’re working as hard as we can to protect Armstrong,” Mendenhall said. “We would love to have him and not count this year. That would be the only circumstance where I would say there is an exception to where the roster is.”

Mack Attack is Back, But …

As mentioned earlier, middle linebacker Jordan Mack returned to the lineup against Pitt, but he wasn’t totally back.

The junior backer was in on six tackles in the very physical game.

“I saw effort and desire but did not see precision and consistency,” Mendenhall said. “So it looked like his first game back.”

Finally, Dylan Thompson

As injuries mounted in the second half of the Pitt game, Virginia inserted grad senior defensive lineman Dylan Thompson, the Ohio State transfer.

Thompson recorded three tackles, including two solos. He appeared as No. 68, but still didn’t have a name on the back of his jersey.

“Dylan, in terms of where our preparation and culture and our intensity and effort level is, and my expectations _ he’s still not at that point,” Mendenhall said. “He’s becoming closer. We have to have other players emerge for us (including Thompson). We’re out of time. That has to happen immediately.”

Injury Report

During the Pitt game, four UVa players were knocked out of the lineup due to injuries, and a fifth did not suit up for the game.

Defensive end Mandy Alonso, defensive backs Juan Thornhill, Brenton Nelson, and Joey Blount all left the game with injuries. Linebacker Rob Snyder did not play, which allowed Jordan Mack to start after missing the previous four games with an injury.

“We’re anticipating Mandy Alonso being out (for the Liberty game), and so that’s just short of being confirmed,” Mendenhall said. “All others I would say are hopeful and have not been confirmed and been ruled in or out.”

Virginia Basketball Club

I am honored to be the guest speaker at the Virginia Basketball Club’s Tipoff Luncheon at noon, Tuesday, Nov. 6 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Charlottesville. Lunch included, $20. Come join us and let’s talk some hoops.