Blue Ridge Bank Wahoo Preview: Duke at Virginia

Posted on Saturday, Sep. 26, 2020, 12:32 am

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Football season is finally upon us in Charlottesville, as the 2020 campaign kicks off Saturday afternoon against ACC rival Duke (4 p.m., ACC Network).

The Cavaliers look to make it six straight victories over the Blue Devils (0-2, 0-2 ACC), who are visiting Scott Stadium for the second year in a row, only this time, things will look much different in many ways.

After multiple game postponements and cancellations, Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall and his staff finally have an opponent in place, and there is actual football to be played against another team.

The two schools met with ACC officials and agreed to move the game from its original date of Nov. 14 up to Saturday, after Virginia Tech postponed its game with the Wahoos last week. Duke became the fifth potential season-opening opponent for UVA (Sept. 7 vs. Georgia was cancelled; Sept. 11 vs. VMI was cancelled; Sept. 19 at Virginia Tech was postponed; Oct. 3 at Clemson is now Game 2 on the schedule, but briefly appeared to be the opener).

So now, after an offseason that probably felt more like two whole seasons, plus nearly three months of camp, the day has finally arrived, Wahoo Nation.

Game day is here. It’s time to get your first look at what quarterback Brennan Armstrong can do as a starter and what his weapons will look like, what the incoming freshmen and transfers bring to the table, who will make a name for themselves, and how good this Cavalier defense can be.

Although fans cannot attend games at Scott Stadium just yet, the UVA players are eager to provide plenty of energy and noise from the sideline — “the 4th Side,” as it’s been coined — to keep their teammates pumped up.

Photos: UVA Athletics

It will certainly look and feel a lot different this season, but when the ball is booted off of the tee a little after 4 p.m., it’s the same game it always was.

Duke comes into the contest having gone three straight quarters without scoring a point, as Boston College scored 19 unanswered to spoil the home opener at Wallace Wade Stadium last weekend.

The Blue Devils have been outscored 46-10 from the start of the second quarter on (36-7 in the second half) through a pair of losses. A major factor in the lack of production is the number of giveaways, particularly when in scoring range.

David Cutcliffe’s team has committed 7 turnovers (5 fumbles, 2 picks) so far — 5 of them came after the first quarter last week in the loss to the visiting, underdog Eagles. Three of those occurred in the red zone (two came on fumbles coughed up inside the 5-yard line), and the Devils also missed a field goal after advancing to the BC 17.

Cutcliffe said he thinks his team is better than they were a year ago (5-7, 3-5), and believes they will keep improving, but the turnovers have obviously been a glaring concern thus far.

Cutcliffe, now in his 13th year in Durham, described his group as a “fierce, confident” team that came into the season hungry and ready to play, but that they have not been consistent enough.

“I think we’ve got a really good football team, and I think as we get more comfortable with who we are and what we’re doing, we’ve got enough weapons on offense to be effective, we’ve got some defensive people that can make plays,” Cutcliffe said after the 27-13 Week 1 loss to Notre Dame in South Bend. “We need to win the turnover battle and win the kicking game … you knew potentially [consistency] would be an issue when you’ve had as little work as we’ve been able to have, so putting 60 minutes together is going to certainly be the goal.”

That goal came up well short in the 26-6 Week 2 loss to BC, and Cutcliffe is determined to get his offense back on track, placing the blame on himself for the untimely penalties and mistakes, and for his troops not matching the intensity and “explosive plays” of the Eagles.

“When you do that, you’re gonna lose football games, I take full responsibility,” said the coach. “I expect [the players] to respond, but I have to help them more.

“I’ve got to look at myself, I’ve got to look at what we’re calling, I’ve got to look at every little thing we’re doing there — no time to punch a panic button, but you have to respond.”

Junior quarterback Chase Brice transferred to Duke after playing backup to Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, and has had a bit of a rough go of it for his new squad.

Brice threw a pair of interceptions and fumbled the ball deep in Boston College territory late in the contest, and has yet to throw a touchdown pass in 2020, although he did score one of Duke’s two rushing touchdowns on the season.

Brice has taken ownership for his play, pointing to leaving plays out on the field by trying to “play fast.” Both the Fighting Irish and Eagles featured a stacked defensive line, and that trend will continue for Brice and the Devils Saturday.

Heskin Smith

The Hoos return just about everyone up front but Eli Hanback (graduated) and Aaron Faumui (opted out), as Richard Burney, Jowon Briggs and Mandy Alonso will be leading the charge.

Behind them is one of the deepest, most talented set of linebackers Cavalier fans have witnessed in years, spearheaded by seniors Charles Snowden and Zane Zandier along with junior Noah Taylor and sophomore Nick Jackson. All four of them, along with reserves Matt Gahm and Elliott Brown, are highly capable of applying pressure and causing havoc and disruption for opposing QBs.

The senior-laden secondary of starting corners Nick Grant and De’Vante Cross and safeties Joey Blount and Brenton Nelson also have experienced depth to plug in behind them. There are several guys on the defensive side of the ball who are extremely versatile, and you will see examples of that throughout the season.

