Armstrong leads Virginia to its fourth straight win, beating BC for first time

By Jerry Ratcliffe

On the morning of October 25, Virginia woke up to the cold reality that its collective backs were against the wall. The Cavaliers were reeling with four straight losses, the most recent coming in the darkness of a late-night loss at Miami.

With only one win under their belts, the Cavaliers would have to find a way to win five of their last six games in a shortened season in order to post a winning record. The schedule ahead was daunting: top15 North Carolina, a road game at Florida State (later to be cancelled), home against a Boston College program that Virginia had never beaten, and a closer at rival Virginia Tech.

Enter Brennan Armstrong, the red-headed southpaw quarterback that many fans questioned _ we’re being kind here _ after UVA’s shaky start. He had been the understudy for two years to the Cavaliers’ all-time total offense leader, Bryce Perkins.

Now, it was Armstrong’s turn and because of injuries and limitations to his backups, he had better not screw it up.

He didn’t.

Instead, Armstrong became the kind of leader that Bronco Mendenhall cherishes on the field. Armstrong advanced his game, week by week, step by step, as his teammates rallied behind him.

Even though UVA lost that disheartening game at Miami, Mendenhall saw possibilities in his fiery quarterback.

Armstrong learned from his mistakes and turned Virginia’s season around with the help of a defense that rediscovered itself before it became hobbled with injuries. The left-hander’s passing accuracy and decision making became better, and his no-fear running ability became a force to be reckoned with.

Saturday night, Senior Night, for Virginia, Armstrong couldn’t have been much better as he led the Cavaliers to their fourth consecutive win, a 43-32 triumph over visiting Boston College, the only ACC team they had never beaten.

Armstrong, a well-built, 6-foot-2, 215-pound powder keg, led Virginia to a season-high 549 yards of offense against the 6-5 Eagles, who played their last game of the regular season. Armstrong accounted for 417 of those, making him the first UVA quarterback in history to put together back-to-back 400+ yard games.

A big chunk of that was a career-high 130 yards rushing as he relentlessly torpedoed BC’s defensive front, including a 60-yard bolt for a key touchdown early in the second half for a 27-17 lead. That helped Virginia regain momentum after BC had chewed into the Cavaliers lead at halftime (20-17).

The rest of his yardage came through the air, where he is becoming more of a threat as his redshirt sophomore season progresses.

Armstrong threw for 287 passing yards on a 19 of 27 performance.

“I think I’m getting better every game,” the peppery quarterback said. “That just goes with preparation and just playing a lot more. I’m finally getting the hang of it, knowing what I’ve got to do, knowing what I’ve got to improve on.

“That’s kind of what I expected after I got a full season-ish in, to just get better and better through each game.”

As Armstrong improved and the season progressed, it became evident that the Cavaliers couldn’t win without him. While the coaches took away some of his risk with less designated quarterback runs, now that the season is racing to the finish, there is no hesitation in allowing him to do what he does best.

“We had some nice QB runs (Keytaon Thompson also rushed for 86 yards and two scores as a sometimes “wildcat” QB),” Armstrong said. “We felt like the QB stuff was going to be there and it paid off for us.”

With UVA missing some personnel due to COVID issues, particularly on the already decimated defensive side of the ball, the Cavaliers did what Mendenhall was hoping for.

“It was making the right plays at the right time,” Mendenhall said. “Offensively consistently and defensively just enough at the right time.”

The coach was spot on.

Without Armstrong making consistent plays, the Cavaliers might have been in trouble. Even though Boston College was missing starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec, the main reason for the Eagles success to this point, and its leading rusher in David Bailey, BC easily moved the football through the air.

Backup Dennis Grosel lit up Virginia’s secondary for 520 yards and four touchdowns, completing 32 of 46 passes. Grosel’s success, particularly passing to Zay Flowers (8 catches, 180 yards, two TDs) and Hunter Long (8 catches, 109 yards, 1 TD), left observers guessing as to why the Eagles even bothered to run the ball.

BC was held to minus-7 yards rushing, thanks in part to Grosel’s -27 yards on four sacks.

It seemed that Grosel could throw for significant yardage almost any time he desired against the Cavaliers’ secondary. BC had six receivers with at least 50 yards each.

About the only detriment to Grosel airing it out on every play was three interceptions, two of which Virginia converted into game-changing touchdowns.

Still, Armstrong needed to be efficient in piling up points in a game that Virginia could have lost if Grosel kept lighting up the Cavaliers pass defense.

“Brennan continues to be exceptional and continues to get better and better and better,” Mendenhall said. “To have had the start we had without Brennen, and then obviously when he’s come back and to see where the team has gone, he certainly deserves a lot of credit.”

Mendenhall said that with up to six defensive linemen out, five of the starting front seven, along with outside linebacker Noah Taylor, the Cavaliers moved Tommy Christ from offensive to defensive line, and played Su Agunloye and Jordan Redmond, who all combined with Mandy Alonso to keep BC’s running game at bay.

