Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 13, 2021 33 GAME PREVIEW: VIRGINIA BY TYLER HORKA W hat happens Nov. 13 in Char- lottesville is incredibly de- pendent on the impending announcement of Virginia junior quarterback Brennan Arm- strong's injury status. With him, the Cavaliers have a chance to score a boatload of points on an up- and-down Notre Dame defense and po- tentially pull off an upset bid. Without him, the Cavaliers might not have much of a chance to score more than a couple times and will almost assuredly need something miraculous to happen to win. Armstrong is that much of a differ- ence maker. Through nine weeks, only one FBS quarterback — Western Kentucky's Bailey Zappe — had thrown for more yards per game than Armstrong. Zappe ranked No. 1 with 425.9 while Arm- strong ranked No. 2 with 395.2. Armstrong threw for 337 yards and four touchdowns in Virginia's most re- cent game against BYU before battling for a four-yard rushing gain on fourth- and-four early in the fourth quarter. Armstrong took a shot to the ribs on the play. He tried to throw a crossing route over the middle on the next play, but he wasn't able to put anything behind a flat-footed toss. It was intercepted. Armstrong limped to the sideline pointing at his ribs while seemingly say- ing, 'It's broken. It's broken" over and over again. If something is indeed broken, then perhaps so too are Virginia's chances of upsetting the Fighting Irish. The Cava- liers won't be the same team without the signal-caller who has thrown for 3,557 yards and 27 touchdowns with 271 rush- ing yards and seven more scores. Virginia head coach Bronco Menden- hall said the Cavaliers' bye week would be spent rehabbing Armstrong's injury and preparing a backup quarterback in the event Armstrong won't be able to give it a go. Virginia has played one game with- out Armstrong in the last two seasons. The Cavaliers lost that game to NC State (40-23). Mendenhall used a quarterback by committee with Lindell Stone, Key- taon Thompson and Ira Armstead all getting reps at the position. Armstead, a redshirt freshman, is listed as the No. 2 quarterback on Virginia's official depth chart. He has only at- tempted two passes this season, though. Freshman Jay Woolfolk has attempted six, and he might be the player Menden- hall turns to if he has to go in a direction other than Armstrong. Thompson, who has been turned into a wide receiver/run- ning back hybrid, essentially confirmed as much after the 66-49 loss to BYU. "I think we have a great quarterback — Jay Woolfolk — and we have a next man up mentality," Thompson said. "Of course Brennan is a great quarterback. But I believe in our coaches and I believe in our players to find a way to fill that void." 'KEEP FIGHTING, KEEP TRYING' A r m s t ro n g 's p o te n t i a l a b s e n c e wouldn't only affect Virginia in the passing game. A running game that al- ready doesn't fare too well with Arm- strong on the field could get even worse without him. For starters, Armstrong is the team's second-leading rusher as is. The only player with more rushing yards than Armstrong is senior running back Wayne Taulapapa who has 290 on 55 carries (5.3 yards per rush). Thompson has 216 on 31 rushes (6.8 yards per at- tempt), and senior Devin Darrington has 213 on 24 attempts (8.9 yards per carry). Those advantageous averages have come in large part because of opposing defenses' respect for what Armstrong can Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT VIRGINIA Date: Nov. 13, 2021 Site: Scott Stadium Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET Television: ABC Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This is the fourth all-time meeting between Notre Dame and Virginia. The Fighting Irish own a 3-0 record against the Cavaliers and won the last meeting 35-20 in South Bend on Sept. 28, 2019. Prior to that, Notre Dame won in Charlottesville 34-27 in 2015 and 36-13 at the Meadowlands in 1989. Head coaches: Virginia — Bronco Mendenhall (71-36, sixth season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (110-40, 12th season). Noting Virginia: Quarterback Brennan Armstrong broke the school record for all-time passing yards in the last game against BYU. He has 5,932 and counting … The Cavaliers are bowl eligible for the fifth time in six seasons under Mendenhall. Virginia only played in one bowl game in the eight years before Mendenhall arrived … The Cavaliers were ranked No. 2 nationally in total offense 545.2 yards per game through Week 9, behind only Ohio State's 547.6 … Virginia has gained at least 500 yards of total offense in all but one game this season. The Cavaliers had 449 in a win over Miami … Virginia has five players with at least 400 receiving yards. For reference, Notre Dame had one (Michael Mayer) through eight games … Through Week 8, Virginia and Georgia were the only two Power Five teams with multiple shutouts this season … Kicker Brendan Farrell has made all 26 of his extra point attempts and 8 of 9 field goal attempts … Virginia is 3-0 this season when recording multiple sacks. Armstrong, who had the most passing yards in the country (3,557) through Week 9, injured his ribs Oct. 30 against BYU. His status for the Notre Dame game is in question. PHOTO COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS STICKING TOGETHER Team leader and starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong is banged up, but the Cavaliers will rally around anyone they have to in order to keep moving forward