What We Learned from Week One of the UVA Football Season
At long last, the Virginia Cavaliers took the field on Saturday and played football for the first time in 2021. And while it is not generally a good idea to make too much of a team’s performance in the first game of the season, especially against an outmatched FCS opponent like William & Mary, the Wahoos still played a football game and we can’t help ourselves. Here’s what we learned about the Cavaliers in week one of the college football season.
The UVA defense is on the right track to be much improved in 2021.
Virginia had many slow starts offensively last season and the defense did not do much to give the offense time to settle in. The Cavaliers were outscored 78-57 in first quarters last season and went scoreless in the first quarter of their first three games of the season. The Hoos were also outscored 48-17 in the first quarter in games that they lost in 2020.
While the Cavaliers will certainly be eager to deviate from that trend in 2021, the offense had a very slow start earlier in the game against William & Mary, scoring just three points in the opening quarter. Virginia still had the lead after the first quarter, though, because the defense came to play, forcing the Tribe to three-and-out on the first five drives of the game. William & Mary managed just 183 yards of total offense, including less than 100 yards in both the passing and rushing yard categories. Virginia also held the Tribe to just 3-14 on third down conversions for the game. The 43-0 win was Virginia’s first shutout since defeating South Carolina 28-0 in the 2018 Belk Bowl.
“We did a really nice job with our perimeters and our depth and so everything was inside and in front,” said UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall. “We tackled well for an opening game.”
The defensive performance needs to be considered with the context of the FCS-quality opponent, but it is still very impressive to shut out any opponent and to do so in the first game of the season.
Mike Hollins starts at kickoff return for a solid UVA special teams unit.
Just five days before the start of the 2021 college football season, Bronco Mendenhall noted that there was still “a significant amount of work to do” to determine the starting kickoff returner. Running back Mike Hollins and wide receiver Billy Kemp split time at kick return, with Hollins nearly having the play of the night, as he took a kickoff and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. However, the play was nullified by a holding penalty. As expected, Kemp was the starting punt returner and returned William & Mary’s first punt of the game 55 yards to set up a UVA field goal.
Replacing Brian Delaney, Justin Duenkel got his first career start as the starting kicker for both kickoffs and place-kicking and went a perfect 2/2 on field goals and 5/5 on extra points. Florida transfer Jacob Finn made his first start as the UVA punter and had a decent showing, punting two times for an average of 45 yards per punt, including a 52-yarder early in the game that seemed to hang in the air forever.
Between Kemp’s big return and Hollins’ 100-yard touchdown that did not count, UVA sent a clear message in week one that having an explosive special teams unit is a priority for the Hoos in 2021.
We’re going to see a lot of “quarterbacks” this season.
For the last three UVA football seasons, the quarterback has been the leading rusher (not factoring in sacks), with Bryce Perkins leading the rushing attack in 2018 and 2019, and Brennan Armstrong carrying that mantle in 2020. Last season, UVA took that system to an even higher degree, with former Mississippi State quarterback Keytaon Thompson being heavily involved in the UVA offense as a ball carrier and receiver. Thompson had seven receptions for 98 yards and three receiving touchdowns as well as 39 carries for 234 yards and three rushing touchdowns last season.
This year, Thompson has been labeled as “FBP” or football player on the UVA depth chart. Thompson had four carries for 43 yards as well as five receptions for 66 yards in the game against William & Mary.
It appears that Thompson is not the only “quarterback” who will be involved in the Virginia offense in a variety of roles. Redshirt freshman and dual-threat quarterback Ira Armstead, who is listed as the backup QB on the UVA depth chart, had five carries for 54 yards including a 20-yard run in Saturday’s game. Freshman quarterback Jacob Rodriguez, a Texas native who is listed as the fourth-string quarterback behind Jay Woolfolk, also got involved in the run game, tallying 31 yards on four rushing attempts. In the updated depth chart for UVA’s next game against Illinois, Rodriguez is listed twice: as the fourth-string quarterback and as a “FBP” alongside Keytaon Thompson.
Although Armstrong rushed for a net of zero yards, factoring in lost yardage on sacks, he still had the most carries of any Cavalier and recorded two rushing touchdowns.
When asked about the involvement of so many players who traditionally play quarterback in the UVA offense, Bronco Mendenhall said, “It’s going to be a lot like tonight. You’ll see Ira and you’ll see Brennan and you’ll see Jay Woolfolk and you’ll see Jacob Rodriguez. You’ll see them all and Keytaon out doing his thing...There’s appearing to be the makings of a diverse offense with a lot of different opportunities."
In total, eight different Cavaliers got touches in the ground game on Saturday night. It seems that Virginia’s opponents will have to account for a range of offensive personnel when they try to defend against the Hoos this season.
