Virginia Cavaliers 2018 Football Preview
Opening Statement: It would seem that the Cavaliers failed to cash in as much as they could have on the talent that was on the roster last fall. Bronco Mendenhall coached the Wahoos to a bowl bid despite a late season crash, and even the bowl game ended in misery with a crushing 49-7 loss to a Navy team that also entered the Military Bowl on the skids. The future is not nearly as bright as the surprise that was last season. Virginia returns just 4 starters on an offense that still ranked just 106th in scoring despite 6 wins. The Cavaliers also ranked 106th in total offense. The defense may have to carry the day, and that normally does not work out.
Breakdown Offense: The Cavaliers must find a replacement for Kurt Benkert at QB in fall camp, and the favorite is Arizona Western transfer Bryce Perkins, a former Arizona State signee. He seemed to lock down the job coming out of spring practice, despite the return of Lindell Stone, the primary backup last season who only saw one game of action.
Jordan Ellis returns at RB after leading the team with 836 yards and 6 scores, but he lacks big play ability, as he averaged just 3.89 yards per carry. Depth is non-existent behind him.
Joe Reed returns to start at WR, but Olammide Zaccheaus led the team with 85 receptions for 895 yards last season. He scored 5 times. Reed caught 23 passes. Terrell Jana is penciled in as the 3rd receiver, but he caught just 2 passes as a freshman. De'Vante Cross caught just one pass last fall, and is about all there is for depth.
Evan Butts is back at TE after catching 32 passes last fall, and should see a larger role in things this fall. Tanner Cowley is back to serve as the TE2.
Only 2 starters come back on the line in Dillon Reinkensmeyer (LT) and Jake Fieler (C). Ben Knutson (LG), RJ Proctor (RG), and Marcus Applefield (RT) are penciled in as the new starters. Depth is terrible.
Breakdown Defense: Eli Hanback is the lone returning starter on the D line at NT. He should be flanked by Richard Burney and Mandy Alonso at the DE spots. It's difficult to see where the pass rush will come from with this group. Hanback finished with 58 tackles last season.
Jordan Mack will return to start at ILB, while Chris Peace is back at OLB. Pease led the team with 10.5 TFLs last season, and added 7.5 sacks and 68 tackles. Mack totaled 114 tackles with 7 TFLs and 3 sacks. Charles Snowden is the new starter at OLB, while Malcolm Cook starts at the open ILB spot. Cook finished with 46 tackles last fall, while Snowden added just 13.
Bryce Hall returns to start at CB. He finished 2nd on the team with 9 PBUs last fall, and picked off one pass. The open CB spot should go to senior Tim Harris, who totaled just one tackle last fall.
Brenton Nelson is the returning starter at SS, and totaled 64 tackles with 6 PBUs and 4 INTs. He is joined by FS Juan Thornhill, who totaled 4 INTs of his own to go with a team leading 12 PBUs and 63 tackles.
Breakdown Special Teams: AJ Mejia is back at PK, but hit just 8/12 FG attempts last season. More will be needed from him. He did manage to hit all 37 of his PATs.
Lester Coleman was solid at Punter, averaging 43.71 yards per punt.
Reed was a fairly dangerous return man last fall, averaging 29.69 yards per return, and he took 2 back for scores. The Cavaliers need to find a new PR man in camp.
Final Analysis: Virginia shocked some folks early last fall when they won 6 of their first 9 games, but then everything came crashing down, and they enter the season on a 4 game skid with a roster that does not look prepared to take the next step. Mendenhall may have been ahead of schedule in terms of development with this program last fall, and that could have hurt him. Mendenhall is changing his offensive scheme to fit a more spread option look this fall after failing to move the football on the ground last season, but he has little RB depth to work with there, so Perkins will have to show something at QB when he runs the football to get things going. In short, it looks like getting back to a bowl may not be something you should be expecting in 2018.
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