Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 30, 2019 33 ments since his arrival. In his first season at Virginia, the team won just two games. The following year in 2017, he took the Cavaliers to a bowl game for the first time since 2011 by going 6-6 in the regular season. Virginia improved again in 2018, going 8-5 capped by a 28-0 beatdown of South Carolina in the Belk Bowl for its first postseason win since 2005. Now, the Cavaliers are looking to take yet another leap forward. Over the past six years, six out of the seven divisional teams have won the ACC Coastal Division, with Virginia be- ing the lone program on the outside looking in. But that could all change this year. "I think this is the closest Virginia has been to an honest-to-goodness shot at the Coastal in a long, long time," Franklin said. So far this season, Virginia looks impressive — starting 4-0, includ- ing ACC wins over Pitt and Florida State — and might be Notre Dame's toughest 2019 home opponent with USC. OFFENSE Outside of Mendenhall, senior quarterback Bryce Perkins is the most significant catalyst behind Vir- ginia's college football ascent. "He accelerated the growth of this program in a demonstrative way — a tangible, sizeable way," Frank- lin said. "Not just in terms of wins and losses, but also in terms of how the program was able to build itself around an offense that fit the identity that they want to have." That identity comes from his ability to be a true dual-threat — a player who is just as dangerous on the ground in the run game as he is with his arm. Against Florida State, he com- pleted 30 of 40 passing attempts for 295 yards and ran the ball 12 times for 46 yards (3.8 yards per carry). Starting running back Wayne Taula- papa, listed at 5-9 and 210 pounds, carried the ball only six more times than Perkins but averaged just 2.9 yards per carry. No other Cavalier ran the ball more than once. Before the season, many preseason magazines listed Perkins as a top-10 to top-15 quarterback nationally, and so far he has lived up to that billing. Perkins likes to spread the ball around as a passer, but does have three primary targets at wide re- ceiver: seniors Joe Reed and Hasise Dubois plus junior Terrell Jana. Reed, in addition to being a deep threat, is Virginia's all-time leader in kickoff return yards and touchdowns. Jana is a consistent target who had a big sec- ond half against FSU to finish with seven grabs for 85 yards. Dubois is the biggest of the three, listed at 6-3, 215. The weakest unit on this offense is the line, but that could be improving. "The offensive line has been a pretty substantial question mark for them for a couple of seasons now," Franklin said. "This is the first time they've had any sort of real playable depth." That depth, however, took a hit when offensive tackle Alex Geller- stedt, a graduate transfer from Penn State, suffered a season-end- ing knee injury over the summer. So far, they have been using a rotation of three linemen at the two tackle positions, which Franklin worries could actually be a hindrance to the offense. "It might be one of those situations where if you have three tackles, you don't really have two," he said. Junior Dillon Reinkenmeyer is the Cavaliers' starting center, but after offseason surgery he is still playing himself into form. DEFENSE This Virginia defense prides itself on creating havoc in the offensive backfield and disrupting the quar- terback's rhythm. Early in the season, linebackers Jordan Mack and Zane Zandler, in particular, have done this successfully. After just three games, the pair are tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with five each. For Mack, four of those were sacks. "It's a very concerted effort," Franklin said. "They understand that they have depth in the defensive front, they've got depth at linebacker and they're going to start using it, and they will send anybody and ev- erybody. "Whether it's two dudes in the same gap — as it was against Pitt at times." Early in the season, this type of de- fense has created problems for Notre Dame senior quarterback Ian Book, causing him to on occasion prema- turely run out of the pocket. While the Cavaliers have a lot of depth at linebacker and on the defen- sive line, their most talented position is likely defensive back. Senior cornerback Bryce Hall sur- prised some when he decided to re- turn for his final season of eligibility. He was tabbed as a preseason All- American by the Associated Press and All-ACC, plus was named to the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award (nation's top defensive back). Early in the season, he led the team in passes broken up, but Franklin said that even Hall believes he can make a bigger impact this fall. "I would say Bryce has not been at as high of a level as he would have expected himself to be, or he would want himself to be," Franklin said. "He has not been by any stretch bad, GAME PREVIEW: VIRGINIA Facts & Figures VIRGINIA AT NOTRE DAME Game Info Date: Sept. 28, 2019 Site: Notre Dame Stadium (77,622) Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: NBC Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129) and on Notre Dame's IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This will be the third meeting between the two programs and the first in South Bend. Notre Dame is 2-0 all time against Virginia. Head Coaches: Virginia — Bronco Menden- hall (20-22, fourth season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (83-36, 10th season). Noting Virginia: The Irish defeated the Cava- liers 36-13 at Giants Stadium in East Ruther- ford, N.J., to open the 1989 season, and also won 34-27 in Charlottesville in 2015 on a 39- yard touchdown pass from DeShone Kizer to Will Fuller with just 12 seconds remaining … Virginia has captured two ACC titles, with the last one coming in 1995 … Over the past two seasons, Virginia has posted a record of 14-12… Virginia is the lone team in the ACC Coastal to not win the division in the last six years, but were picked by the media to win it in 2019 … The Cavaliers won their first bowl game in more than a decade last season with a 28-0 romp over South Carolina in the Belk Bowl … Before that, the last Virginia bowl win came in the 2005 Music City Bowl, a 34-31 victory versus Minnesota … Prior to this season, the highest the Cavaliers have been ranked since 2007 is No. 21, which occurred in 2018.