UVA Hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday in an ACC Tussle

Oct. 30, 2017

Cavaliers Host ACC-Foe Georgia Tech
– Virginia returns to Scott Stadium on Saturday to host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be televised by regional sports networks, which is NBC Sports Washington in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Virginia vs. Georgia Tech
– The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series, 20-18-1, which dates back to 1965.
– The series has favored the home team historically. The Cavaliers are 11-4-1 all-time at Scott Stadium against Georgia Tech.
– Virginia has won 10 of the last 12 meetings with the Yellow Jackets at Scott Stadium. The first eight wins by UVA over that span were by an average of 13.4 points, while the last two were by an average of 4.5 points.
– All six meetings between 1996-2002 were decided by a touchdown or less.

Five Top Storylines
– Virginia has won 10 of the last 12 meetings at Scott Stadium with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, dating back to 1992.
– QB Kurt Benkert has thrown for 2,018 yards through eight games, tying the UVA record for fastest to 2,000 passing yards in a season. Benkert also accomplished the feat in eight games last season. Matt Schaub set the standard in 2003 and is the only other Cavalier to accomplish the feat.
– Last time out FS Quin Blanding became UVA’s all-time tackle leader at Pitt. He currently ranks No. 21 all-time in ACC history in tackles and needs 26 tackles to pass UNC’s Dexter Reid (2000-03) for the most career tackles in ACC history by a defensive back. Reid is currently No. 14 all-time in the ACC in career tackles with 466.
– WR Doni Dowling became the 22nd player in Virginia history with 100 career receptions after hauling in two receptions at Pitt last time out.
– With 345 career tackles, ILB Micah Kiser ranks No. 12 all-time at Virginia in career tackles. He is nine tackles away from entering the Top 10, where Stuart Anderson sits with 354 career stops.

Turnovers May Tell the Story
– Since 1982, Virginia is 10-3 vs. Georgia Tech when committing fewer turnovers. The losses were in 1991, 2010 and 2013.
– Georgia Tech is 9-4-1 during that span when committing fewer turnovers.
– There have been seven games since 1982 (`82, `87, `98, `02, `05, `08, `09) where the teams had equal turnovers; UVA won in 1987, 2005 and 2008.
– In the last 12 meetings, Virginia has recorded 26 takeaways and turned them into 77 points.
– The Yellow Jackets turned the ball over at least once in every game in the series from 2001-15 (27 total), snapping the turnover streak in last year’s game.
– The Yellow Jackets have committed eight turnovers in the last four meetings against UVA, including five during the 2013 meeting.

Mendenhall No Stranger to GT Option
– Bronco Mendenhall and his staff are facing the option attack from Georgia Tech for the fourth time in the last six seasons.
– Mendenhall and his BYU teams in 2012 and 2013 defeated Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech squads. The 2012 meeting in Atlanta was a 41-17 BYU win, followed by a 38-20 triumph in Provo in 2013.
– In Mendenhall’s first season at the helm, Virginia was leading, 10-7, at halftime, but fell late at Georgia Tech last season.

UVA-Georgia Tech Connections
– Nine Cavaliers hail from the state of Georgia – Joey Blount (Fayetteville), Jordan Ellis (Suwanee), Tyler Fannin (Hoschton), Darious Latimore (Lawrenceville), ILB Jordan Mack (Lithonia), DE Juwan Moye (Lilburn), WR Shawn Smith (Brunswick), OLB Robert Snyder (Lawrenceville) and DE Steven Wright (Waycross).
– Georgia Tech offensive line coach Mike Sewak was a three-year letterwinner (1978-79-80) as an offensive lineman at Virginia for former head coach Dick Bestwick.

Zaccheaus a big offensive weapon for Virginia
– Junior Olamide Zaccheaus recorded his second career receiving touchdown of 80+ yards when he scored on an 81-yard pass from Kurt Benkert at North Carolina.
– It is the longest reception in the ACC this season and No. 18 among all FBS schools.
– Zaccheaus is the only player in UVA history with two career receptions of 80+ yards. He also scored on an 82-yard scoring strike from Benkert in 2016 against Central Michigan.
– Zaccheaus has scored at least one touchdown in all seven wins of the Bronco Medenhall era, seven via the pass and one on a rush.
– In UVA’s five wins in 2017, Zaccheaus has caught 31 passes for 376 yards and four touchdown, while also rushing 13 times for 130 yards and one more score.
– Over the seven wins of the Mendenhall era, Zaccheaus has caught 43 passes for 559 yards and seven touchdowns, which comes out to 13.0 yards per reception.
– His active reception streak of 23 games is the third longest active streak in the ACC.
– Zaccheaus became the 37th Cavalier all-time with 1,000 career receiving yards after his 122-yard day against UConn.
– Zaccheaus also became the 21st Cavalier to reach 100-career receptions in UVA history after grabbing four at Boise State.
– Zaccheaus’ 12 receptions against Indiana on Sept. 9 are the sixth most in a single game in UVA history.
– Olamide is Nigerian for “the blessing has come.”

UVA Has Been Plus in the Field Position Battle
– Virginia has won the field position battle in six of UVA’s eight games and have not lost it since losing in back-to-back games against Indiana and UConn.
– UVA’s best field position win was against William & Mary (+16), while the Boise State (+13) and Pitt (+13) games have also been in the plus by double digits.

Benkert’s Touchdown Passes
– With 38 passing touchdowns QB Kurt Benkert is one of 11 active FBS quarterbacks to have at least 35 passing touchdowns since the start of the 2016 season.
– Benkert and 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson (48) are the only ones from the ACC.
– Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Luke Falk (Washington State), Jake Browning (Washington), Sam Darnold (USC), Drew Lock (Missouri), Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State), J.T. Barrett (Ohio State), Trace McSorley (Penn State) and Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech) are the others.

Benkert and Passes of 80+ Yards
– At North Carolina on Oct. 14, Kurt Benkert found Olamide Zaccheaus on an 81-yard scoring strike. The touchdown served as the fourth-longest one-play scoring drive in program history and it was Benkert’s third career pass of 80 yards or more.
– In program history, only Benkert and Wayne Schuchts have three career passes of 80 yards or more.
– Benkert’s first two came in 2016 at Duke (84 yards to David Eldridge) and against Central Michigan (82-yard touchdown to Zaccheaus).
– Schuchts’ passes were 93 yards (to Nick Merrick, vs. Wake Forest, 1982), 85 yards (to Barry Word, vs. Wake Forest, 1983) and 80 yards (to Quentin Walker, vs. Duke, 1983).