Five Things We Learned: The Loss at Georgia Tech
Posted on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, 5:24 pm
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
ATLANTA – Five things we learned about Virginia in its 30-27 overtime loss at Georgia Tech:
1 Bryce Perkins is really good.
We already knew that, but we keep getting reminded of just how good, and where would Virginia be without him. He is a difference maker.
Against the Yellow Jackets, Perkins became the first Virginia quarterback with 2,000+ passing yards and 600+ rushing yards in the same season.
Tech coach Paul Johnson on Perkins: “Virginia’s quarterback is a heck of a player. He makes a lot of plays and he’s a really, really good player.”
With Perkins at the control, the Cavaliers always have a chance.
2 UVa’s Special Teams can’t afford blunders.
Had it not been for two major gaffes _ allowing a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown, and allowing a Georgia Tech punt to bounce off a Virginia return team player, leading to another Yellow Jackets TD and 2-point conversion _ the Cavaliers would have pulled an upset on the road over Tech, would be 8-3/ 5-3 heading into Blacksburg.
There was no excuse for either of those blunders to occur, let alone both, and it cost the Wahoos dearly.
Bronco on the botched punt return that bounced off a player’s leg:
“Our punt returner’s primary job is to alert every player holding up a defensive player that the kick is short, and so their job is to get away. That needed to be more animated and more distinct, so players could get out of the way quicker”
3 Kickers Aren’t Perfect.
Don’t blame Brian Delaney for losing the game at Georgia Tech. There’s not a kicker out there at any level, who hasn’t missed an important kick. Had it not been for Delaney, Virginia wouldn’t have even made it to overtime in the first place. There were bigger, more glaring mistakes made by teammates in the game.
None of Delaney’s teammates or coaches blamed him, so fans shouldn’t either.
“I’m walking off the field and [Delaney] comes up to me and says he’s sorry,” Mendenhall said. “He did the best he could just like the rest of our team. I don’t think that play decides it, even though that’s the most visible.”
4 Cavaliers Defense Played Great Under Immense Stress.
Personally, I didn’t think Virginia had much of a chance in Atlanta. The defensive line was beaten and battered. Eli Hanback was the only experienced lineman, and the only one of the five that had ever seen Tech’s triple option, which usually requires incredible preparation to stop.
Even graduate transfer Dylan Thompson (Ohio State), who made the first start of his career, said he considered himself a rookie right there along with Aaron Faumui, Tommy Christ, and Jordan Redmond.
Virginia took the nation’s No. 1 rushing team to the limit and held Tech to nearly 100 yards under its per game average, forcing the Jackets to attempt nine passes (only one completion).
UVa was also missing one of its best tacklers in free safety Joey Blount. All this bodes well for the Cavaliers in their regular season finale in Blacksburg on Friday afternoon.
5 Zaccheaus Makes a Difference When he Gets Touches.
UVa’s record holder for most catches in a career and a season, senior Olamide Zaccheaus, not only continued his active streak of 40 games with at least one reception, he helped moved the ball and put the Yellow Jackets under pressure.
After hardly touching the ball in a loss to Pittsburgh (also at Indiana), Zaccheaus had 11 receptions for 111 yards (passing Herman Moore’s 2,504 for No. 2 all-time in a UVa career for receiving yards). Zaccheaus was also targeted several other times. If Virginia is going to break its streak at Virginia Tech on Friday and have a chance in a bowl matchup, Zaccheaus needs to get his hands on the bal _ a lot.
