Bronco: “I have no interest in going back to Florida State”

By Jerry Ratcliffe

It appears Virginia will not attempt to reschedule its postponed football game with Florida State.

“I have no interest in going back to Florida State,” UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall said during his weekly presser on Monday, two days after the Cavaliers flew to Tallahassee only to learn Saturday morning that FSU called the game off.

“That opportunity was there, it’s no longer there,” Mendenhall said. “I’m anxious to play Boston College (this Saturday on Senior Day) and then Virginia Tech (Dec. 12). And then hopefully we play well enough to be considered for postseason, and we go from there.”

Mendenhall was obviously displeased with what transpired over the weekend. FSU’s athletic director David Coburn said that the Seminoles could produce only a 44 scholarship players roster due to COVID-related issues along with opt-outs and injuries, and could not play the game.

“We deeply regret that many Florida State and Virginia fans have already traveled to the game as well as Virginia’s team,” Coburn said, adding “We simply had no way of knowing we would not be playing until this [Saturday] morning. We made every effort to play, but we could not do so in a way that was safe for the players.”

It was the second week in a row that teams had traveled to Tallahassee for games, only to have FSU postpone (Clemson was postponed the previous weekend).

Several Virginia officials were miffed that Florida State failed to conduct testing early enough to prevent the Cavaliers from traveling only to have the game called off. Mendenhall was clearly irritated.

“There’s a lot of work that could still be done regarding protocols and regarding ensuring that when you make a trip that you actually have a chance to play the game,” Mendenhall said. “I have expressed those concerns and ideas to the ACC as has (UVA athletic director) Carla [Williams].

“We can do better is my sincere belief. I think that [FSU head coach Mike] Norvell absolutely wanted to play the game. I think he was hoping we would play the game. Unfortunately, policies and other things prevented us from making an unnecessary trip. We waited until after 6 p.m. on Friday to ensure all our results were back and all were negative. It doesn’t seem too much to ask for anyone that’s playing in college football to have their test in and reported negative before the opponents gets on the airplane to leave.”

Mendenhall said that when Virginia boarded the plane Friday night that the Cavaliers were aware at that time Florida State did not know its testing results.

“And that’s not uncommon,” the UVA coach said. “What’s typical right now in the ACC is a lot of teams don’t find out the results until Saturday morning, which is, in my opinion unacceptable.”

Mendenhall said there are ways to mitigate that policy because there are a lot of smart people making decisions. The trip to Tallahassee was no different than other road games UVA has played this season, except this time the Cavaliers waited longer to ensure all of their tests results were negative to prevent any issues from their side once they arrived.

The previous week, Clemson traveled with a player who was discovered to have tested positive only after the Tigers had departed for the game at Tallahassee. FSU medical personnel decided the game could not be played because that player had mingled with teammates on the trip.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was so infuriated that he accused Florida State of dodging a potential loss.

Meanwhile, Florida State had so many players, via testing positive or quarantined for 10-14 days, that the Seminoles will not play their scheduled game at Duke this Saturday. Instead, Miami, which had an open date, will play at Duke.

Mendenhall said that Virginia been in contact with the ACC office prior to its trip to Tallahassee.

“Not specifically toward us arriving again after another team had been there, but we changed our protocols in relation to that, and Carla was in communication with possible concerns, but it wasn’t in specific regard to how fast can our opponent, or the team that’s hosting get the results back and can that happen before we leave, which I think is a simple change, and should be policy moving forward,” Mendenhall said.

Two of Virginia’s players, senior linebacker Zane Zandier and senior offensive guard Chris Glaser, each said they were disappointed the game couldn’t be played, particularly after arriving in Tallahassee the night before.

Once they heard the news around 10:30 Saturday morning, players packed their bags, hung out around the hotel pool or grabbed a quick workout in the hotel’s facilities.

“They didn’t even blink,” Mendenhall said about his team’s reaction to the news that the game was off. “They just knew they’d done everything they could do. Again, we tested, waited all the way until six o’clock, had not positive tests, got on the plane, expected to play.

“I don’t know, this was the fourth, fifth or sixth time we’ve had a game cancel when we were ready. There is a pretty simple experience that happens, playing the game with less than your ideal roster, and if you don’t play well and lose, that hurts a lot more than not playing. Our team is willing to play, regardless.”

Mendenhall said that his team only wanted to know if that game might be rescheduled and what were his thoughts regarding that possibility.

“And then we’re on to Boston College, so it was very matter of fact,” the coach said. “There wasn’t a lot of drama. There wasn’t a lot of anything other than what’s next.”