UVA Players Have Not Forgotten Last Season’s Loss To Indiana

During Virginia’s surprising 5-1 start last season, Cavalier players were kicking themselves for losing a home game to Indiana. That loss stuck in their collective craws.

In that game, UVa was prepared to stop the Hoosiers’ starting quarterback Richard Lagow, who had torn up Ohio State in a near-upset two weeks before. In fact, Lagow struggled so badly against the Cavaliers (3-for-10, 24 yards and an interception), that he was pulled and replaced by dual-threat QB Peyton Ramsey.

Ramsey turned out to be the difference in leading the Hoosiers to a 34-17 win. IU led 17-3 at halftime, 27-10 after three quarters, with Ramsey rushing a dozen times for 42 yards and passing for 173, connecting on an amazing 16 of 20 pass attempts.

Ramsey is back and is the Indiana starter for Saturday night’s game in Bloomington.

“He’s a quarterback that can extend plays, and like much of college football now, the quarterback position is the catalyst for not only yards through the air but yards on the ground,” UVa coach Bronco Mendenhall said at his weekly press conference on Monday. “I remember a year ago we spent so much time preparing for the starting quarterback [Lagow], and when Ramsey came in it was a completely different style.

“So the alteration of the plan … and I remember exactly what that was like, and adjusting midstream,” Mendenhall said.

Ramsey was 20-for-27 for 156 yards and three touchdowns (one interception) in the Hoosiers’ 38-28 win over Florida International in Miami last weekend. He rushed eight times for a net 36 yards.

Throughout the 5-1 start, after each mounting win the Cavaliers continually brought up the loss to IU, wishing they could get that one back, knowing they had let the Hoosiers off the hook.

“Oh yeah, that’s one we definitely felt got away from us,” said UVa junior middle linebacker Jordan Mack on Monday. “We’re looking forward to going there and making improvement from last year.”

What Mack remembered most was the same as his head coach, Peyton Ramsey, who was named for Peyton Manning.

“No. 3, their quarterback came in and made some plays that we weren’t ready to handle, so that’s what I remember most, and having difficulty stopping him,” said Mack. “His scrambling ability, his ability to keep plays alive and make explosive plays like Bryce [Perkins].”

Senior right guard Jake Fieler remembered his frustration from that loss, particularly over the ineffective run offense against the Hoosiers.

“It bugged me, especially because I felt like we didn’t get the push on the inside like I thought we could against them,” Fieler said. “I thought the run game wasn’t there last year and that bugs me more than anything in a game when that happens.”

Fieler was correct. The Hoosiers shut down UVa’s running game to woeful totals, making the Cavaliers totally one-dimensional. Virginia attempted 25 running plays for a mere 55 yards.

UVa Injury Report

Virginia has likely lost two players for the season, while another has retired from football according to Mendenhall.

Cassius Peat, a 6-4, 280 junior defensive lineman from Chandler, Ariz., who transferred from Scottsdale Community College, has decided to give up football. Mendenhall said that Peat, who was once a member of Michigan State’s program, had suffered a shoulder injury and decided he no longer wanted to play.

“It was an accumulative effect,” Mendenhall said.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman OG/C Tyler Fannin is “most likely out for the season,” Mendenhall said, and junior inside linebacker Dom Sheppard from Miami will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

Also, Mendenhall was waiting on an updated health report about offensive lineman R.J. Proctor, who did not play against Richmond.

Virginia senior inside linebacker Malcolm Cook, who has had his own battle with injuries during his career, took time out Saturday morning to talk with Sheppard, a 6-2, 235, linebacker from Gulliver Prep in Miami, Fla.

“I love Dom and I was real passionate about it because I was in a predicament like that in 2016, when you’re so close to playing and something happens,” Cook said. “I was just telling him the Lord probably has a different plan for him.”

Cook missed the ‘16 season with a medical condition but bounced back last year and appeared in nine games, missing Boise State, Duke, UNC, and BC with injuries. He was granted a sixth year by the NCAA and ACC due to his situation.

“ I told Dom it’s not what you want to hear right now, because I didn’t want to hear that in 2016,” Cook continued. “But you can’t go back. You have to look forward and progress and get healthy. Your mindset is going to change. You go through certain phases, the one where you might not want to play anymore, or have self doubt.

“Don’t let anybody create self doubt in your mind, try to keep a positive attitude and let things happen naturally. I’m with him every step of the way. I understand what he’s feeling. He’s hurting.”

Montana Dreaming

Mendenhall is a personable guy and often has a pleasant exchange with media minutes prior to his weekly press conference.

Monday, the topic of visiting states came up and Mendenhall noted that Montana was one of his favorite places.

“They call it, ‘the Last Best Place,’” Mendenhall pointed out.