Virginia’s game plan was to shut down the Eagles running game, make them one dimensional, and force a backup quarterback to beat them with his arm. The Cavaliers put pressure on Grosel with blitzes all night, but to his credit, he still threw a scare into the defense until late in the game.

Mendenhall was elated that his team bounced back with a four-game winning streak, which could have been five had the Florida State game not been cancelled. With one game to go _ at rival Virginia Tech next Saturday _ the UVA coach could look back at the past few weeks with pride.

“It’s so easy to stop when things get hard,” Mendenhall said. “It’s easier to opt our than opt in. They have just opted in and then they’ve stayed in.”

So has Armstrong, who bounced back from a concussion in the first half of the third game of the season, missed the next game, but has continued to get better every week since then.

Those who once questioned this aggressive lefty with a tendency to run over would-be tacklers than around them, aren’t second guessing any longer.

Team Notes

• Saturday’s win over Boston College is the first in program history. They were 0-6 prior to the win against the Eagles.
• UVA has won 17 of its last 19 games at Scott Stadium, dating back to the start of the 2018 season.
• Virginia played its third all-time regular season game at Scott Stadium in the month of December (3-0).
• Virginia has scored 30+ points in four-straight games (4-0).
• UVA finished with 549 yards of total offense. It is the first time since 2014 (vs. Kent State and vs. BYU) the Cavaliers had 500+ yards in back-to-back games. They had 518 last time out against Abilene Christian.
• UVA finished with 262 rushing yards. It markes the third time in 2020 the Cavaliers have surpassed 200 yards rushing.
• UVA held Boston College to -7 yards rushing. It is the first time UVA held an opponent to negative yards rushing since 2012 when the Cavaliers held Maryland to -2 yards rushing.
• UVA held its fourth opponent of 2020 under 100 yards rushing. UVA is 4-0 in those games. UVA is 16-1 all-time under Bronco Mendenhall when holding an opponent under 100 yards rushing.
• UVA’s 95-yard scoring drive in the second quarter is the second-longest drive of the season. UVA has five drives this season of 90 yards or more. Five scoring drives of 90+ yards in the same season is a UVA single-season record.
• Virginia has won on “Senior Day” for the third year in a row.
• Thirty-seven Cavalier fourth, fifth and sixth years were honored before the game as part of Senior Day fesitivities. The list includes: Mandy Alonso, D’Angelo Amos, Adeeb Atariwa, Joey Blount, Darrius Bratton, Elliott Brown, Dre Bryant, Richard Burney, Danny Caracciolo, Tommy Christ, De’Vante Crosss, Brian Delaney, Tyler Fannin, Matt Gahm, Chris Glaser, Nick Grant, Nash Griffin, Jalen Harrison, Ra’Shaun Henry, Terrell Jana, A.J. Mejia, Hayden Mitchell, Brenton Nelson, Ryan Nelson, Olu Oluwatimi, Tony Poljan, Darnell Pratt, Dillon Reinkensmeyer, Shane Simpson, Heskin Smith, Charles Snowden, Rob Snyder, Lindell Stone, Ryan Swoboda, Gerrik Volmer, Andrew Yavinsky, Zane Zandier.

Player Notes

• QB Brennan Armstrong finished with 417 yards of total offense. It is the first time a UVA quarterback has 400+ yards of total offense in back-to-back games. He had 435 against Abilene Christian last time out. It is only the seventh time in program history a UVA quarterback has recorded 400+ yards of total offense in a game. Six of the seven quarterbacks that have accomplished this feat have done so since 2016 during the Bronco Mendenhall era.
• Armstrong finished with a career-high 130 yards rushing. He is the first Cavalier in 2020 with 100+ yards rushing. He is the first UVA quarterback to rush for 100+ yards since Bryce Perkins in 2019 vs. VT (164).
• Armstrong finished with 287 passing yards, 130 rushing yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. It is his fourth such game this season with at least 200+ passing, 40+ rushing, 1+ passing touchdowns and 1+ rushing touchdowns, which ties him for the nation’s lead. It is the 15th time since 2000 a UVA quarterback has reached those plateaus. Nine of those times have happened since the start of the 2018 season. UVA is 8-1 in those games.
• Armstrong also extended his 2020 FBS lead to eight games with 180+ passing yards and 40+ rushing yards.
• Armstrong notched a career-long 60-yard rush on his touchdown sprint in the third quarter.
• With three field goals (38, 26, 28), PK Brian Delaney became the fifth Cavalier in program history to pass 40+ made field goals for his career (42).
• CB Nick Grant notched his second interception of the season and the fourth of his career in the third quarter.
• CB De’Vante Cross notched his second interception of the season and fifth of his career in the second quarter.
• TB Shane Simpson’s 73-yard kick return in the first quarter was the longest kick return by a Cavalier this season.
• WR Ra’Shaun Henry’s 47-yard touchdown in the second quarter was his fourth catch of the season. All previous three receptions also went for touchdowns.
• With one reception, WR Terrell Jana extends his active game streak with a reception to 24.
• With three receptions, TE Tony Poljan extends his active sgame streak with a reception to 21.