Perkins, Ellis Dazzle The Crowd In Season-Opening Win Over UR

The new-look Virginia offense was on full display Saturday night at Scott Stadium, as junior quarterback Bryce Perkins dazzled in his Wahoo debut.

Before an announced home crowd of 40,524, Perkins rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 185 and two more scores as the Cavaliers opened the 2018 season with a 42-13 win over Richmond.

Senior captain Jordan Ellis set a career high with 146 yards on 20 carries and added a pair of touchdowns of his own in the lopsided victory. Olamide Zaccheaus led the ‘Hoos (1-0) with 101 yards receiving and a score on just six catches, and Coach Bronco Mendenhall was pleased with his team’s overall performance.

“I was pleased with the victory,” Mendenhall said. “Game One I think is always important for your team and for your season. I think, for a number of reasons, lending credibility to methodology through the year, or through the fall camp, it’s good to see return. So, camp was four weeks and to now have a return on their investment I think is always motivating and necessary.

“We have worked hard to reshape what we do offensively, that is still at the beginning stages, but I think you saw some of that direction with the combination of [Ellis and Perkins], and some on the throw game off of that.”

Things didn’t get off to the greatest start for Perkins. The Arizona native marched the offense down inside the Richmond 30-yard line, but didn’t see Spiders linebacker Dale Matthews Jr. on his fourth pass attempt of the night. Matthews slipped in front of the intended receiver and hustled 72 yards to the house.

The Cavaliers trailed 7-0 midway through the first quarter, and some Virginia faithful may have been thinking to themselves, “Not again,” after the Spiders turned an early advantage into an upset victory two years ago in Mendenhall’s UVa debut.

The Wahoos would answer with touchdowns on five of the next six drives, and it only took 20 seconds for Perkins to redeem himself. A Richmond 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff gave Perkins great starting field position, and three plays later, Perkins displayed his athleticism and elusiveness on a 36-yard scramble into the end zone, electrifying the Scott Stadium crowd.

“After that first pick, we got it out, came up to the sideline, took a deep breath and said, ‘I got it out now, let’s just go play,’…” said Perkins. “Obviously I would like to have the pick back. A couple other plays I wish I had back, but for the most part it’s pretty good for the first game.”

The Spiders (1-0) responded with a Griffin Trau 42-yard field goal to make it 10-7 with 6:26 left in the first quarter before the UVa offense truly caught fire.

Perkins scored his second touchdown of the opening frame on a 22-yard option keeper, and Virginia would never look back.

Zaccheaus found the end zone on the next drive on a 38-yard reception from Perkins, and then Ellis got things going, scoring his first touchdown on a 10-yard counter play late in the second quarter, and Virginia led 28-10 at the half.

“This was the expectation, to come in here and win,” said Zaccheaus. “Not only win, but dominate. We hold ourselves to a new standard as we’ve been saying, and that was the expectation — to come in here and dominate in all three phases. This is the result we’ve worked for.”

Mission accomplished. Ellis said the play of Perkins drastically opened things up offensively, as the ‘Hoos out-gained Richmond 317-143 in the first half alone.

“He just has that game-breaking speed and athletic ability to take it the distance whenever he has the ball in his hands,” Ellis said of his new signal caller. “He took some tough hits today and he got right back up. He’s tough. That’s what we want in our quarterback.”

Ellis scored again to start the second half, this time on a 21-yard scamper around the right side, tiptoeing down the sideline in front of the UVa student body, and the Cavaliers were in front comfortably, 35-10.

Saturday marked the first time that two Virginia players rushed for 100-plus yards in the same game, and also the first time two players scored two or more rushing touchdowns in the same game since Daniel Hamm and Kevin Parks did so against VMI in 2013.

Perkins put the icing on the cake with his second touchdown toss, this time to third-year wideout Hasise Dubois from 20 yards out, as the ‘Hoos pushed the advantage to 29 early in the fourth.

“We have some dynamic players, certainly that have speed and that are good on the perimeter,” Mendenhall said. “When you start looking at [Zaccheaus] and then add [Joe Reed], and then you have the physical presence, [Perkins], you can count inside and outside, there starts to be more dynamic players on the field.

“[That allows] more lanes to run and allows more time of possession, and as long as those dynamic plays can happen in the run game as well, that’s a bonus — so there’s less risk.”

Defensively, the secondary was able to contain the Spiders’ deadly receiving trio, limiting Tyler Wilkins, Dejon Brissett and Cortrelle Simpson to just eight combined catches on the night. The three managed a combined 151 yards, but several Cavalier defenders came up with big plays to make sure none of them found the end zone. Reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Brenton Nelson, along with Bryce Hall, Juan Thornhill and Darius Bratton, made huge plays in the secondary throughout the contest, while up front, Mandy Alonso (sack) and Richard Burney each had tackles for loss in their recent return to the defensive line.

Hall led the team with six tackles, including a sack/forced fumble on U of R quarterback Kevin Johnson in the third quarter that killed a Spider drive. Nelson and Joey Blount each came away with timely interceptions as well, as the ‘Hoos held Richmond to just 225 total yards and nine first downs on the night. Conversely, UVa amassed 492 total yards on the night (301 rushing, 191 passing) and advanced the chains 25 times.

A.J. Mejia was a perfect 6 for 6 on point-after attempts, but did miss on a 35-yard field goal try late in the contest.

“I am pleased with the progress our program is making,” said Mendenhall. “I recognize we are still at the beginning of what this season will look like, and this team. But there is a different poise, a different maturity, a different clarity and confidence — certainly from two years ago in our opener. Our roster is becoming deeper, our practice habits are allowing us to be more physical now that we have some injuries that are healing up.

“So, a good start to the season.”

Virginia will take its show on the road next Saturday as the ‘Hoos travel to Bloomington to face Indiana at 7:30 p.m.