Warning: Kick It To Joe Reed At Your Own Risk

By Jerry Ratcliffe

There he was, speedy Joe Reed resembling an orange flash as he dashed down the sidelines of Scott Stadium last Saturday, headed to the house.

“I saw him get around the last outside dude, and I was like, ‘Oh Lord, there he goes again,” said Virginia teammate Charles Snowden. “I had to turn to the [stadium] big screen and I just saw him flying, cutback and score.”

What Snowden saw was Reed’s 95-yard kickoff return, which helped bury Duke, 48-14, and move the Cavaliers into first place in the ACC Coastal Division race. It was the fifth kickoff return for a touchdown in Reed’s career, the most in Wahoo history.

All of which begs the question that Snowden and teammates repeated: “I honestly don’t know why people keep kicking it to him. Kick it out of bounds, put it on the 30 or 35, or whatever it is, but stop kicking it to Joey. It’s silly.”

UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins disagreed.

“I ain’t going to tell [opponents] to stop,” Perkins grinned. “Shoot, if they kick it and it’s short of the end zone, he’s going to return it to the 35 at least. If it gets it past the 40, he’s gone. He’s the money man.”

Reed, a senior from Randolph-Henry High in Charlotte Court House, is money all right. He’s presently No. 2 nationally in kickoff return average (39.4 yards), and is the only player in FBS history to post 2,700-plus career kick return yards (2,837) and a career kick return average of 28-plus yards (29.2).

Parlay that with the fact that Reed is the only player in the nation with 400-plus receiving yards and 400-plus in kick return yards (591), and it’s easy to see why he’s been a lethal weapon for Bronco Mendenhall’s Cavaliers. He leads UVA’s receiving corps with 42 catches and four receiving TDs, and second on the team with 400 receiving yards.

While some teams have made the mistake of kicking it to Reed, from the reaction by Louisville coach Scott Satterfield (whose Cardinals will host Virginia on Saturday afternoon), he may not become one of them.

“I always think that with kick-return guys, you have to be a special person, and [Reed] is,” Satterfield said. “We read a stat that it’s been over 2,500 yards he’s had in return yardage. That’s a lot of yards, so he knows what he’s doing. His speed, power, vision, all those things, he has a great knack for it.”

That knack goes back a long way before Reed stepped foot in Charlottesville for college ball. As a member of the West team in the Virginia High School Coaches Association All-Star game, he returned kickoffs of 50 and 80 yards, a forewarning of what was to come.

After his latest runback, surrounded by media, Reed said he was just grateful for the opportunity. A rather modest guy, Reed’s answer to the question if he was surprised teams still elect to kick it to him was somewhat unexpected.

“Sometimes,” he said. “Maybe they can’t kick it out of the end zone. I’m sure some kickers can’t do it.”

Still, every time he has a big return, it just adds to his legend, and his record.

“[Records] mean a lot, especially when it helps the team,” said Reed, a man of few words. “If it helps us put some points on the board it means a lot. Anything I can do to help win.”

Certainly that touchdown helped slam the door on Duke. Virginia was already up 27-0 in the third quarter when Duke finally crossed midfield for the first time in the game, scoring on a 75-yard drive.

Then BAM, there goes Reed. It required only 13 seconds to field the ball at UVA’s 5-yard line, evade a variety of Blue Devils, break to the left sideline, cut back toward the middle and outrun the rest. It was 34-7 before Duke could blink.

Good timing, Mendenhall would say.

“Coach Mendenhall came up to us (the kickoff return squad) and told us it was a perfect time for a return,” Reed smiled. “It definitely gave us momentum.”

One of Reed’s best friends, fellow wide receiver Hasise Dubois, watched with amazement, just as did Snowden, that Duke would dare give Reed the chance.

“Every time they kick the ball to him, I scream, ‘Why are you kicking it to him?’ I mean the guy averages like 40 yards a return. The return earlier in the game (43 yards), he nearly took that back. They learned their lessons. He’s electrifying back there, so whoever decides to kick to him will learn the hard way.”

Dubois pointed out that even Mendenhall was emotional as Reed raced down the sideline.

“So that’s so unusual,” Dubois pointed out. “Joe’s play is affecting everyone.”

A video on Twitter confirmed Dubois’ observations of Mendenhall, high-kicking down the sideline as Reed was off to the Promised Land.

Bronco doing high knees on the sideline is 💪 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/gecQcL4J7j

— Vincent Briedis (@VincentBriedis) October 21, 2019

Dubois, a self-confessed city boy from New Jersey, has become an odd couple friend of Reed, whom Dubois points out is “definitely a country boy who has some city in him.”

He still can’t figure out how the two have meshed, but they will discuss hunting, music, whatever connects them. That goes back a ways, too.

They’ve been friends since the first day they arrived on campus, stayed in the same dorm, and because of a curfew, hung out in each other’s rooms or in the lounge. He will even go hunt with Reed if he’s early enough.

“Once Joe Reed sets his mind on hunting, he just gets in his truck and heads out,” Dubois said. “If you’re not there, you’re basically out of luck.”

If it’s up to Dubois, hunting is not at the top of the list. He would choose bowling (you know Dubois is a serious bowler because he owns his own ball), or roller skating, or even sometimes shooting hoops.

Both have had major impacts on Virginia’s 5-2 season. With several wide receivers gone, including record-holder Olamide Zaccheaus now with the Atlanta Falcons, Mendenhall needed players to step up. Both Dubois and Reed have been golden at receiver this season, accounting for nearly 900 combined yards and six TDs.

Mendenhall loves how both have responded. When asked about Reed specifically, the coach didn’t hesitate.

“Joe Reed’s knowledge of the game, and what the NFL personnel will call football IQ, is just growing by leaps and bounds. He’s in extra frequently during the week continuing to learn the game,” Mendenhall said.

In fact, the coach said there have been NFL player personnel people that have come to Charlottesville to watch Reed, and who believe he is a running back rather than a receiver.

“And, so when you watch him as a kick returner, it’s not hard to see why you would think that,” Mendenhall said. “When you look at the yards after the catch or once he catches it, it’s not hard to see that.”

His job is to make sure Virginia uses him where they can take most advantage of his ability, and that’s at wide receiver and on returns. Don’t be surprised if they try to weave into more touches on offense by occasionally handing it to him on a jet sweep or similar play.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how many more teams elect to give Reed an opportunity to turn on his jets and burn them once again.