There’s A Lot Of Pressure On Zacchaeus, But He Can Handle It

There’s a lot of pressure on senior wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, but he doesn’t mind. Bring it on, all of it. He can handle it.

That’s why when Bronco Mendenhall bluntly explained to him early this season that Virginia doesn’t have a great chance to win if Zaccheaus doesn’t play well, the speedy Philadelphian has responded so strongly.

In Saturday’s 31-21 win over North Carolina, Zaccheaus not only played well, he played great.

He hauled in 10 receptions for 108 yards and ran for 30 more to help the Cavaliers win their sixth game of the season with four regular season games to go.

Among those 10 catches was a 16-yarder for a first down on the last play of the third quarter. It was different than all the rest because it was a record-breaker.

The catch broke Billy McMullen’s record (210) for the most career receptions in UVa history. Zaccheaus ended the day with 213, while also extending his active streak with at least one reception to 37 games.

“It is an honor, but I’m not satisfied at all,” Zaccheaus said of his record-breaking day. “We are in the same position we were in last year, and we took it for granted then. I will not allow that to happen this year.

“The record isn’t something that I’m worried about right now, but after college is over I will reflect on it and be proud,” Zaccheaus said. “I’m grateful for the people around me who have helped me get there.”

Zaccheaus was referring to Virginia’s second-half of the season collapse in 2017 when the Cavaliers started 5-2, finished 6-6 and lost its bowl game.

He is especially appreciative of McMullen who sent a direct message to Zaccheaus before the game and said: “go get it.”

“I really appreciate him reaching out to me,” Zaccheaus said.

Mendenhall said that the growth and development he has seen in Zaccheaus, his drive for excellence, keeps accelerating to a higher level.

“He’s hungrier to be better,” Mendenhall said.

When it comes to expectations, the whole bit about if he doesn’t play well, then Virginia doesn’t have a great chance to win, Mendenhall likes the way his star receiver has handled it all.

“He’s able to shoulder that, and I put him in a place where he can still focus on his game and production and help our team without it now being that he’s the reason,” the coach said. “It’s now about how he can contribute. He’s hungrier for the team’s success than I think he is his own and that comes with maturity.”

Zaccheaus said he wasn’t always that mature, made a step toward that prior to his junior season, but upped that part of his game in the offseason.

“There was a step taken two years ago, diet and things I put in my body,” Zaccheaus said. “This past offseason, during the winter was another step. I needed to tighten up and get rid of distractions in my life and am intentional with the process, not to be worried with the outcome, just worried about the day-in, day-out little things that I do every day.”

He attributed a lot of that focus to UVa’s wide receivers coach Marques Hagans.

“He really put a lot of pressure on me to make this my best year,” Zaccheaus said. “I have goals but moreso what I do every day. That’s one thing he stressed in the offseason. I can’t thank him enough for how he’s pushed me.”

Hagans challenged Zaccheaus not to settle for being average, but to be great.

Along the way, in came quarterback Bryce Perkins, with whom Zaccheaus clicked immediately.

Their chemistry?

“It’s something special,” Zaccheaus said. “Something that we developed in such a short time. It took me and (previous UVa QB Kurt Benkert) and the receivers from last year probably two years to start clicking. But with Bryce, it took a lot shorter time.

“Having that same experience with Kurt, growing pains or whatever, helped us transition into having such great chemistry this year,” Zaccheaus said. “I’m glad to have Perk here. He’s a baller.”

Perkins is delighted he has such a reliable receiver as a target.

Perkins said he and Zaccheaus never talked about the record during game week, and that he wasn’t even aware that his receiver had broken the record until Mendenhall mentioned it in the locker room after the game.

“O [Zaccheaus’ nickname] never said anything about it,” Perkins said. “If you ask him, he’ll probably say it’s good but he still has things to work on. That’s just the guy he is. It’s great for him, I’m happy for him. He deserves it.

“He’s one of the hardest working guys and a great leader,” the quarterback said. “He has definitely taught me a couple things about how to lead.”

Not only did Zaccheaus break a significant record and extend his streak, his 29-yard rush in the first quarter took him over the 500-yard rushing mark for his career, making him the only active player in the nation with 2,000+ career receiving yards and 500+ career rushing yards. No active player has 1,500+ receiving and 500+ rushing.

It was Zaccheaus’ fourth 100+-yard receiving game this season, the seventh of his career. Since 2000, Zaccheaus is one of only three ACC players to accomplish the 2000/500 mark (Pitt’s Tyler Boyd and Syracuse’s Ervin Phillips are the others).