Offensive Line's Whole Greater Than Sum of Its Parts

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the offensive line’s meeting room in the Hardie Center hangs a sign on which is displayed FIST, an acronym for Five Individuals Strong Together. That philosophy has helped the group thrive in the face of a frustrating string of injuries.

“It’s not about who’s out there on the field,” graduate student Drake Metcalf said. “It’s about that mentality of FIST. It’s about what we have built in the offseason. No matter who’s out there, you’re gonna go out there and you’re gonna give your best for the guy that’s next to you and the guys that are behind you at all times.

“I don’t think necessarily it’s about the talent of the guys that are in there or the age of the guys in there. It’s more so about: We’re the University of Virginia offensive line. We’re going to go in there and try to kick that door down on the D-line to be able to make sure we make plays.”

Heading into its Homecomings game at Scott Stadium, No. 18 Virginia is off to its best start since 2017, and the offensive line’s play has been instrumental in the team’s success. Through six games, the Cavaliers (5-1 overall, 3-0 ACC) have allowed only five sacks, and they’ve rushed for at least 200 yards four times.

UVA’s offense is averaging 489.2 yards per game, thanks in large part to the play of a position group that, for the first time in Tony Elliott’s four seasons as head coach, has consistently controlled the line of scrimmage.

“Total kudos to those guys,” wide receiver Cam Ross said. “We go as far as they go, man. We roll behind them.”

What makes the line’s performance especially impressive is that little has gone according to plan for assistant coach Terry Heffernan this year.

Consider the personnel UVA used on the final play of its most recent game, a 30-27 win over ACC rival Louisville on Oct. 4 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.

Seven offensive linemen were on the field to block for tailback J’Mari Taylor, whose 2-yard touchdown run secured a second straight overtime victory for the Wahoos: Metcalf, Noah Josey, Ben York, Kevin Wigenton II, Jack Witmer, Jon Adair and Noah Hartsoe. Of those seven, only Metcalf and Josey started the Hoos’ season opener, and only one of them was at the position Heffernan planned to use him this year: Josey, at left guard.

Metcalf, who began the season at right guard, moved to center after Brady Wilson got hurt during Virginia’s Sept. 20 game against Stanford.

“Shoot, if you’d told us on August 1 that those [seven] guys would be out there for the last play against Louisville, we’d have said you’re crazy,” Heffernan said.

From the end of the 2024 season to the start of training camp in late July, UVA added seven offensive linemen from the transfer portal. For various reasons, few have been able to contribute this season. Projected starters Monroe Mills and Makilan Thomas suffered serious injuries during spring practice and training camp, respectively, and neither will play this fall.

Wilson, who came to Virginia from UAB, earned a starting job in the spring, but the others, aside from Wigenton, have played little. Wigenton, a transfer from Illinois, took over at right guard when Metcalf moved to center.

With so many injuries to the newcomers, Heffernan has leaned on his returning linemen, especially Josey, Metcalf, Witmer, York, Ethan Sipe and McKale Boley, a three-year starter at left tackle.

“Everybody’s going to have a role here,” Heffernan said, “and you never know when you’re going to be up. And guys have worked to improve themselves and not gotten frustrated with reps or asked, ‘How much am I going to play?’

“They know that you never know when you’re going to get called upon, and I think guys have done a nice job of preparing themselves and being ready when their opportunity has come. The whole year has been a next-man-up kind of mentality, and the expectation is for the position, not for the guy who’s going into that position. We want our right guard to play really well regardless of who the right guard is. And so guys have not gotten sad about maybe the role they had in the opening game and have continued to work and improve. And, shoot, we’ve needed just about everybody.”

Witmer, a graduate student who started five games last season, exemplifies the group’s mindset. He was on the third-team line when training camp opened.

“Major credit to Jack for not getting sad about that, or being in his feelings about that, and just showing up and working,” Heffernan said.

A converted tight end, Witmer was still third on the depth chart at right tackle for the season opener against Coastal Carolina. An opportunity arose for No. 68, however, and “Jack kind of solidified us and stabilized us,” Heffernan said.

Witmer moved into the starting lineup for UVA’s second game and hasn’t relinquished the job.

“I’m super proud of big Jack,” Elliott said.

“He’s playing confident football,” Heffernan said. “He’s always been smart, he’s always been steady, and I think he’s playing his best football. It’s just, I think, a testament to his attitude, his mentality, his growth. He had every reason when we brought in all these other guys to say, ‘Well, shoot, I’m not gonna play.’ ”

Instead, Witmer continued to work in practice, and when his number “was called again, he’s been available,” Elliott said. “He’s helped us do some really good things on offense. So I’m super proud of him and very, very grateful to have him, and I’m excited to see him continue to get better and improve and develop these last six games.”

Witmer said he took the approach that “the best five [linemen] are going to be out there to play for us, and if you’re not one of those best five, then you’re going to do your best job to make sure those best five are ready out there to play. And there’s a reason that you’re not one of those five. So I’m super happy with the guys we brought in. Also, I think it made it really easy with the personalities that Heff brought in, just the type of guys they are. No one’s a jerk or anything like that. No one was super entitled. Everyone was like, ‘Hey,  the best five are gonna play,’ and that’s the kind of mindset the whole group’s taking.”

Heffernan, who’s in his third season at UVA, admits he wasn’t sure what to expect this year.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” he said, “but this is the first time I’ve ever been a part of bringing seven guys in a room with established starters and an established culture, and there’s a ton of anxiety over what’s that going to look like. Are these guys going to want to do things our way, or is everybody going to be an independent contractor?”

Heffernan need not have worried. When UVA’s returning linemen saw that the newcomers “are good guys and they’re good players and they can help us this year,” he said, “they really welcomed them in, and it’s been awesome.”

Virginia, which hosts Washington State (3-3) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Scott Stadium, is coming off the first of its two bye weekends. Heffernan is hopeful that at least a couple of the linemen who weren’t available at the end of the Louisville game will play against Wazzu.

Witmer, too, is eager for reinforcements to arrive.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “That’s depth that we can have on the field, and they can take [the load] off guys and make our offensive line a lot better.”

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