Game Week Has Arrived: Here’s The Scoop On Bronco’s First Presser

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Only minutes after Virginia had dominated South Carolina in Charlotte’s Belk Bowl last December, Bronco Mendenhall sent a message, perhaps even a warning shot across the bow, if you will.

The Cavaliers had torn up the Gamecocks, 28-0, leaving legions of fans festooned in Garnet & Black completely stunned. I’ll never forget observing Carolina coach Will Muschamp exiting the stadium to the parking lot. He was gobsmacked.

Mendenhall wasn’t. In fact, if you read between the lines of his comments leading up to the game, he kept telling us over and over how he liked the matchup. Coaches don’t say those sorts of things if they don’t feel good about their chances.

On Monday, at the first of his weekly press conferences during the season, Mendenhall reminded us of what he said after watching the Wahoos whitewash the Gamecocks.

“I think I said and established at the end of the bowl game last year that this is just the beginning,” Mendenhall said Monday.

A glance at Virginia’s depth chart revealed there’s only a few players on the two-deep that weren’t Bronco’s recruits.

As we start Year 4 of the Mendenhall era, what does that mean?

“This feels like baseline for me for launching our program,” the coach said. “That doesn’t mean the past three years don’t count. We’ve worked really hard and I’m accountable for every result that’s happened, the positives and the negatives and the trajectory.

“It really feels like a launch point now with players that we’ve selected with an outcome from a year ago that felt normal to us as a staff and a program to really now go from there to wherever we’re going to go. So I’m much more comfortable just because of how the players have been selected, why they’ve been selected in relation to what schemes, and now some consistency that’s been built up to go forward from.”

 

Captain, My Captain

Mendenhall announced UVA’s team captains for the season, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, the tri-captains are quarterback Bryce Perkins, cornerback Bryce Hall, and linebacker Jordan Mack, three of the only nine seniors on the depth chart.

 

The Two-Deep

Virginia revealed its depth chart Monday and there were a few surprises, and a few new names that Wahoo fans will have to familiarize themselves with.

One of the outside linebackers on defense listed first at his spot is sophomore Noah Taylor, a 6-foot-5, 215-pounder. The position is listed as Taylor or junior Matt Gahm (6-3, 240), who saw some action last season. Usually, though, the first guy listed on the chart ends up starting.

With the loss of corner Darrius Bratton due to an ACL, junior Nick Grant (6-1, 200) is listed as the starter at that spot, with Bryce Hall at the other corner.

Brenton Nelson and Joey Blount are the safeties, Richard Burney ‘or’ Aaron Faumui are at left end, Eli Hanback ‘or’ Mandy Alonso are at right end; and true freshman Jowon Briggs has nailed down the starting job at nose tackle.

Charles Snowden is the other outside linebacker, while Mack and Zane Zandier or Robert Snyder will be at the inside linebacker positions.

Offensively, there are a lot of “ors” on the chart:

Starting wide receivers are Hasise Dubois, Joe Reed, and either Terrell Jana or Terrell Chatman. At the slot-receiver spot, it’s Tavares Kelly or Billy Kemp. Tight end is Tanner Cowley.

Ryan Nelson is at left tackle, Chris Glaser at left guard, Olusegun Oluwatimi at center, Dillon Reinkensmeyer at right guard, Ryan Swoboda at right tackle.

In the backfield, Perkins is your starting quarterback, while Wayne Taulapapa ‘or’ PK Kier ‘or’ Lamont Atkins are all possibilities at running back, the “SB” spot, while Jamari Peacock ‘or’ Chris Sharp ‘or’ freshman Mike Hollins are listed at the “BB” spot.

There is a real battle going on for the running back spot, one that Mendenhall said reflects uncertainty.

“Wayne Taulapapa is at this point listed as one, and any OR after that you could basically take in sequence if I was forced and my feet were held to the fire,” the coach said.

“Wayne is the most trustworthy (doesn’t fumble) and the most versatile (he can run, block, and catch) to this point and has had the most production to this point. Others will be capable and will play and the production might shift in the game to where we’re wondering how did that just happen. It’s very difficult to replicate a game in fall camp.

“To this point, what we have listed there is factual, it’s fair, and it’s where we stand.”

