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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE – As much as Virginia football players enjoyed celebrating with fans and fellow students on the field at Scott Stadium, they couldn’t stay out there forever. Another, more private gathering awaited them inside. One by one, the players peeled away from the throng and headed to the home locker room late Saturday night.
Waiting for them outside the door was the Cavaliers’ head coach. Bronco Mendenhall embraced, bumped fists or shook hands with his players as they entered. His assistant coaches received the same greetings.
At the north end of the stadium, the scoreboard told the story: UVA 16, Miami 13.
“One of my favorite things is just to see our players happy and our coaches happy,” Mendenhall said at his postgame press conference. “They work really hard. We ask a lot of them and have now for two-and-a-half years. They’re becoming resilient and they’re becoming confident and they acknowledge it and they see it happening.”
In a nationally televised game, Virginia (4-2 overall, 2-1 ACC) defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since 2014. The No. 16 Hurricanes (5-2, 2-1) came in leading the Coastal Division and favored to beat UVA for the fourth straight season. Instead, Miami never led Saturday night.
At Hard Rock Stadium last season, UVA went up 28-14 on the then-unbeaten Hurricanes early in the third quarter, only to self-destruct and lose 44-28. The Wahoos kept pushing for the full 60 minutes this time.
“Just a great night for Virginia football – the players, the fans, and our coaches,” Mendenhall said.
The Cavaliers intercepted three passes – senior safety Juan Thornhill had two picks and sophomore safety Joey Blount had the other one – and twice stopped Miami on fourth down. The ‘Canes switched quarterbacks early in the second quarter.
“They just kept answering the bell,” Mendenhall said of his defenders.
Senior running back Jordan Ellis, behind a revitalized line, rushed for 86 hard-earned yards against an elite Miami defense. Overall, the Cavaliers struggled on offense, totaling only 231 yards on a night when junior quarterback Bryce Perkins threw three interceptions – all in the first half — but that didn’t deter them.
Virginia received a tremendous and unexpected lift from sophomore Brian Delaney, who made all three of his field-goal attempts, connecting from 26, 46 and 32 yards.
The 46-yarder was the Cavaliers’ first field goal of at least 40 yards since the 2015 finale against Virginia Tech.
Delaney, who before Saturday night had been limited to kickoff duties, actually made a fourth field goal — a 30-yarder with 30 seconds to play. But the ‘Canes were penalized for roughing Delaney on the kick, an automatic first down, and UVA took the points off the board and ran out the clock.
“I don’t mind at all,” Delaney said, smiling.
After every victory, director of football performance and development Shawn Griswold chooses a UVA player to smash a rock in the locker room. Saturday night, the sledgehammer was handed to the 5-10, 200-pound Delaney.
“It was a little heavier than I thought,” Delaney said. “I’m just glad [the rock] broke.”
In 2016, the Cavaliers’ first season under Mendenhall, they finished 2-10, and there were no such celebrations. But that team started the difficult process of changing a losing culture, and last year Virginia advanced to a bowl game for the first time since 2011.
The progress continues this season. That the players have bought into Mendenhall’s philosophy is undeniable.
“For me and my staff, it’s just fun to watch them transforming — not transformed, but transforming, and to see them feel that and sense it and to see them gain confidence,” Mendenhall said.
The players weren’t the only ones believing on this Homecomings weekend at UVA.
“It was really gratifying to see the energy in our crowd,” Mendenhall said. “I think it was the best crowd since I’ve been the coach here. I’m not talking about the numbers, I’m just talking about how engaged they were. And that atmosphere made a difference and makes a difference. And I sensed maybe a beginning of what this really can be, and more and more folks catching on and maybe believing this is for real and it’s going to happen.”
UVA students gathered near the bottom of the hill near the north end zone, and when the outcome finally was official Saturday night, they rushed onto the field, where fans from the stands soon joined them.
“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see,” Perkins said, smiling, when asked about the postgame scene.
“I felt like I was in a time warp. I didn’t know where anything or anybody was. It was a great energy and a great experience. The fans did a great job of showing up and showing love. I can’t ask for a better student section.”
UVA football alumni represented themselves well at Scott Stadium, too. Among the former players in attendance were Herman Moore, Tiki Barber, Terry Kirby, Tyrone Davis, Heath Miller and Chris Long.
ANOTHER STEP FORWARD: In 2004, the Cavaliers played in the MPC Computers Bowl, and a year later they ended their season in the Music City Bowl. Virginia hasn’t appeared in bowl games in back-to-back seasons since then.
Ending that streak is one of the Cavaliers’ goals this year, and at the midway point of the regular season they’re well-positioned to do so. The win over Miami was important in other ways, too.
“The sheer number and quality of recruits that came to this game exceeded that of any game that we’ve had in my time here,” Mendenhall said. “And when you play well and they can see what it is, I think you gain significant momentum. We don’t have to send them an edit, I don’t have to write them a note. They can see and experience and feel what Virginia football is, in an authentic view. So it absolutely helps, especially when it’s earned and it’s not an accident and it’s not a fluke.”