A sportswriter joked back that he considers his home the last best place, to which Mendenhall quipped, “You guys need to get out more.”

About the Backup QB…

With the game well in hand in the lopsided win over FCS member Richmond on Saturday, Mendenhall inserted true freshman Brennan Armstrong for mop up duty against the Spiders.

Armstrong completed 1-of-2 passes for six yards and rushed three times for 11 yards.

Asked about the backup competition between Armstrong and sophomore Lindell Stone, Mendenhall explained that it made more sense at that point of the game to insert Armstrong so that there would be less to change in the game plan because Armstrong can also run with the football like starter Bryce Perkins. Stone is more of a dropback pocket passer.

“Lindell still has the slight edge, I would say, if you’re talking a significant number of snaps and leading the team,” the coach said. “Maturity, decision-making, and just really how [Stone] moved the team in fall camp, was slightly better.

“In game one, [putting in Armstrong] didn’t require much change, so rather than the likelihood of miscues or maybe moving to some different emphasis within our plan, it seemed better just to keep the same plan and let Brennan play.”

Just for Kicks

Sophomore place-kicker A.J. Mejia was sent into the game with just more less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to attempt a 35-yard field goal.

He missed.

Mejia, whose leg strength was questioned last season when he was 0-for-4 from beyond 38 yards, supposedly had increased his strength in the offseason. The kick was long enough, but wide of the uprights.

It was the first miss from inside 38 yards in Mejia’s career. He was 8-for-8 inside that range in 2017.

“So we certainly know in terms of consistency that field goal kicking is still …” Mendenhall didn’t finish his thought. He didn’t need to.

“While I thought that was a real significant improvement in fall camp, I am still trying to identify where that range is, and sorting out the difference of how to use both of our kickers,” the coach said. “Again, we have A.J. and then we also have Hunter, which there is a different range level there.”

Hunter is Hunter Pearson, a 6-3, 200-pound true freshman from Seneca, S.C., who once hit a 49-yarder in high school last season.

“I’ve got to push harder in practice to try to create scenarios to get that dialed in quicker so it doesn’t just show up at game time,” Mendenhall said.

It’s hard to believe that Virginia has struggled so much with that part of the kicking game the past three seasons. The Cavaliers have almost always had reliable place-kickers.

In fact, LSU even went the Division III route, signing a graduate transfer from little Assumption College, who booted three field goals in the Tigers’ win over Miami on Sunday night.

Asked if kickoff man Brian Delaney might even be an option, and Mendenhall didn’t dismiss the thought, pointing out that “it’s not out of the question,” and that six of Delaney’s seven kickoffs traveled into the end zone for touchbacks. The other was one-yard deep into the end zone.

First-Time Wahoos

Twelve players make their collegiate debuts against Richmond last Saturday night for UVa: NT Jordan Redmond, QB Brennan Armstrong, DT Tommy Christ, DT Aaron Faumui, OT Bobby Haskins, OT Ryan Nelson, OT Ryan Swoboda, WR Tavares Kelly, HB Billy Kemp, FB Jamari Peacock, ILB Robert Snyder, OLB Noah Taylor. All of those were true freshmen with the exception of Christ, Nelson, Peacock, Snyder, and Swoboda. Redmond and Nelson both started.

In fact, Redmond became the first true freshman to start a season opener on Virginia’s defensive line since 2002 when end Kwakou Robinson started against Colorado State. Redmond is the fourth freshman, true or redshirt, to start a season opener on the line since 1986, including end Matt Conrath (‘08 vs. USC), and nose tackle Tim O’Conner (‘86 vs. the other USC, South Carolina).

Short yardage …

• Mendenhall said that sophomore cornerback Darius Bratton graded out higher than anyone on defense in the game. Bratton broke up two passes but did not record a tackle.
• Sophomore free safety Joey Blount (see our feature about him following in his dad, Tony’s, footsteps as a UVa defensive back elsewhere on this site) recorded his first career interception against the Spiders.
• Sophomore defensive back Brenton Nelson, the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, recorded his fifth career interception.
• Indiana QB Peyton Ramsey is named after NFL great Peyton Manning. Ramsey’s two brothers are named Montana and Drew, after you guessed it, Joe Montana and Drew Bledsoe.
• One Hoosier’s name will be somewhat familiar to UVa and ACC fans, that of linebacker T.D. Roof, the son of former Georgia Tech star linebacker Ted Roof. T.D. followed in his dad’s footsteps to Georgia Tech, but when Ted was fired by Paul Johnson after last season, T.D. transferred to Indiana where he felt he could get immediate playing time. T.D. had three tackles in the season opener. Meanwhile, father Ted, is now a member of N.C. State’s defensive coaching staff. He was former head coach at Duke, one of his several stops on the coaching trail.