For Virginia Defense, It All Starts Up Front With ‘The Silverbacks’

By Jerry Ratcliffe

The Virginia defense made a huge statistical leap last season, jumping from No. 79 in the nation in total defense in 2017 to No. 20 in the country in that category in 2018.

With eight starters returning and several more players that gained experience out of necessity, the Cavaliers could be just plain nasty on that side of the ball this season. What will it require for UVA’s defense to take things to an even higher level? 

Co-defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga thinks he knows.

“In my mind, it’s really their mindset,” Poppinga said. “We have good players, we have good depth, they know the schemes, they have experience. But that’s always a recipe for complacency. It’s a recipe to relax and think you’ve arrived.”

He and his fellow defensive coaches know that part of their responsibility is to remind the players that every team is going to be out to get them. There’s going to be a target on Virginia’s back and Poppinga believes success is going to depend on how the players are going to react to that challenge.

“We’ve never had that since we’ve been here,” he said. “I think they’ll react well because of the experience and leadership we have on our defense.”

A lot of that experience and leadership will be provided from the defensive line, which returns senior nose tackle Eli Hanback and junior defensive end Mandy Alonso. They have company.

Because of injuries last season, Richard Burney (junior), Tommy Christ (sophomore), Aaron Faumui (sophomore), and Jordan Redmond (sophomore) all gained valuable experience. The latter three were thrown into the fire as true freshmen because the ranks were so thin.

Now, Virginia’s defensive line, nicknamed the “Silverbacks” by D-line coach Vic So’oto, is one of the deepest units on the team.

Add true freshman Jowon Briggs, a 6-foot-1, 295, 4-star prospect out of Cincinnati, and UVA’s front appears to have unlimited potential. As of this writing, Briggs had been running with the first-team defensive line the entire training camp and drawing raves from everyone.

Bronco Mendenhall can’t contain his excitement when he talks about the Silverbacks because he knows these players are beginning to look and perform like what he has been accustomed to as a defensive aficionado all these years.

“Having Richard Burney back really helps,” Mendenhall said. “We were so thin that a lot of players played [last season].

Burney started the first three games in ‘18 but missed the rest of the year due to injury. Alonso played deep into the season but was injured against Pitt and couldn’t return due to a knee injury. 

“There’s no signs of previous injury,” Mendenhall said. “When you add Burney and Alonso, then you add Jowon and Famui, the names and numbers start to add up. Oh, and Eli, who’s every play, every game, every year … starts to feel like an established defensive front.”

Eli, of course, is Hanback, described by Mendenhall as tough and durable, with zero drama.

They were part of a unit that made strides last season but one that will strive for greatness this fall.

There were several points of emphasis in training camp, which ended this past week. Mendenhall would like more sacks out of the defense, which produced 26 in 13 games a year ago, only good for a No. 73 ranking.

The other statistic that must improve is Virginia’s rush defense, which was 47th in the country a year ago — giving up 147 yards per game on the ground, a 4.34 average per carry by opponents. That’s well over Mendenhall’s goal of 3.5.

UVA’s coach is big on metrics, always has been, always will be. His staff compiles data on everything measurable over a season and knows when the numbers don’t match system expectations.

“We track all the statistics not only on a national level, but since I’ve been a head coach versus all opponents we’ve played,” Mendenhall said. “So that’s 14 years of data. We track everything and we know exactly what numbers lead to an 85-percent threshold to win, which means 10 wins or more.”

That’s why 3.5 is a big deal, particularly considering who the Cavaliers open up against: a traditionally run-heavy team in Pittsburgh, known for its physicality, particularly with its ground game.

When Pitt came to Scott Stadium last November, Virginia was hopeful of capturing its first-ever ACC Coastal Division title. The Cavaliers held a half-game lead over both Pitt and Virginia Tech. Mendenhall had the program ranked for the first time since 2011.

Armed with a decent defense, giving up 3.8 yards per rush, UVA felt like it might be able to stop Pitt’s run game. Didn’t happen.

The Panthers ran through Virginia’s defense like swiss cheese. Darrin Hall had 229 yards rushing on 19 attempts, and Qadree Ollison added another 24 on seven rushes.

Pitt won the game and eventually the Coastal crown. Virginia didn’t win again in conference play in the regular season, dropping three in a row to Pitt, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. During that slide, the Wahoos surrendered 5.6 yards per carry.