OFF AND RUNNING: Thornhill returned his first interception 62 yards and his second one 24 yards. Blount picked up 31 yards on his return.
“I just think that most defensive backs wish they were receivers and wish they were running backs and wish they could run the ball,” Mendenhall said, smiling. “I think there’s a lot of pent-up frustration where they feel like they’re under-utilized. So when they got the ball, I think they were trying to just vent, basically. Thank goodness, because we were having a hard time moving the ball against Miami, and field position was important, and those returns really helped.”
On his first pick, Thornhill said, “I saw the ball coming, and once I caught it, I was just thinking, ‘I’m in high school again. I’ve got the ball in my hand.’ “
At Altavista High, Thornhill played quarterback, “but I ran the ball a lot,” he said.
GAME BALLS: The most memorable win of Mendenhall’s tenure at UVA produced a long list of standouts. Among the players who distinguished themselves:
* UVA’s offensive line: tackles Marcus Applefield and Ryan Nelson, guards Chris Glaser, R.J. Proctor and Jake Fieler, and center Dillon Reinkensmeyer.
“It certainly wasn’t a dominant or a breakthrough performance, but it was progress, and I saw it, and I think we all saw it,” Mendenhall said.
The Cavaliers’ only touchdown came on a 7-yard run by Ellis, who burst through a hole in the middle of the line early in the second quarter. Delaney’s PAT made it 10-0.
“Hats off to the O-line,” Ellis said. “They really came ready to play tonight.”
* Delaney, who won the starting job in a competition with true freshman Hunter Pearson in practice.
“There was definitely some nerves, but everybody did a good job of helping me stay loose,” said Delaney, the third kicker UVA has used on field goals this season. “I think I like to have a little bit of nerves. It keeps me in it.”
Delaney “was really the MVP of the game tonight,” Blount said.
* Junior cornerback Bryce Hall, who broke up a pass and had four tackles. The most important, by far, came late in the second quarter, when Hall saved a touchdown by sprinting across the field to bring down Miami’s Travis Homer after a 70-yard run.
The ‘Canes ended up settling for a field goal on the drive.
“That might have been my favorite play,” Mendenhall said of Hall’s effort.
Thornhill said: “That was definitely a big play for us, because if they had scored a touchdown, it could have been a totally different game.”
* Senior tight end Evan Butts. After the Hurricanes scored their only touchdown, making it 16-13 with 3:04 left, they kicked off from midfield because of a UVA penalty and attempted an onside kick.
Butts gathered in the ball on the bounce and chugged down the left sideline for a 30-yard return to the Miami 27.
“How about that?” Mendenhall said. “Evan Butts. Who better to be in a critical moment making a play?”
THEY SAID IT: There was much to talk about after this one. Among the noteworthy comments:
* Mendenhall on Thornhill: “We had a pretty blunt conversation early this year. He was performing and playing exactly as he was practicing, and I said, ‘That would be OK if you want to be an average player.’ He took that, and since then, and that was early in the season, he’s been responding really well to become what he needs to be for our team and what he wants to be.”
* Thornhill: “I took a lot of responsibility when we lost last year [at Miami]. I gave up two touchdowns, and this week I took this game very personally, because I felt like they were going to come at me again and I had to make a statement because I had to redeem myself.”
* Ellis: “We expected to win. This didn’t really surprise us. We expected to come here and win, and we expect to play with any team that is on our schedule. That’s the expectation now. Three, four years ago, I don’t know, but right that’s the expectation for us.”
* Perkins on the play of UVA’s defense: “We knew coming into the game that the [Hurricanes’] emphasis was on turnovers. I threw three stupid ones and the defense did a great job. Miami is known for capitalizing off of turnovers. [Virginia defenders] came to me after every pick and said, ‘We got you,’ and I said, ‘All right, I appreciate it.’ “
* Mendenhall: “I’ve never been able to predict the outcome of a game yet, but what I can predict is how my team will show up to work, and how they’ll respond. And now, after two-and-a-half years, they believe in our culture, they believe in our future, and they trust each other and they trust [the coaches], and that’s the most gratifying thing to be part of as a coach.”
LOOKING AHEAD: A three-game homestand starts Oct. 27 for the Cavaliers, who will host, in order, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Liberty. First, however, Virginia (4-2, 2-1) will take on Coastal Division rival Duke (5-1, 1-1) next Saturday in Durham, N.C. The 12:30 p.m. game will be televised on Regional Sports Networks.
“We can’t let off the gas,” Perkins said. “We have to keep going to Duke and play just how we played tonight with the same aggression.”
Thornhill said he’ll remind his teammates “that we have to keep playing. We can’t just be satisfied with this one win. We have to come back next week ready to play even harder.”
In their most recent visit to Wallace Wade Stadium, on Oct. 1, 2016, the Cavaliers beat the Blue Devils 34-20 to end a 17-game road losing streak.
UVA stretched its winning streak over Duke to three games with a 28-21 victory at Scott Stadium last fall.