Editor’s Note: This is the seventh installment in our summer series breaking down UVa’s schemes, concepts, and personnel as the Hoos head toward the fall and presumably the 2020 football season. You can check out our first piece here, which focuses on the tight end position, our second right here, which focuses on the QB battle to come, our third piece here that breaks down the way UVa uses quarterback runs, our fourth piece here which looks at UVa's outstanding OLBs, our fifth piece here which looks at the impressive depth on the D-line, and our sixth piece here which focuses on the rotation at inside linebacker.

2019 Review

Taulapapa was Virginia’s primary running back in 2019 and was one of the most-used players on offense. After playing on special teams in 2018 as a freshman, he won the starting job in camp by being what Bronco Mendenhall described as “the most consistent” running back in the competition. Taulapapa started 13 times (he missed the William & Mary game with an injury) and played a total of 543 snaps on offense.

Taulapapa carried the ball 116 times last fall, gaining 473 yards or 4.08 yards per carry. And while he was UVa’s most-used running back he never had more than 18 carries in a game and never had more than 77 yards rushing. He also only had four 50+ yard performances. Taulapapa did find the end zone regularly, with 12 touchdowns in his first season as the starting tailback. He had four multi-score performances, with three touchdowns against FSU and a pair each against Duke, Georgia Tech, and Louisville. Taulapapa was not a big factor in the passing game, with just five catches for 23 yards on the season.

His Pro Football Focus data shows solid blocking and average success as a ball carrier. His rushing grade of 68.1 was lower than four other players, though in fairness one was a quarterback (Bryce Perkins) and the other three mostly played in “garbage time” against backups or just had usage rates so much lower that it’s tough to make an accurate comparison.

Film Review

Taualpapa did a lot of his best work on the season around the goal line, where he did a nice job turning short-yardage runs into touchdowns.

Against FSU in September he scored three touchdowns, all around the goal line, in a come-from-behind victory. The play below was Taulapapa’s first score of the night, coming in the second quarter. One of the reasons he was so effective around the goal line was his decisiveness without much wasted motion.

On this play below he receives a left-to-right handoff and quickly finds the hole off tackle and darts inside of his blockers and into the end zone. This is exactly where the play was designed to go, but Taulapapa still showed good vision and quickness to hit the hole and get across the line before defenders could get off of blocks.

On Taulapapa’s third touchdown of the game (below), he takes the handoff right up the middle and leaps over the line and into the end zone. Virginia’s offensive line doesn’t open up a hole between two blockers but instead over top of a wall of defenders as they use take-down blocks to create a near rugby scrum at the line of scrimmage. Taulapapa gets the ball and quickly makes a cut and dives in over top of the pile of bodies on the ground for the touchdown.

In addition to his decisiveness, Taualpapa also fought through plenty of would-be tacklers around the goal line during the 2019 season. On this touchdown against Louisville, he takes the handoff just inside the 9-yard line and fights through three or four Cardinal defenders before hitting paydirt.

Taualapa didn’t break a lot of long runs last season and, quite frankly, that wasn’t necessarily his fault. Wide open running lanes were hard to come by—for the running backs at least—and most of his carries resulted in a few yards and a cloud of dust.

But here is one run, against Duke, that was probably his best of the season. There wasn’t a lot of room on this play, either, but the Hawaiian tailback makes a series of cutbacks that open up space after he breaks through the line of scrimmage, resulting in a big gain on the final play of the third quarter. Notice too the way he changes hands to keep the ball secure.

Taulapapa’s ability and willingness as a blocker is one of the reasons that he saw so much playing time in 2019, even when UVa went pass-heavy and he wasn’t an oft-used target. The Wahoos use thier running backs as blockers on the edge in the passing game as well as the more traditional “max protect” blocker in the backfield, asked to pick up blitzers.

On this next play, once again coming against the Noles, Taulapapa goes in motion out of the backfield and puts forth a nice block to spring a screen pass to Joe Reed for a few extra yards.

And finally, on this long touchdown by Perkins, Taulapapa puts forth max effort as a blocker, leading the convoy to the end zone. As Perkins approaches the line of scrimmage, Taulapapa gets a quick chip on a Hokies defender, which throws him off track and keeps him from getting to the QB, and further down the field seals another block that makes Perkins’ path to the end zone completely clear.

2019 Review

Hollins saw plenty of game action in 2019 as a true freshman after a very successful prep career in Baton Rouge. He played in 13 games on special teams and saw action as a running back in three contests.

On 21 carries, Hollins gained 112 yards and scored three touchdowns, averaging 5.33 yards per rush attempt. He had his biggest game against William & Mary, when he rushed 11 times for 78 yards and a pair of scores, and saw action against Liberty, when he rushed eight times for 27 yards and another score.

Because of his small sample size, it’s tough to use the PFF data to judge his season accurately but he did demonstrate a skill set in his limited action that should have Cavalier fans excited about his future in orange and blue.

Film Review

Hollins opened his collegiate career with a bang, scoring a touchdown on his first carry. Following fullback Jamari Peacock through the hole, Hollins rumbles off tackle to the left and shows enough burst to get into the end zone nearly untouched.

Here’s another play from later in that same game. Notice Hollins' burst at the snap of the football. By the time he takes the handoff from Brennan Armstrong, he has taken two steps and is already up to speed, helping him get through the line of scrimmage quickly and off to the races.

That burst can be the difference between a run for no gain and a potential big play, especially if the line is struggling to hold blocks.

Here’s another example of the same thing, with Hollins bursting through the hole against Liberty and gaining 13 yards.

The fact that Virginia had several veteran running backs that were familiar with the scheme and had demonstrated blocking ability may have kept Hollins from being on the field more as a rookie. But he did have one self-inflicted wound, which unfortunately came in a big spot against Miami.

On what looked like a decent gain up the middle, Hollins held the ball a bit loose on his way through the hole and was stripped by a Miami defender. That was Hollins’ last carry in a close game for the remainder of the year, and ball security was surely an emphasis for him in practice for the rest of the season.

There's no doubt that, with Perkins gone and the entire offensive line back after another year of experience under its belt, UVa has to find a way to run the ball more effectively and consistently. There will be plenty of chances for someone, be that Taulapapa, Hollins, or Indiana transfer Ronnie Walker, to win the bulk of the carries.

It's likely that Mendenhall will try his best to go with a one-horse approach and should he get the waiver to play right away, there's a good chance that Walker could be that guy. The Hopewell native—who will be featured in a future Film Room focusing on the three transfer skill position players—has all of the tools.

Ultimately, Virginia needs a lot more from the ground game while also needing its back to step up In pass-pro as well. There are good pieces but production will tell the tale and could separate the Hoos from a special season.

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