When it comes to wide receivers, Virginia has a ton of ‘em, many of which may not start but will certainly play, such as Richmond graduate transfer Dejon Brissett (one of two Canadian receivers on the team … can you name the other?).

Brissett isn’t listed on the depth chart at the moment because he has fought an injury in camp.

“He’s currently available,” Mendenhall reported. “He’s coming off an injury, so the reason he wasn’t listed is without certainty, that’s why I didn’t list him. But if he is available, which we’re hopeful he will be, he’ll play and he’ll play a lot. He’s done a really nice job in fall camp.”

With record-breaking Olamide Zaccheaus departed (now in Atlanta Falcons’ camp), either Kelly or Kemp will fill that spot.

“They’re both dynamic, quick, capable,” the coach said. “They’re both Olamide-ish in terms of not only build, and athleticism. Olamide was three years worth of hard, hard work to become UVA’s leading receiver. His consistency and durability and maturity is what both Billy and Tavares are working toward.”

Mendenhall said that in the case of both, capability isn’t the issue, but rather maturity and consistency if they want to measure up to Zaccheaus.

 

How About Nick Grant?

A lot of Cavalier fans don’t know much about this junior, a previous strong safety from Courtland High in Spotsylvania. He took over at the corner when Bratton went down, and is listed ahead of redshirt freshman Jaylon Baker at the field-corner spot.

“Nick is a relentless worker,” Mendenhall said. “Just simply wouldn’t relinquish the spot. He’s the most conditioned player I would say on our team. He’s the most consistent worker currently on our team, and he’s made the most plays at corner.”

Say what? Isn’t All-America candidate Bryce Hall at the other corner? Yes, but nobody’s going to throw at Hall unless they don’t have a choice, right?

“Whoever we throw in the mix to stack against [Grant], he just seems to outperform them over and over and over again,” Mendenhall said. “Then he’s running down on kicks and running down on punts, and he’s not tired and he’s back competing at corner again. So he’s just doing more, better than anyone else. That competition will go on I think, probably throughout the entire year.”

 

Punter Gets A Scholly

Mendenhall announced that junior punter Nash Griffin, who hails from the same high school (Lawrence Central) as former UVA basketball star Kyle Guy (in Indianapolis) has been awarded a scholarship. That happened last Saturday night for his work in camp.

“That lets you know what I think of him and what I expect from him,” the coach said.

The depth chart reads Griffin or Brian Delaney at punter, while Delaney, a junior, is listed as the place-kicker and kickoff man. Griffin is the holder and either Lee Dudley or Enzo Anthony are the long-snappers.

Mendenhall said back in the spring and reiterated in camp that Delaney seemed to have out-performed all comers at all three kicking jobs, something the coach said he had never had before.

“What you like about it is that through a competition and every kick being charted that [Delaney] was the demonstrated best regardless of circumstances,” the coach said. “What you don’t like about it is one player is the demonstrated best at all things. In case he gets beat up or roughed or something, or has an off day, that means all your kicking has an off day.”

Mendenhall prefers to have a kicker and a punter, but admits it’s a tribute to Delaney that he’s put up the best numbers, and makes him more valuable.

 

The Big Dog In The Middle

All camp long, we’ve heard stories about how true freshman Jowon Briggs has dominated at the nose-tackle spot. It hasn’t even been close, and to no surprise he was No. 1 on the depth chart.

When Mendenhall was asked when he thought, ‘Hey, this kid might help us this year,’ Bronco didn’t blink.

“Maybe the first practice,” he chuckled. “[Briggs] is strong and he’s quick, and he’s smart and he’s mature, and he doesn’t view himself through the entitlement process of recruiting. He’s unaffected by that.”

Drawing some laughter from media, Mendenhall said that he had received a text from Briggs talking about the conflict when choir tryouts would be with a class.

“Well, he’s well-rounded,” the coach said. “By the way, I viewed that positively that he’s looking for a lot to do in college besides just starting at nose tackle. Nothing has been too fast for him. 

“The team likes him because he’s humble and hard-working. He’s just exactly who we thought he was. That presence at nose tackle gives us a huge advantage over just where run stunts and pressure and pass emphasis can come from. There is a solidifying vactor in there that the A-gaps are handled.”