Familiar Foe - New Faces
UR Opens Season
Dangerous weapons on offense? Check
All-American on defense? Check
Lofty expectations? Check
UR's season opener against UVA is a week from today and after a long Summer camp, they're ready to start hitting someone wearing opposite colors. Coming into the season ranked #4, Richmond has high expectations and is facing a familiar opponent with a lot of new faces.
New Faces in Familiar Places
UVA has added former BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall, has a new QB in ECU transfer Kurt Benkurt. Mendenhall is bringing with him a shift from a base 4-3 defense to a 3-4, which will take advantage of his strong inside linebackers. HE is also looking to bring a high-speed offense. He wasn't terribly successful with this last year though, as BYU averaged 73.3 plays per game while UVA averaged 73.2 (in 2014, BYU averaged 83.3 plays per game - 9th highest in FBS).
CavsCorner.com
Spidernation spent some time with CavsCorner in talking about next week's game. Here was their take on it.
With a coaching staff overhaul, what can we expect to see out of the Cavaliers, schematically?
Offensively, UVa's new staff has made two big changes: The Wahoos will be running a spread offense (versus the pro-style look from the past) and they'll play at a break-neck pace. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae comes to Charlottesville from BYU, where his offenses were consistently good. His background is both in the Air Raid of Mike Leach but also in a spread-to-run style that implements the read options. Defensively, Bronco Mendenhall brings his 3-4 base to Virginia, though it's multiple in design. The Cavaliers won't be rigidly stick to that base if a 3-3-5 or a 4-3 better suits the talent or the gameplan. The Hoos will blitz early and often but do so in exotic ways.
Can you talk about the buzz around Charlottesville coming out of the London era?
There's been more excitement about Virginia football in the last six months that the last six years combined. While London was a great representative of the university in every other way, his teams were just not good. They were poorly coached, players were underdeveloped, and the roster was mismanaged. Mendenhall's approach is the polar opposite of the previous when it comes to organization but he still preaches a family-first mentality. His culture changes have been readily apparent this preseason and the buy-in among players has been particularly high given the multitude of differences. Fans are beyond excited to see this program over the next few years.
Who is the least heralded player that will have a big game against the Spiders?
In all of Virginia's early games this season, the guy that is going to surprise a lot of people will be wide receiver David Eldridge. For the first time years, UVa has a strong-armed quarterback, meaning the offense can finally take shots downfield. That's where Eldridge's speed comes in but also his ability to adjust once the ball is in the air. He played sparingly in 2015 but is poised to have a huge season as a sophomore given UVa's scheme changes and the goal of throwing it deep.
Complete this sentence..."UR will win if..."
...UVa can't be secure with the ball, the Spiders are able to sustain drives and keep the Virginia offense off the field (thereby wearing down its defense), and if the Cavaliers struggle against the run.
In a season of unknowns, what is the biggest one facing this Cavalier squad in the first game of the Mendenhall era?
Depth in the trenches. Virginia has a lot of talent on both its offensive and defensive lines. But what remains to be seen is how well those groups hold up given the relative lack of talent behind the starters. On the offensive line, for example, the starting five is strong. But the Wahoos probably only have two, maybe three other guys they feel comfortable tossing into the mix which could be problematic give UVa's desired pace. On the D-line, UVa has similar depth concerns where there's no clear succession plan at nose tackle and limited experience all around. How the lines fair will determine Virginia's success or failure this fall.
Game Prediction?
Virginia's coaches don't shy away from wanting to do hard things together and beating this Richmond team out of the gate is going to be one of them. UVa should have the edge in several areas but the "newness" to the schemes could be an issue. After all, coaches sometimes don't know what they've really got until their teams plays somebody. So while Danny Rocco and his group are very clear on who they are and what they can do, the Cavaliers will be in uncharted territory. UVa's offensive talent fits its scheme very well, and the Wahoos are likely to score early and often. The question will be slowing down the Spiders, which will be tough. I think Virginia gets the W but I think it's much closer than many fans would like. I'll go with UVa 38-30.