Plenty Of Weapons To Choose From For Perkins, UVA

By Scott Ratcliffe

It’s not easy attempting to replace the production of your football program’s all-time leading receiver, but Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall’s got several trustworthy options for star quarterback Bryce Perkins to get the ball to.

Current Atlanta Falcons undrafted rookie Olamide Zaccheaus was “the guy” for the Cavaliers in 2017 and 2018. He hauled in team highs of 85 catches (next-best was 50) for 895 yards as a junior and 93 grabs (next-best was 52) for 1,058 as a senior, single-handedly accounting for a third of the team’s receiving yardage over the two-year span.

Mendenhall explained that while entering the season, senior Joe Reed would likely be one of the top options to help fill the shoes of Zaccheaus, he knew it would require more than just one guy.

“Maybe by some point in the season, [Reed’s] numbers might look the same [as Zaccheaus’ senior stats], but we have a pretty strong supporting cast now in addition,” said Mendenhall.

Although he has had a pretty successful trio of games to start the 2019 campaign, Reed says it’s not his goal to try to be Zaccheaus 2.0, or anything of the sort.

“I just try to do my own thing and do what I can for the team,” said Reed, who leads the team with 19 receptions. “My goal is just to show up every week and just play as well as I can.”

Mendenhall, UVA wide receivers coach Marques Hagans and offensive coordinator Robert Anae are going with more of a committee approach, with Reed and fellow senior Hasise Dubois leading the way.

Dubois is the Cavaliers’ leading returning receiver, finishing with 52 grabs for 578 yards and five touchdowns a season ago.

Dubois, who admitted that he is slimmer and faster than a year ago, has very similar numbers to Reed so far this season, and he says the two share a friendly competition in just about everything that they do, which adds to their achievements when it’s time to suit up.

“Having Joe as a teammate is great,” Dubois said after last week’s win. “Honestly me and him compete every day at everything. Like literally [against William & Mary], we were on the field, we would ask each other how many catches we had, how many yards we had — we literally compete every game.

“[Against Pitt], he lost to me because I scored a touchdown and he didn’t, but [against W&M] I lost because he scored two touchdowns and I didn’t score any, so I feel as though we just have a fun competition going on every day and that just instills a great work ethic in both of us.”

I had to ask Dubois if that meant he had to pay Reed back with a huge performance against Florida State Saturday.

“Yeah,” Dubois said with a laugh, “I’ve definitely got to one-up on him next week.”

As it turns out, Reed came out on top in this week’s personal contest with eight grabs for 83 yards and a score, but Dubois wasn’t far behind with seven catches for 75 yards.

Add junior Terrell Jana into the mix and you’ve got three very capable wideouts that have already proven more than once that they can each make a big play when their number is called, with several other guys waiting for their chance to shine as well.

Jana, a product of nearby Woodberry Forest School in Orange County, is a candidate for a breakout season and posted a UVA season-high of 85 receiving yards on seven catches against Florida State.

“I think the coaches drew up some good plays for us, and their plan going into the second half worked,” Jana said of the rally.

Reed loves being one of several weapons for Perkins to choose from.

“It’s almost unreal to me how many different weapons we have,” Reed said with a huge grin. “And the coaches do such a great job of placing the right guys in the right positions, so anybody can make big plays in our offense, really.”

Nine players have caught at least four passes through the first three contests, and six of those are averaging right around 10 yards per catch.

“Honestly once you’re on the field, you can never sleep because basically, you don’t know who’s going to get the ball,” Dubois said. “You don’t know who Bryce is going to look for, you don’t know if there’s going to be a blitz and you’re wide open, so you’ve just always got to be on your toes when you’re out there on the field in this offense.”

Reed, who was asked if the depth allows him to personally get more opportunities to contribute, added: “That’s really what we’re going for — just the fact that we have a lot of guys. It’s really hard to gameplan for us, in my opinion.”

The ‘Hoos added not one, but two graduate transfers in Terrell Chatman (Arizona State) and Dejon Brissett (Richmond) in the offseason for added experience and depth. While Brissett still hasn’t gotten a chance to officially take a snap dealing with an injury, Chatman has also been a consistent — and familiar — target for Perkins, his former teammate at ASU.

“He can stretch the field and he has great hands, and he’s a smart receiver,” Reed said of Chatman, who scored his first touchdown as a Wahoo (second as a collegian) against William & Mary.

Chatman described the moment after the game.

“It felt good,” he said. “It felt natural, and I hope it’s not my last time.”

Brissett is hoping to make his debut soon, and Dubois believes that he could be just as effective as anyone on the field.

“God forbid, one of us gets injured, I feel as though [Brissett] can fill right in,” said Dubois.

Although he has yet to get going, Tavares Kelly Jr. is quite possibly the fastest player on the team and showed flashes of his speed as a true freshman, while fellow sophomore Billy Kemp IV has impressed with his elusiveness, quickness and catching ability.

The graduation of tight end Evan Butts was also a bit of a concern coming into the year, but Tanner Cowley has looked solid through three weeks.

The future looks bright at the wideout position as well, with 6-foot-1 true freshmen Dontayvion Wicks and 6-3 Dorien Goddard among the next in line and already earning playing time.

And then there’s the guy that’s getting everybody the ball. Perkins’ leadership and poise was crucial — particularly in crunch time — against FSU Saturday, which adds even more confidence to his receiving corps.

“Bryce is very calm,” said Reed. “Very rarely does he ever panic, he’s just matter-of-fact and he tells us what we need to get done, and then we do it.”

It all adds up to what has already proven to be a successful formula, and it certainly takes more than one guy. We’ll see just how far this group can go in 2019.