The Cavaliers were supposed to open the 2020 season on Monday night in Atlanta…until they weren’t. And then they were supposed to open the season Friday against VMI…until they weren’t.

But now, as game week draws even closer ahead of the actual opener in Blacksburg on September 19th (3:30/7:30 p.m., ABC), offensive coordinator Robert Anae believes his group is coming together, especially at the quarterback position.

Following his time with media members on Tuesday, here are three important takeaways as the Wahoos get set to kick off the season against rival Virginia Tech.

One thing that’s been consistent since Bronco Mendenhall and his staff arrived on Grounds is that they are committed to following their plans for various positions and the program as a whole.

At quarterback, you have to treat that position one way, Anae explained. UVa’s method is to find out who the best guy is, which sounds easier than it it because it’s a difficult process. Once you have that guy, you “highlight what he does well” and build around it. That’s the starting point in a process that the Cavaliers went through with both Kurt Benkert and Bryce Perkins to much success.

“He's a real, very tough-minded, competitive person, as an individual,” Anae said of Armstrong. “That's probably his top skillset, is how competitive he is. Now, what does that translate to a quarterback? Well, he could make all the throws. You name a throw in the program, you name a throw in the game, and he could make it. So from a skillset standpoint, emotionally there's a lot to cover there, a lot that we've got to develop and grow along those lines.

“But, dang, I think the players will respect how competitive he is,” he added, “especially in the offseason and those areas that you earn the respect to your team with how you how you perform in the weight room and in the conditioning program. Hey, I can't say enough as to a young quarterback but we are gonna rely on him in the leadership area as well.”

For the last several seasons, the lead up to the first game has been full of similar prognostications: UVa’s offense can be pretty good if the offensive line is better. Of course, much of that happened even without the expected improvement up front, in part because of guys like Perkins.

But now, with so much experience returning, most assume the Hoos will be able to be more consistent especially when it comes to running the football.

The OL is “stronger and better,” Anae said yesterday, than it was a year ago. Last year they “were okay running the ball” he said. “We weren’t great.” But since then, he believes they have had to improve and that they have done so.

“If we can be good enough running the football, we do have an addition of a big tight end that’s certainly added some things to the program,” he said.

The better group of blocking tight ends, Anae believes, coupled with a better O-line should make improving the run game a reality.

“The running part should be something that we do good to really well,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re ever going to be great right now in the run game but that might not me our strength…It turned out last year that our strength was a nice balance of everything around the board. So I think that's going to continue to be our identity, is to move the ball around and keep the defense guessing. That is our strength as a group.”

“The whole idea of the offense is to do stuff that your guys do well,” Anae said later, also adding that while Perkins was very good at running the football, the challenge was getting him to the open space he needed. With Armstrong, who he also says is very good at running the ball, UVa will do more of that in between the tackles, more “drag the pile, more lower your shoulder type runs.”

Much has been made this preseason about the lack of depth at running back. With Ronnie Walker appearing as if he won’t be able to get the waiver he needs to play right away, UVa is down to just a pair of scholarship running backs including junior Wayne Taulapapa and Towson transfer Shane Simpson.

Mendenhall has always said that he’d rather be a one-horse back program but thus far, the Cavaliers haven’t been able to make that come to fruition.

To Anae, featured backs are first- or second-round draft guys. He admitted that if he thought UVa had one of those, they’d use that player more often and feature him. But when you don’t have the type of player, you need everybody to pull their weight including the guys up front.

“For us,” Anae said, “we think the strength of our unit is 11 guys working together and for me as a coordinator and us as coaches to put them in positions that they have a chance to be successful. So that's our brand of football, so to speak.”

That brand of football is to make the most of various skillsets and possibilities. Which could mean UVa will look to do something unique with their former Rivals100 recruit and Mississippi State transfer.

Thompson came in and competed hard with Armstrong, Anae said. He “pushed that thing” for a couple weeks and “garnered respect from the team in the process” prior to Armstrong being named QB1. So what role might he have now?

“From our standpoint, dang, that would not be a good idea if one of our better athletes was standing next to me with a clipboard,” Anae said. “So we're looking for opportunities to get him on the field and to get him involved.”

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