The 3-2-1: ACC play arrives for Wahoos with trip to Chapel Hill

Chris Glaser can remember a photo that used to circulate among Virginia’s offensive linemen a few years ago. It was a picture of the jersey that Bryce Perkins wore in a game against Pitt, stained green from all of the hits that the quarterback took.

“That’s something that we don’t ever want to get back to,” Glaser, a fifth-year ‘super senior’ who has started 34 career games on the UVa O-line, admitted to reporters on Monday.

In his first three seasons at UVa, the Hoos never ranked better than ninth in the ACC in sacks against. Even the 2019 team that won nine games and a Coastal Division title finished 11th in the league, giving up 41 sacks in 14 games with Perkins at quarterback.

But that changed last year when UVa gave up just 20 sacks in 10 games, which matched Clemson for the fewest allowed in the league and ranked second behind the Tigers, who played two additional games, in per-game average. The five players who finished last season as starters along the O-line—Ryan Nelson, Joe Bissinger, Olu Oluwatimi, Glaser, and Ryan Swoboda, from left to right—have been back in those same spots this year.

They’ve anchored an offense that leads the ACC and ranks 10th nationally in yards per game, averaging 550.0 through two games. UVa’s pass offense (381.0 ypg) is also best in the league and ranks seventh nationally, while their 42.5 points per game ranks third in the league. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong has only been sacked three times for 9 yards lost in two games, all in UVa’s opener against William & Mary.

That protection led to a career day for Armstrong last Saturday against Illinois, which earned the junior his second straight ACC quarterback of the week nod on Monday. He was joined on the latest ACC weekly honor roll by tight end Jelani Woods (receiver of the week) and Oluwatimi (offensive lineman of the week).

Glaser talked on Monday about the chemistry and cohesiveness that UVa has been able to build along its veteran offensive front. Nelson and Swoboda are also in their fifth seasons in the program while Oluwatimi and Bissinger have both been at Virginia since the 2018 season. Swing tackle Bobby Haskins joined the program that same season.

“We are a veteran group and we believe that we have this standard of not letting the QB get touched in a game,” Glaser said. "We’ve been through the trials and tribulations of being a bad offensive line and hearing it from not only our coaches but media, everybody. So getting out of that rut from a long time ago and finally being a staple on this offense is something to be proud of.”

Glaser and another fifty-year ‘super senior,’ defensive lineman Mandy Alonso, joined head coach Bronco Mendenhall to meet virtually with the media heading into UVa’s ACC opener on Saturday night against No. 21 North Carolina.

To recap that session, it’s time for another edition of the 3-2-1:

1. This is more than just the ‘next game’ for UVa.

Virginia is an early 10-point underdog going into Kenan Stadium on Saturday night. At 1-1, Carolina is ranked No. 21 in the country in this week’s Associated Press top 25, while the 2-0 Hoos didn’t receive a single vote.

It’s also the ACC opener for UVa while UNC, the preseason pick to win the Coastal Division, will be trying to avoid falling to 0-2 in the division after opening the season with a 17-10 loss to Virginia Tech.

“It’s a huge game big picture,” Alonso admitted. “We’ve heard all the hype that UNC has from the media and from the top 25 rankings and such. It’s just things that we need to keep into account. That way once we beat them, then we’ll actually be respectable or talked about on ACC Network or SportsCenter and stuff like that.”

Early in his tenure, Mendenhall got a sense for the importance of the UNC rivalry through conversations with then-athletic director Craig Littlepage and other longtime UVa staff members. When talking to his team, he has described the annual matchup as a battle of cultures.

Mendenhall also reminded his players on Monday that he’s 3-1 all-time against UNC coach Mack Brown. One of those wins came when Mendenhall was at BYU and Brown was in his last season at Texas. The others have come the past two seasons since Brown returned to Chapel Hill.

Including those two victories, the Wahoos have won four in a row in the 'South’s Oldest Rivalry.’ Two of those wins, in 2017 and 2019, came away from Charlottesville; last year, the Tar Heels were ranked No. 15 in the country when they were upset 44-41 in Scott Stadium.

Extending that streak on Saturday night is of the utmost importance to the two fifth-year seniors who talked to media members on Monday.

“UNC’s a good team. Got a great quarterback; got a good defense,” said Glaser. “It’s really gonna be on us, if we can uphold the standard of, ‘Is it gonna be a fifth year straight? Am I gonna go out of my UVa career without ever losing to the Tar Heels?’ That’s what we’re defending this year.”

“I want to be able to leave UVa saying I’ve never lost to UNC,” agreed Alonso, “no matter who’s back there at quarterback or running back, or whoever’s on their defense.”

2. Mendenhall doesn’t seem too worried about Armstrong's health.

Armstrong’s 405-yard, five-touchdown performance against Illinois came despite the quarterback playing much of the second half with an undisclosed right leg injury. He didn’t miss a snap, but he ended up wearing a brace on his right knee after spending a full defensive series in the medical tent on the UVa sideline midway through the third quarter.

He dismissed questions about the injury following the win. On Monday, Mendenhall didn’t have much in terms of an update but seemed to think it wouldn’t be a factor going into Saturday’s conference opener.

“Anytime your quarterback has anything, I'm concerned,” he said. “I haven't heard, which is always good news, otherwise I would have got texts and emails and alerts and reminders. I haven't had any of that, so I'm taking that as a good sign.”

Mendenhall also offered up a quick update on injured receiver Lavel Davis (more on that later) while saying he didn’t have much news on defensive lineman Adeeb Atariwa, who missed the Illinois game after getting hurt in practice last week.

“Hopeful, I guess,” Mendenhall said. “I'm going to put my own label on it. I don't know if that's even one of the options, but I'm putting 'hopeful.' We've created another category, so I'm adding 'coach hopeful' category for Adeeb.”

3. Justin Duenkel’s job is safe.

If there was one question mark for the Hoos coming out of Saturday’s lopsided 42-14 win against Illinois, it was the performance of their kicker.

After going 2-for-2 on field goal attempts in the opener against William & Mary, Duenkel was wide right on both of his attempts against the Illini. He missed a 46 yarder late in the first quarter then a 31 yarder midway through the second quarter.

Duenkel had handled kickoff duties for most of last year but hadn’t attempt a college field goal until this season. He beat out Hunter Pearson for the job in camp this summer. On Monday, Duenkel remained the top place kicker on the depth chart for the UNC game.

Mendenhall said Duenkel was “just a little off” and hadn’t quite adjusted to some cross-winds prior to the first kick, while the second attempt came after a penalty was called on UVa just as Duenkel was drilling the ball through the uprights. He missed after the play was pushed back five yards.

“He's going to be fine,” Mendenhall said. “Yeah, kind of a cross-wind issue and then a timing issue of just -- again, that doesn't mean both of those caused the misses, but they influenced it, and yeah, we can do a better job as a staff just addressing those things.”