Weekend Wrap: Complementary football has evaded UVa this year

After watching the Wahoos struggle against NC State in ways they haven’t struggled in years, it seemed like perhaps some adjusting of expectations might be in order.

Sitting in the press box Saturday night, as UVa’s chances of beating Wake Forest rapidly deteriorated, I couldn’t help but think back to Wednesday morning.

That’s when Nick Howell spoke to media members three days prior to his team’s game in Winston-Salem. Specifically what came to mind was when he was asked about complementary football, which to me is the thing that has betrayed the Cavaliers thus far this season.

“The focus on our team is that we play complementary football,” UVa’s co-defensive coordinator explained. “So, defense complements special teams complements offense. We’ve preached this since we’ve been here: Sequencing of good play is critical. Everything has to be in balance and we have to play well together.

“That’s what we’ve been really, really good at,” Howell added. “We have not been a blow-you-out team. We’ve been good in all phases and that’s where our focus lies.”

On Saturday following a 40-23 outing that went from being competitive to feeling like a drubbing rather quickly, it was UVa’s defense that started slow and never really recovered. The Demon Deacons went after Virginia’s defensive backs and then chipped away as the afternoon played out.

It was ultimately UVa’s inability to (again) play complementary football that doomed the Wahoos. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall came away saying as much.

“Yeah 23-23 against a really explosive offense, and really believed we had a great chance to win at that point,” he said postgame. “We had played the run game very well, up until that point. A running play goes out the gate for a touchdown, immediately following we muff a kickoff return, and then [throw] an interception. And so really those three plays back-to-back-to-back changed the outcome.

“Up until then,” Mendenhall added, “yeah it was more what we had hoped, more what we had planned for, and more what we had expected in managing the game and expecting whoever basically is driving at the end of the game would win or not win. And so that’s what it looked like at that point. And then our lack of execution, again, one on defense, one in the special teams, and then an interception was the difference I thought.”

Virginia’s defense was supposed to be the rock upon which its revamped offense (with a new quarterback) and retooled special teams (with a new kickoff returner) would lean. So far in 2020, all three have left much to be desired.

Again, I was reminded of what Howell said earlier in the week when asked what happens when the complementary piece of UVa’s puzzle isn’t there.

“I don’t want to make that any bigger than it is,” he began. “The challenge on defense is to stop them from scoring. So, wherever that ball’s placed. Complementary football means stop them.”

What was especially interesting in hindsight of his comments coming off the NC State loss was to compare them with Mendenhall’s this past weekend after the Deacs threw early and often.

“The secondary is giving up just too many deep passes, not playing the ball well, and the yards per catch today was around 16, I think,” he said. “And so the yardage jumps really fast when we’re not making plays on the football. The secondary more than any other position controls points. And so not only do we need to knock the ball down but we need to tackle well.”

It’s worth pointing out in the interest of fairness that UVa lost three key pieces of its secondary against Wake as Joey Blount, Brenton Nelson, and De’Vante Cross all went out with injuries. But realistically, the Demon Deacons did a lot of damage in jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes, another rough start that UVa had to somehow make up for. The Wahoos got close but never led and wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near that if they hadn’t come up with a novel—albeit unusual—concept in replacing starting QB Brennan Armstrong. In playing not only backup Lindell Stone but also run-first guys Ira Armstead and Keytaon Thompson, Virginia employed a tactic that (if we’re being honest) worked well enough for UVa to win and the Hoos would have if the other two phases of the game had been more consistent.

“I thought that gave us the best chance to move the football and to lead our team,” Mendenhall said of the three-headed monster. “Each has a different skill set. We were looking for complete play at quarterback after losing Brennan. And so we tried to innovate and use them in a manner that would be helpful to us. So I think, probably as you look at the statistics, you’ll probably see what happened. Both Ira and KT were probably around 7 yards per rush. Ira’s scrambling ability probably added something to that. And so I thought, collectively, our approach gave us a chance. We didn’t execute well enough to finish the game and to finish with the win, but I think it gave us a chance.”

For the first time since 2016, it feels like UVa isn’t making progress. And that’s not what most, myself included, expected with a team that has as much experience as this one does. Over the years Virginia fans have heard a lot about “margin for error” and it’s clear that this team doesn’t have much of any right now. The Wake game exemplified that: In a back and forth matchup, it only took one or two plays for things to go off the rails. Given the experience returning, especially on defense, that shouldn’t be the case but it is.

So, how do they get it fixed?

That’s the question the coaching staff must answer with a pair of tough matchups on the schedule staring them straight in the face. Going to Miami and then getting Carolina at home were going to be tough asks for the Virginia we expected to see.

In order the Hoos to get where they want to go, they first have to get back to finding the balance that became “The Standard.”

Right now, they don't appear to be particularly close.