UVA’s coordinators see steady improvement going into Duke game

By Jerry Ratcliffe

At the midpoint of the season, Virginia fans should be encouraged about what has developed and will continue to develop in the second half, particularly with the Cavaliers’ offense.

While some fans were skeptical in preseason about how well Brennan Armstrong would command the offense, the lefty from Ohio has silenced any such thoughts.

When former UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins told us that Armstrong would be fine, that he could make all the throws, his thoughts proved prophetic, though he had inside insight in having worked with Armstrong for two seasons prior to his departure to the NFL.

Armstrong leads the nation in passing and has received the third-highest grade of any FBS QB in the country midway through the season by Pro Football Focus. As our friend Danny Neckel has researched, Armstrong has already thrown for the No. 1, No. 2, No. 6 and No. 7 UVA single-game passing yardage records at the halfway point.

His 2,470 passing yards ranks 12th all-time in UVA history (in six games), meaning he needs to average only 180 passing yards per game in the second half of the season to break the school record. He has thrown for at least one touchdown in a dozen consecutive games dating back to last season, and needs to extend that three more games to break Matt Schaub’s record (14 games) from 2002.

One of the qualities of a future pro quarterback is that he has the capabilities to read coverages and go through his progressions. That was fully evident last week at Louisville when Armstrong connected with tight end Grant Misch for the winning touchdown, coming back from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Misch lined up on the right side of the line but his route took him to the back left of the end zone. Armstrong revealed later that Misch was his fourth option on that play, meaning the quarterback looked at his first three receivers, all covered to Louisville’s credit, and moved on to find his tight end.

“Dang, [Misch] was the last option on that play and when big players make big plays in big moments … it was sure good to see that happen,” UVA offensive coordinator Robert Anae said this week. “I say last option because there were a couple of options that hit before that one, and [Louisville] pressured Brennan, so things were a little higher risk, and Brennan went to a guy that he felt confident.”

It has been evident for years that Marques Hagans has done an excellent job of developing his receiving corps. In fact, UVA’s latest commitment at wide receiver, Sean Wilson, pointed out that he had noticed the production of the Cavaliers’ top receivers and that Hagans had sent 10 receivers on to the NFL.

Presently, UVA has four receivers ranked among the top 65 in the nation in receiving yards, the only school to do so, and also the only program to have four receivers with at least 400 receiving yards each.

Anae didn’t hesitate to push some praise to Hagans, a former UVA receiver/quarterback/return man.

“I credit Coach Hagans,” Anae said. “Marques does an excellent job training multiple players, just not focusing on this one or that one, he trains all the guys in his room, so it’s good to see that training coming through.”

Ra’Shaun Henry is one of those receivers, coming off a spectacular game at Louisville with nine catches for 171 yards.

Henry gives the Cavaliers a second deep threat to playmaker Dontayvion Wicks, who suffered concussion-like symptoms at Louisville in a controversial overturned targeting call. Wicks’ status for Saturday was unknown as of Friday.

“Ra’Shaun is a quiet, hard-working young man,” Anae said. “It was really good to see him step up in a big moment. We’ve got six more games left and there is a lot of room for big moments for players to step into, and we look forward to every game to have the opportunity to do that.”

Meanwhile, Henry was informed earlier in the week about the fact that no Power Five team has attempted more passes midway through the season than Virginia.

Henry’s reaction?

“It’s lovely,” he said.

“I feel like we can impose our will against a lot of defenses just from our standpoint of having so many guys that are on our offense that can make plays at any given moment,” Henry said. “We all know that once one guy goes down, we should be able to plug another guy in that can do the exact same thing, if not better.”

Anae’s praise didn’t stop with Hagans as far as fellow offensive coaches go. He also gave a salute to quarterbacks coach Jason Beck, who has developed Taysom Hill (at BYU), Kurt Benkert and Perkins at UVA.

“I am lucky to get to work with these outstanding coaches,” Anae said, adding that Beck’s development of Armstrong has been outstanding. “Every one of [the coaches] contributes to a high level. It’s not perfect and we’re looking to be a bit more consistent, but we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

Defensively, coordinator Nick Howell is seeing some improvements as well. Bronco Mendenhall pointed out Monday that he has seen steady improvement on that side of the ball, and while the Cavaliers struggled against Louisville last week, the defense did buckle down late and held the Cardinals to two field goals, which allowed the offense to come back and win the game.

In addition, versatile Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham, who had hurt UVA last season with 197 yards rushing and two touchdowns, was held to less than 50 yards on the ground last week against the Cavaliers.

“It was good,” Howell said. “The guys did a really, really good job. We had a good game plan for [Cunningham] not to run and the guys executed it really, really well. It yielded and it helped a lot.”

UVA continues to battle to get its run-fits straightened out, even though Howell said a few weeks ago that it’s not that complicated.

“Get in your gap and stay in your gap,” Howell said.

This week, Howell said the pursuit of perfection continues.

“Practice, practice,” he said. “You run the plays that [the opponent] runs and fit it up correct in our defense. It’s just a matter of practicing them over and over. Repetition is like anything. It’s just practice.”

This week’s test will be containing Duke’s running game, which features the nation’s fourth-ranked running back, Mataeo Durant, who has 788 yards rushing and leads the ACC in that department.

“I respect him at a high level because the dude has 150 carries, that’s 30 carries a game,” Howell said. “Their next guy is not as close when it comes to carries. When you see that stat and watch him run, you’re seeing a kid that has great mindset and toughness and somebody that you admire. Thirty carries a game, downhill, nothing but respect for that guy.”