Perkins Poses Dangerous Threat In Belk Bowl

Posted on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018, 6:56 pm

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Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins takes questions from the media Friday in Charlotte.

By Jerry Ratcliffe

CHARLOTTE —South Carolina’s defensive game plan is as simple as cornbread when it comes to stopping Virginia in Saturday’s Belk Bowl: don’t let Bryce Perkins run wild.

Easier said than done.

Perkins has been the key for the Cavaliers all season long, often making something out of nothing. Ask Bronco Mendenhall and he’ll quickly tell you that UVA would not have had the season it has enjoyed had it not been for Perkins, who clearly exceeded all of the coaching staffs expectations.

Consider that in his first true season of FBS football, coming in cold to a new program clear across the country, Perkins broke two Virginia records:

• Single-season total offense, 3,314 yards, passing Kurt Benkert (2017) and Matt Schaub (2002).
• Single-season touchdown responsibility, 31, besting the previous mark held by some Wahoo legends … Bill Dudley (1941), Shawn Moore (1990), and Schaub (2003).

“Without him being able to do that, we don’t have the season we’ve had, we don’t score the way we have, and we don’t move the football,” Mendenhall said Friday at the Belk Bowl press conference. “Bryce’s ability to improvise and innovate and create has allowed us to be in the position we’re in.

“Without that, the rest of our offensive players and our current execution would not have been strong enough to get to this point,” Mendenhall said.

Hailing from the football-rich SEC, regarded as the best football conference in the land, it didn’t take South Carolina very long to recognize that how goes Perkins, goes Virginia. The Arizona native and a product of Arizona Western Community College, has clearly been the focus of the Gamecocks’ bowl preparation, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

“As a defense, our whole thing has been trying to make [Perkins] play quarterback,” said Carolina linebacker T.J. Brunson. “Because he is a mobile quarterback that can make things happen, we want to make him throw the ball and try to beat us with his arm.”

The Gamecocks’ entire linebacker group has practiced hard on keeping Perkins in front of them and for the ‘backers to stay in their area and not drift. They are keenly aware of the damage Perkins can cause with his running ability.

Virginia’s junior QB has rushed for 842 yards this season and nine TDs. He is the first Wahoo to rush for 100 yards in a game at least four times in a season since running back Kevin Parks (six times) in 2013. Parks was UVA’s last 1,000-yard rusher.

“They’re going to use him as a running back at times,” Brunson said. “We need to get him before he gets going.”

Because Perkins is a quarterback with size at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, the Gamecocks realize he isn’t easy to bring down. Carolina coach Will Muschamp has emphasized that Perkins has a big lower body, so the Gamecocks have to wrap up and keep their feet moving when tackling, or attempting to tackle him.

Brunson and some of his teammates said Friday that Perkins reminded them of Kentucky dual-threat quarterback Terry Wilson, Jr., 6-3, 205, junior-college transfer.

The Gamecocks have had difficulty stopping dual threat QBs this season, including a close loss at Florida when the Gators overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half to come back and win 35-31. Much of the damage came from South Carolina’s inability to deal with a running quarterback.

That fact was not lost on Perkins when studying game film of the Gamecocks’ defense.

“I definitely remember seeing that,” Perkins said when the Florida tape came up. “We definitely took that [game] under consideration and molded our game plan around the kind of teams they played with mobile quarterbacks and how [South Carolina] played in those games and what we can exploit in their coverages.”

Virginia paid particular attention to Carolina’s game tapes of Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, and Clemson, and took note of what those teams did against the Gamecocks’ defense and incorporated certain things into the Cavaliers’ offensive game plan.

Certainly Muschamp did the same in exploring ways to contain Perkins. He wouldn’t be the first.

Perkins noted that late in the season several opponents attempted to pinch the pocket to contain him and forced him to throw the football.

“You can tell because it’s kind of like a barricade or wall right here that slowly creeps in,” he said about opposing defenses attempting to pin him down. “You can definitely see it, and feel the pressure. I definitely have to get more comfortable and perform better in the pocket.”

