Virginia football coach Bronco Mendenhall, his voice hoarse from screaming throughout the game, made it clear putting this past weekend’s loss in the rearview mirror, a standard message regardless of outcome, would be a difficult ask of his players, given the stakes.
Still, Mendenhall cast the regular season finale Saturday against Virginia Tech (5-6, 3-4) as another crack at winning a championship — in this case bragging rights within the commonwealth. It’s also the final game at Scott Stadium for the senior class, which has been with Mendenhall for the majority of his tenure.
“I think that anytime there’s something you care really deeply about, to expect any person — grown, old, young, whatever — just to move on and be ready by the time we get on the bus, no, it’s going to take some time,” Mendenhall said. “Because we were planning on [being] Coastal champions.”
Notable players handled the process disparately. Safety Joey Blount admitted shifting full attention to the Cavaliers’ most contentious rival, even with the Commonwealth Cup in the balance, was among the most demanding tasks of his career.
The fifth-year senior has been one of the defensive leaders over the past several seasons but this year is part of a unit that has underperformed. It permitted 509 yards of total offense to the Panthers in the 48-38 defeat, the Cavaliers’ third in a row.
Virginia ranks last out of 14 teams in the ACC in run defense (217.3 yards allowed per game) and actually improved in the statistic after yielding 169 rushing yards to Pittsburgh. Take away the negative rushing yards included in that total for sacks and one kneel-down, and the Panthers amassed 197 yards on the ground.
Blount missed his share of tackles, including one on which he failed to wrap up quarterback Kenny Pickett while unblocked on a blitz. Pickett instead completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison to give Pittsburgh a 14-7 lead with 10:01 left in the second quarter.
“I really, really, really, really, really wanted that Coastal Division championship extremely bad,” Blount said. “Letting go of that and just kind of as a grown man, you’ve got to move on from things like that and look forward to the next opportunity. But I think another reason why it was so hard for me was looking to this week in general.”
Blount cited how mentally draining it was going to be for him to accept the reality of his final home game. On top of that, he is responsible for sorting out details unrelated to the game plan, including how many family members and friends need tickets.
He also has become more immersed in the rivalry during his extended time in Charlottesville. Blount grew up in Atlanta and didn’t fully appreciate Virginia-Virginia Tech until he took part in it.
Blount is one of eight Cavaliers super seniors who elected to use a free year of eligibility amid the coronavirus pandemic. Without the extra year, he, Mandy Alonso, Adeeb Atariwa, Elliott Brown, Danny Caracciolo, De’Vante Cross, Chris Glaser and Nick Grant would have exhausted their eligibility.
“My last week practicing in the regular season with U-Va. and already trying to get the senior day together, who’s coming to the game, who’s walking, senior activities,” Blount said. “So there’s a lot of emotion behind not just the game but the week in general, what it means to my family, to myself, to my teammates and relationships I’ve built. It’s definitely hard to turn the page from Saturday.”
Quarterback Brennan Armstrong, meanwhile, indicated he was over the loss to the Panthers within roughly 24 hours.
The junior certainly did his part keeping Virginia competitive, completing 36 of 49 attempts for 487 yards to match his second-highest total in a game. He also had three touchdowns, and his one interception came on a heave to the end zone to close the first half.
Armstrong played with fractured ribs after missing Virginia’s previous game against Notre Dame on Nov. 13. He threw without much discomfort and moved in the pocket with few limitations while wearing heavy padding around his midsection.
Armstrong leads major college football in total offense per game (428.8 yards) and is third in passing yards (4,044), extending the Cavaliers’ single-season record he broke against Brigham Young on Oct. 30. He needs 20 yards to set the school’s single-season record for total offense.
“I turned the page, like, yesterday,” Armstrong said Monday morning. “I’m ready to go. Losing is terrible. I love winning, but you’ve just got to keep going. Came in excited for meetings and stuff, so, yeah, I’m ready to get our script and start working on that against [Virginia Tech].”