With UVA opening the season against Pitt, a team that has beaten the Cavaliers four consecutive times — at Pittsburgh, where Virginia has never won — there’s cause for alarm. Even though the Panthers have a new offensive coordinator in Mark Whipple, who is renowned for developing quarterbacks, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi insists his team will run the football.

“That’s who we are,” Narduzzi proclaimed at the ACC Kickoff event in July.

Hall and Ollison are gone. So are four of the Panthers’ starting offensive linemen from a year ago.

Pitt certainly intends to run the ball down the Cavaliers’ collective throats, convinced its physical style will rule anything that UVA has defensively.

“Pitt is a team we haven’t beaten since Coach Mendenhall has been here (and beyond),” said Hanback. “They’re a blue-collar team that wants to run downhill and gets after you. It’s an awesome test right out of the block.

“They just happen to be our first game. [Pitt’s] physicality has been a big emphasis. We have to come out hitting and getting after it right away. Don’t wait for the blow, give the blow.”

Alonso was in agreement with Hanback.

“I’m kind of picking up where I left off,” Alonso said. “I’m definitely extra motivated because I didn’t get to finish that game [last season when he was injured] and I was having a great game.

“Pitt is so run-heavy. Their offensive line and defensive line are always going to be the best part of their team.”

Narduzzi’s intent is to run the football, but if the Silverbacks and their defensive mates shut down Pitt’s ground game, it will be forced to put the ball in the air.

What a great start it would be for UVA’s defense to control the line of scrimmage against a program that finished No. 18 in rushing offense last season and averaged nearly 230 yards per game on the ground. It would signal just how far the Cavaliers’ defensive front had advanced in a year’s time.

“Being physical has been the main point of emphasis in our strategy and what our coach talks about every day,” Burney said. “We have to have the physical mindset to stop the run and rush the passer. We have to be more physical and more aggressive. That started back in winter workouts all the way through now.”

Virginia has gained a bit of a reputation for its nasty — clean, but nasty — defensive style, something in which the players take immense pride.

“We’re very proud,” said Alonso, who had 21 tackles last season, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks to go with two quarterback hurries, despite being double-teamed a major portion of plays. “We always want to be a top-25 defense. Defense is our heart and soul.”

No argument from Hanback.

“Coach (Nick) Howell (co-defensive coordinator) talks about mindset and making havoc plays, playing as hard as you can as fast and you can with focus and intent on doing your assignment. You only reach that with practice and work.”

All of Virginia’s defensive linemen said they felt bigger and stronger, some even quicker or faster. They definitely feel more confident with another year of experience under their belt and after kicking South Carolina’s butts in the Belk Bowl last December.

“That definitely boosted our confidence as a team,” Hanback said. “Everyone was a little worried that we had to face an SEC team. When you practice like we do, we were eager to get after it and it showed. When you pitch a shutout as a defense, there’s nothing better to boost your confidence.”

Hanback had 46 tackles last season, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries.

No, those numbers aren’t staggering, but rarely does a defensive lineman in a 3-4 scheme register eye-popping statistics. Their job is to shield blockers so the linebackers can swoop in and make the play.

Hanback said he has been a bit more vocal as a leader on this year’s squad, a defense bent on making a difference.

“We have goals we haven’t accomplished yet,” he said. “We have teams we haven’t beaten yet, and we have guys that want to see that through. Some guys turned down money because they want to be a part of something bigger here.”

Experience abounds in a defensive-line room that was deplete of bodies toward the end of last season. There’s chemistry evolving every day.

“Especially with Burney and Eli, they’ve been around so long that they make me feel like a young guy,” Alonso cracked. “We’ve been around each other so much the past three years. Aaron has come a long way. We worked out together every day, and I’ve seen a burst from him. He plays a lot like me, so having another guy like that takes our game to another level.”

Alonso said the more the Silverbacks show coaches that they can remain disciplined and handle assignments, the more freedom they will have to make plays. The fact that there are six or seven players along the front helps, too, because So’oto can keep fresh bodies in the game all night long, possibly rotating every three plays if desired.

Facing Pitt right out of the gate is a true challenge, a conference game against a physical team that has had your number, and on the road.

“I think it’s awesome we start out that way,” Alonso said. “Start out with a bang and take midseason form into the rest of the season.”

The Silverbacks are not afraid.