Muschamp has spoken ad nauseam about the threat Perkins poses.

“When you have a quarterback that has designed runs, that creates an extra gap in the run game,” Muschamp said. “You have to have an extra hat for that because they can overload you at times with some things they can do in the run game because their quarterback becomes a runner.

Most of Perkins’ runs are designed, but there’s plenty of what Muschamp calls “off-rhythm” plays (Perkins calls them “off-script”) where the Virginia quarterback drops back, his receivers are covered, but UVA has some run-pass option (RPOs) plays built in, pocket-movement RPOs, and Perkins just takes off on a run. Some of those, Muschamp complimented, are “very well designed.”

And, very dangerous. Perkins is not only big and physical, but also f-a-s-t.

“That’s how a lot of Virginia’s big plays happen,” linebacker Brunson said. “Our secondary has to double-cover guys because Perkins will scramble to run. But sometimes, he’ll scramble to launch it deep and a lot of times it’s a big play. We have to make sure we eliminate those big plays.”

The Cavaliers worked hard on what they call the “Scramble Drill” during August training camp. Essentially, it’s when either Perkins’ protection breaks down or his receivers are covered and he has to improvise, and as Brunson aptly pointed out, Perkins has the talent to either take off on the run or to scramble around until he finds an open receiver downfield.

“Robert (Anae, offensive coordinator) and our offensive staff have worked a lot with [Perkins] and there are certain plays where the timing is: it’s look and run; or look and read; or at all costs, throw,” Mendenhall explained.

The offensive coaches basically put those plays or options into different buckets for Perkins so he can categorize them and make necessary decisions, so that it’s not always ‘if it’s not there, run.’

“Things break down and so you just make things happen,” said Perkins, who possesses an instinct to do just that. “We have our Scramble Drill so that when things do break down, then our receivers adjust. This receiver goes here, this receiver goes there. We never know when the play is going to break down but we’re ready for it at all times.”

Because Perkins knows his receivers have great football IQs, the repetition of the drill in practice helps immensely.

“I’m still working at it,” he said of the drill. “There are some plays where I can keep it up instead of tucking it. There’s a fine line of trying to do too much.”

Olamide Zaccheaus, UVA’s record-breaking receiver, has been the benefactor of many of those broken plays and has exploited defenses that weren’t prepared for Perkins’ ability to turn potential disaster into magical moments for the Cavaliers, particularly buying time with his feet until he can find an open receiver downfield.

“When the first read is not there and the second read is not there, Bryce can make something happen with his feet,” said Zaccheaus, who has 81 receptions this season (four short of tying his own single-season record), including a single-game record of 247 yards vs. Ohio this season.

“You want to help the quarterback out,” Zaccheaus said of the Scramble Drill. “You don’t want to make that throw dangerous, so you want to always protect the throw for the quarterback. We’re really good at it. Sometimes it can be covered up, and kudos to defenses for that. As far as finding open space and not being in the same spot as each other, we’ve done a good job with that aspect.”

If Virginia is to prevail against the Gamecocks, break its bowl win drought, and remain undefeated in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, then it’s largely going to be because Perkins does his thing.

Having surpassed Mendenhall’s expectations (Bronco said he didn’t think he would get this kind of efficiency from Perkins until next season), Perkins has been a better passer than projected. He has competed 64 percent of his 318 attempts, the best UVA pass rating since Matt Schaub in 2003 (69.7).

It’s no wonder that South Carolina’s entire focus will be on not letting Perkins beat them by extending plays with his feet. Then again, there is a pretty good arm to contend with, too.

Perkins’ passing abilities hasn’t received the notoriety of his Gamecocks counterpart in Jake Bentley, who has thrown for 2,953 yards this season, but the UVA QB looks at that as another challenge to overcome.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t [want to be better than the opposing QB],” Perkins said Friday. “I try to outplay the opposing quarterback every game. I compete my heart out and play to the best of my ability at all times.”

It’s that fire that likely has Muschamp and the Gamecocks worried going into the game. Mendenhall is hoping Perkins’ impassioned play is contagious.