Woolfolk holds his own in first UVa start

Keytaon Thompson could relate to the spot Jay Woolfolk found himself in on Saturday night.

With Brennan Armstrong unable to play, Woolfolk, Virginia’s first-year backup quarterback, made his first college start on Saturday night at Scott Stadium against No. 7 Notre Dame. When Thompson, now a fifth-year ‘football player’ at UVa, was a true freshman QB at Mississippi State, his first career start came in place of the Bulldogs’ injured starter in the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl against Louisville.

So Thompson knows how much Woolfolk can take from that experience, whether his next UVa start comes next week at Pitt or at some point down the road.

“You can't coach it,” Thompson said following the Cavaliers’ 28-3 loss. “You can't coach experience, and you just have to go through it as a quarterback. All of our circumstances are different and Jay just so happened to be going up against a top-10 team. And for the most part I thought he did well.”

Armstrong’s status for Saturday night remained in question until game time approached on Saturday. With little more than an hour before kickoff, the Cavaliers’ record-breaking starter emerged from the locker room with other members of the offense. An ABC camera crew followed Armstrong as he gingerly threw a few light passes. As the other quarterbacks and receivers lined up to run routes as part of their pregame routine, Armstrong headed back inside.

Instead it was Woolfolk who led those warmups, just as he had led the offense all week at the McCue Center. Offensive lineman Bobby Haskins said teammates could see the first-year quarterback improve as those practice reps added up each day.

“He's got a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger, you know, moxie, whatever you want to call it,” Haskins said. “He's got it in spades.”

Minutes before kickoff it became official. As offensive starters were announced at Scott Stadium, Woolfolk was at quarterback. A collective nervous grumble came from the crowd. Virginia fans last saw a true freshman get a start at QB since 1977, when Bryan Shumock started the first give games of the season. Woolfolk’s previous snaps had come in mop-up duty against Illinois and Duke, and on the final series of the loss at BYU after Armstrong was injured.

Last March, Woolfolk was starting at quarterback for Benedictine against Fork Union; eight months later, he was facing the No. 7 team in the country. Notre Dame took the field giving up 22.4 points and 371.1 total yards per game. The Irish had 25 sacks and 12 interceptions—tied for eighth-most in the country—through nine games. They’d just limited Navy to a pair of field goals in a 34-6 win in South Bend.

Against that defense, Woolfolk had the look of a true freshman making his first college start. UVa was held to just 9 yards on six plays in the first quarter. The offense didn’t pick up a first down until its third possession, early in the second quarter.

The inexperienced Woolfolk lacked pocket presence and was sacked seven times, the most for a Notre Dame defense since they got to Bryce Perkins eight times in their win over the Wahoos in South Bend in 2019. Woolfolk and his targets were clearly on different pages on a few overthrows.

He threw a pair of interceptions. On the first, just before halftime, Woolfolk took his first big shot downfield but was locked onto receiver Dontayvion Wicks. Notre Dame safety Ramon Henderson read it all the way and picked it off. The second pick came on UVa’s final possession, when a throw for Thompson in the end zone sailed too high and wound up in the hands of DJ Brown.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall conceded afterward that Woolfolk wasn’t as quick to process plays as they unfolded as the veteran Armstrong, who has started 18 games for the Hoos. Between the pressure Notre Dame was able to apply and the way the Irish disguised their defensive looks, Saturday’s experience was educational for the young quarterback.

“All of that was just more than an introductory level course for first-start quarterback,” Mendenhall said. “It was more kind of a mastery course and just a little too much for the circumstances.”

But Mendenhall also saw a first-year quarterback who played with poise and never seemed rattled by those circumstances. Woolfolk’s big arm—he plans to pitch for the UVa baseball team this spring—was on display all night, especially on some of his overthrown deep balls down the field. As he settled in, Woolfolk made some strong throws to Wicks and Thompson and tight end Jelani Woods across the middle of the field. As a runner, he was both shifty and able to get away from pursuing tacklers.

“He can make every throw and he's good with his legs,” Mendenhall said. “So now it's just a matter of him diagnosing, assessing and seeing things faster so he can run the offense more effectively.”

Woolfolk finished the night 18-33 for 196 yards and those two interceptions. He ran for 49 yards on nine carries, though his final rushing numbers (15 yards on 16 carries) were deflated by the 34 yards Woolfolk lost on those seven sacks.

“I don't think we did a good enough job as receivers and as an offense as a whole, just to kind of help him out and take some of that pressure off of Jay,” said Thompson, who led the Hoos with 110 receiving yards on nine catches. “Brennan is a great player for us and he makes a lot of plays. I think tonight we just should have, as an offense, just took some of that pressure off Jay and make some more plays for him.”

Saturday’s loss marked the first time UVa was held without a touchdown since mustered just three field goals in a 17-9 loss at Miami in 2019. The Wahoos’ 278 total yards were the fewest for the offense since they put up 244 in a win against Old Dominion that same season. This year’s team entered Saturday’s game averaging 38.9 points and an NCAA-best 545.2 total yards per game.

Of course, those gaudy numbers came with Armstrong running the show. The question now becomes whether his ribs will be healthy enough to allow the lefty to return for next next Saturday’s critical Coastal Division matchup at Pitt, or it will be Woolfolk getting the start again. Even after missing the Notre Dame game, Armstrong still ranks third in the country in passing yards (3,557) and second in total offense (3,828).

Mendenhall said that in the lead-up to Saturday night’s game, Armstrong’s status didn’t look promising early but improved throughout the week. The final decision wasn’t made until warmups. If the quarterback is cleared and Armstrong says he’s healthy, he’ll get go at Heinz Field, Mendenhall said.

But if it’s Woolfolk again next Saturday afternoon, the Wahoos believe they can get it done with a first-year quarterback making just his second career start.

“I think Brennan’s numbers speak for themselves,” said Haskins. “He's an incredible quarterback, He’s an incredible leader, incredible person, and we would love to get him back whenever he's ready. But if it's Jay, we know that we're equally capable, confident in him. And whoever's at quarterback, there's no excuse for not winning a football game. Regardless of the obstacles, the variables thrown at you.”

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