Bronco Not Happy With Lack Of Sharpness During 6th Practice

With historic Lambeth Field as a backdrop, Virginia’s football team finished its sixth practice of fall camp on Thursday. It wasn’t the best.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall said he had been pleased with the five previous practices but wasn’t happy with the lack of sharpness. He quickly recognized that the competitiveness in practices building up to Thursday had taken its toll.

“The team showed signs of a lot of work,” Mendenhall said. “We have been increasing the work capacity, pushing the limits in every possible way, and it showed today.”

The coach plans on having a “significant” scrimmage on Saturday, and from what he observed Thursday, he’ll plan what he called a slight recovering practice for Friday. UVa conducted its first full pads practice on Wednesday and after 90 minutes the work ended in a dead heat tie according to the team’s scoring system.

Virginia has been practicing at night because the Cavaliers’ first two games are night games and he wants to acclimate his players to that timeframe.

Mendenhall chose to hold practice at Lambeth Field, UVa’s playing facility prior to Scott Stadium opening in 1931, because the coach likes the natural grass surface. Both of the Cavaliers’ practice fields behind the McCue Center, including the George Welsh Indoor Complex, both feature field turf.

“We actually play on grass,” Mendenhall said when asked why he chose Lambeth. “As much as we can simulate what the setting we are going to play in looks like and feels like, and getting our footing, that’s great.”

The coach believes in research that indicated there are fewer injuries on grass than turf.

Virginia has not spent time on preparing for its season-opening opponent, Richmond (Sept. 1) as of yet. The Cavaliers are focusing on getting better and will continue that all of next week, then start preparation for the Spiders the following week.

Injury Report

UVa had some personnel on both sides of an already depth-thin offensive and defensive lines missing or leaving Thursday’s practice session.

Offensive guards R.J. Proctor and Jake Fieler were out. Proctor actually left the practice with an undetermined injury.

Defensive ends Mandy Alonso and Cassius Peat (a transfer from Michigan State) were also out. Alonso was injured three or four days ago, according to Mendenhall. Peat was hurt early in camp as well.

“The D-Line is a mirror image of the O-line,” Mendenhall said. “We’re thin there as well.”

Those injuries to Alonso and Peat opened the door for some first-year players, Aaron Faumui (a 6-foot-1, 280-pound rookie from Kapolei, Hawaii, and Jordan Redmond, a 6-1, 320, freshman out of Kissimmee, Fla.

Mendenhall said both first-year defensive ends were doing a nice job.

Meanwhile, senior cornerback Tim Harris made his fall camp debut, and junior corner Myles Robinson returned to practice Thursday. Mendenhall expressed hope that Harris, who has been injury plagued the past two seasons, can put together a productive healthy streak going forward.

Benefitting from Harris being out until Thursday was Darrius Bratton, a 6-1, 195-pound sophomore out of Roanoke’s William Fleming H.S. via Fork Union Military.

“Tim’s loss has been Darrius’ gain in terms of the volume of repetition and the coaching and the intensity,” Mendenhall said of Bratton. “Darrius had a really good summer. He’s gotten strong and he’s gotten fast, and he’s becoming durable. He’s tackling well and covering well.”

Also missing from camp was Ohio State defensive line transfer Dylan Thompson, 6-5, 280, who has not finished classes in Columbus. Mendenhall said until that happens Thompson is not on Virginia’s team.

Criss Cross

Sophomore wide receiver/cornerback De’Vante Cross, who also ran some wildcat formation at quarterback for Virginia last season, missed the spring but has been healthy in fall camp.

“[Cross] has been through six practices and has been one of the bright spots,” Mendenhall reported. “He’s done a nice job. He’s catching the ball consistently and has been very productive.”

Battle At Safety

The safety position is the deepest spot on Virginia’s roster, and there are some intense battles going on for starting jobs.

ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Brenton Nelson is in what Mendenhall termed “a heated battle” with sophomore Joey Blount. Meanwhile, Juan Thornhill and Chris Moore are also going at it at safety. Thornhill has added 10 pounds of bulk in the offseason in order to handle bigger backs coming at him.

“Those four are really playing well,” Mendenhall said.

Punter Is A Leader

Now there’s a statement one doesn’t hear often in football, but Virginia senior punter Lester Coleman from Martinsville via Woodberry Forest has proven to be an exception.

“He’s probably the best leader you can be from that position,” Mendenhall noted. “He’s vocal, he’s consistent, he’s engaging, and he performs well. For lack of a better word, he’s a normal guy. He’s part of the team. That’s not always the case with a specialist position. Our team loves him. He’s awesome.”

Coleman, a big punter at 6-5, 245, was second-team All-ACC last season and finished as the fourth-ranked punter in the conference with a 43.7 average, and led the league in punts of 50 yards or more with 23. He was also seventh nationally and led the ACC in punts inside the 20 with 29. He set a new UVa record in punts of 60 yards or more with six.