All that being said, it could be another long day for Brice as a result. Cutcliffe believes his signal caller just needs to settle down and make smarter decisions.

“The temptation that he’s got to resist is trying to force plays,” the coach said. “You can make plays, and he’s a playmaker, but you can’t force plays, and we’ve got to do a better job of having our receivers and our quarterback on the same page.”

Brice’s top target thus far has been tight end Noah Gray, who extended receptions streak to 18 games and is now tied for fifth on Duke’s all-time catch list among tight ends. Jake Bobo, Dennis Smith and Damond Philyaw-Johnson are all reliable options in the passing game.

Deon Jackson is the bell cow in the backfield with Mataeo Durant sharing snaps. Durant scored on a career-long 49-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter last week, and Duke hasn’t found the end zone since.

That play was set up by cornerback Mark Gilbert’s seventh career interception, but Gilbert, along with fellow starting corner Josh Blackwell, had surgery this week, and each of them are done for the year.

That could open things up a bit more for Armstrong if he picks on their replacements. Leonard Johnson (boundary) is the more experienced of the two, starting 21 of 27 career games, but on the other (field) side, redshirt sophomore Jeremiah Lewis has only appeared in 18 games with no starts.

Opposing quarterbacks Ian Book and Phil Jurkovec have combined to complete 67 percent of their passes against the Blue Devil defense.

Cutcliffe would like to see better tackling and more quarterback pressure. One bright spot last week was Victor Dimukeje, who recorded a career-high 3.5 sacks (he tied teammate Chris Rumph’s single-game program record). For his performance, Dimukeje earned ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors. Duke’s 9 sacks rank second-best in the ACC behind Pitt and Clemson (10 each).

Armstrong is known for his ability to scramble and extend plays, which was key to the success of Duke’s first two opposing quarterbacks.

Game day is here. Are you ready for some football? We’re sure the Cavaliers can’t contain their excitement.

The Breakdown

Click here to listen to our Wahoo World Season Preview, where we not only break down the Duke game, but the rest of the schedule and the depth chart. Anthony Esposito from Krackwins.com also gives us his Duke-UVA thoughts and ACC weekly predictions. Below you’ll find the statistical comparison between the Cavaliers and Blue Devils (note: UVA’s numbers are from the 2019 season):

The Coaches

UVA — Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall
5th season at Virginia (25-27); 16th season overall (124-70); Record vs. Duke: 4-0

Bronco Mendenhall

Assistant Coaches:
Offensive Coordinator/Inside Receivers — Robert Anae
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Secondary — Nick Howell
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers — Kelly Poppinga
Running Backs — Mark Atuaia
Quarterbacks — Jason Beck
Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends — Ricky Brumfield
Wide Receivers — Marques Hagans
Inside Linebackers — Shane Hunter
Defensive Line — Clint Sintim
Offensive Line — Garett Tujague

Duke — Head Coach David Cutcliffe
13th season at Duke (72-81); 19th season overall (116-110); Record vs. UVA: 6-6

David Cutcliffe

Assistant Coaches:
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks — Zac Roper
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line — Ben Albert
Co-Defensive Coordinator — Matt Guerrieri
Special Teams/Defense — Kirk Benedict
Running Backs — Re’quan Boyette
Tight Ends — Jeff Faris
Offensive Line — Greg Frey
Linebackers — Lanier Goethie
Cornerbacks — Chris Hampton
Wide Receivers — Trooper Taylor

Broadcast Information

TV: ACC Network
Announcers: Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), Eric Wood (sideline)
Radio: Virginia Sports Network
Announcers: Dave Koehn (play-by-play), Tony Covington (analyst)
Satellite Radio:
Sirius Channel — 204
XM Channel — 207
Internet Channel — 967

Kickoff Forecast

Intermittent Clouds, 77 degrees
Precipitation — 4%
Wind — NNE 5 mph
Humidity — 63%
(Courtesy AccuWeather)

The Depth Charts

Virginia:

Click to enlarge

Duke:

The Uniforms

Virginia: White helmets, Blue jerseys, White pants

The Uɳι VIBE for Saturday is 🔥

⚪️🔵⚪️#GoHoos | #THEStandard 🔷🔶 pic.twitter.com/TqzB1rPt0T

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) September 24, 2020

Duke: Blue helmets, White jerseys, Blue pants

🔵⚪️ 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝟛 𝔽𝕚𝕥 🔵⚪️#DukeGang | #GoDuke pic.twitter.com/v8LAZWxzUu

— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 24, 2020

Game Tape

Highlights from each team’s last contest

Virginia — lost to Florida in December in the Orange Bowl, 36-28:

Duke — lost to Boston College last Saturday, 26-6:

JR.com Game Week/Preseason links & features

In case you missed any of our coverage from this week or team previews/features over the offseason, we’ve got you covered. Click on any link below to catch up: