The offense might not have started fast. The defense had a few breakdowns. The special teams may have put one on the ground to start the game.
Even though the Cavaliers didn’t have the best first half Saturday afternoon, the 38-20 victory over Duke wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t steadied themselves and had a stellar showing in the final 20ish minutes or so.
All told, everything about this season opener—including when it was played and that the opponent was playing its third game—was odd. The venue was basically empty. There were no cheerleaders, no band, no students. No smoke machine going crazy as the players to ran out of the tunnel.
The constant? UVa showing resiliency, as Bronco Mendenhall discussed in the postgame presser below.
To get their sixth-straight win over the Blue Devils, UVa turned seven Duke turnovers into 21 points. The Hoos, who had fallen behind by 10 before they scored, saw their touchdown lead at the half turn into a three-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter.
But after a key interception by Brenton Nelson on a gadget play that Mendenhall said UVa’s defense saw coming, the Cavaliers marched 94 yards in 4:00 and took the lead for good on an 18-yard TD pass from Brennan Armstrong to rookie Lavel Davis.
UVa had by far the longest preseason in program history and despite having not played real football still was able to meet the challenge physically. It was fitting to watch a bunch of guys who had for 12 weeks figured out how to weather the challenge go out and do the same thing on the field as well.
“Wow,” Mendenhall began, his UVa mask still on as he began his presser. “What a journey it’s been just to get to where we can play football. It was a pretty surreal experience. There were so many times throughout the game where I just couldn’t believe we were playing and that it counted, and that it was for real. So, unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I wanted so desperately for our players to have success on the field and have a tangible result to show for it because of just how diligent they have been in all the protocols.”
The offense eventually got rolling while UVa’s defense had plenty of moments throughout. Led by a career-high 16 tackles for Zane Zandier and a career-high 12 from Nick Jackson, the Wahoos made life miserable for Chase Brice and the Blue Devils. But that’s been the name of the game for them in this series: Duke has turned it over 25 times over UVa’s winning streak, including 12 between this year and last.
It might not have been perfect but it was enough. That bar will certainly be raised this week when the Cavaliers head to Death Valley to take on No. 1-ranked Clemson. But for Game 1 of easily the weirdest season in program history, they showed potential for what’s ahead over the course of a (hopefully) long season.
“They were resilient,” Mendenhall said, “and they played through their mistakes and different miscues and ultimately pulled away toward the end. I’m encouraged. Certainly, lots of work, but I’m encouraged.”
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