Moore Talks Belk Bowl, Perkins, Importance of Finishing Strong
Posted on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, 9:10 pm
Follow Jerry Ratcliffe on Twitter
Advertising inquiries: Connect with us
Email Jerry Ratcliffe: jratcliffe7000@gmail.com
Shawn Moore | Photo Courtesy Roanoke Valley Sports Club
By Jerry Ratcliffe
When Virginia takes on South Carolina in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte on Dec. 29, it’s another one of those ACC vs. SEC games that fans from both conferences love talking about.
Former UVa quarterbacking great Shawn Moore recently visited “The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” on ESPN Charlottesville and talked about the bowl, Bryce Perkins and how the Cavaliers need to finish the season.
“I love the matchup,” Moore said. “Honestly I was privately and selfishly hoping for a Purdue or Missouri matchup because of two guys on those teams I love.”
Moore was referring to Anthony Poindexter, the former Wahoo great free safety, who is now defensive coordinator at Purdue, and to former UVa wide receiver Derek Dooley, who is now offensive coordinator at Missouri. Moore said that after conversations with each, neither wanted a matchup with Virginia for whatever reasons.
“It would have been fun to see Virginia’s offense go against Dex’s defense, and conversely, our defense go up against Derek’s offense,” Moore said.
Instead, we’ll see Virginia’s defense, featuring a strong secondary, taking on pass-happy South Carolina, and a Cavaliers’ offense led by quarterback Bryce Perkins facing the Gamecocks’ defense, which surrendered huge chunks of real estate to No. 2 Clemson in the next-to-last game of the regular season.
“South Carolina will be a tough challenge,” Moore said. “It’s battle tested from the SEC East, and this is like a home game for South Carolina. They’ll have at least 40,000 fans there. Hopefully, we turn out for that game. We need to show up.”
Columbia is an easy drive from Charlotte, where there is a large Gamecocks fan base and a place that Carolina coach Will Muschamp likes to recruit. In fact, Muschamp was kidding around the other day at the Belk Bowl press conference, calling Charlotte a love/hate thing.
Muschamp said he loved Charlotte for the aforementioned reasons, but hated it because every time he’s on a recruiting trip and calls his wife, she tells him that she’s shopping in Charlotte.
“Where everything is expensive,” Muschamp said with a chuckle.
The main thing that Moore would like to see from his alma mater is for the Cavaliers to learn how to finish, something they failed to do in the final two regular-season games, overtime losses at Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
“I keep seeing the stat about our November record the last three years and it has been tough,” Moore said.
Indeed it has.
Tough as in 2-10, the two wins coming against Liberty this past season, and at home against Georgia Tech last season (a 40-36 shootout win).
Virginia’s George Welsh, the Hall of Famer, used to say all the time, “They remember November.” George was talking about fans and sportswriters.
There hasn’t been much good to remember the past three Novembers around here. This season, UVa lost to the two Techs and to Pitt. In 2017, the Cavaliers lost to Virginia Tech, Miami, and Lamar Jackson-led Louisville. In ‘16, they lost to both Techs, Miami and Wake Forest.
“I hate to use the term pressure but I think it’s extremely important to finish this season with a win against South Carolina in terms of moving forward,” Moore said. “I think the kids were resilient to be down and came back against Virginia Tech. But they have to finish, gotta find a way to finish.”
Virginia is now a consensus 5-point underdog from the various oddsmakers to a South Carolina team that finished with the identical overall record as the Cavaliers at 7-5. Both teams lost close games that could have advanced their respective records to 8-4 or possibly 9-3.
A lot will be riding on Bryce Perkins, UVa’s dual-threat quarterback, in the bowl game. He is the difference-maker that the Cavaliers have been lacking in years past.
Moore, along with this columnist, have been high on Perkins ever since he transferred in from Arizona Western.
“I remember going back to the preseason when we were all talking about what this kid might be like,” Moore said. “I know I made some bold predictions. I still hear from people talking about [those predictions], my comparison to him as a Michael Vick type player.
“If you really think about it, maybe he didn’t carry Virginia to a national championship game, but he did put the team on his back and he was more valuable to his team than anyone else in the ACC this year,” Moore said. “Next year he’s going to have a target on his back, but he’s going to be the key.”
Moore, who quarterbacked UVa to two of its greatest seasons — the school’s only 10-win season in its history in 1989, and a Sugar Bowl appearance in 1990 — is excited about Perkins’ upside.
“He took a beating this year,” Moore said. “I absolutely believe he will be the key to the Belk Bowl. To me, the key is that Virginia has to keep the ball a little longer than South Carolina does and keep the ball in [Perkins’] hands because he’s the playmaker.”
Moore, who also coached on Mike London’s staff prior to Bronco Mendenhall taking over the program, realizes as much as anyone how important the extra 15 bowl practices mean to players. Not just the little-used players, but to guys like Perkins.
“He needs ‘em,” Moore said of Perkins and the extra work. “We’re talking about a kid who is playing college football for the first time at this level.”
While Perkins was a newcomer to FBS football this past season, he made a huge impact on Virginia’s team and the state of Virginia. The junior quarterback from Arizona won the prestigious Dudley Award, which goes annually to the top college player in the state. The award is named for the late, great Bill Dudley, a former Cavalier and a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I was happy to see that,” said Moore, who was actually the first recipient of the Dudley Award. “Bryce definitely separated himself this year and showed he’s the true leader of this team.”
Moore cherished the honor of being the first to claim the Dudley, particularly because of the relationship he had with the former star.
“One of the best pictures I have in my house is a picture of us [he and Dudley] on the Lawn my senior year,” Moore said. “Being the first winner of that award meant a lot to me. Seeing Bryce winning it, seeing the award coming around from me to now him, I was very proud. Bill Dudley meant the world to me.”
While the careers of Moore and Perkins are separated by 28 years, their numbers are surprisingly comparable. Of course, we have to consider that Moore ran an offense that featured several future NFL stars such as wide receiver Herman Moore and running backs like Terry Kirby and Marcus Wilson.
This past season, Perkins was 203 for 318 passing for 2,472 yards, 21 touchdowns, and only nine interceptions. Moore, in 1990, was 144 of 241 for 2,262 yards and 21 TDs (eight picks).
Moore finished with 6,629 career passing yards and 7,897 total yards — still a Virginia record — and was responsible for 55 career TD passes.
Perkins isn’t finished with this season yet and can add to his numbers thanks to the Belk Bowl.
And maybe, just maybe, he can help Wahoo fans Remember December.
