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Football to host No. 16 Miami

Cavaliers take on Hurricanes for homecomings weekend

<p>Junior quarterback Bryce Perkins has shown he can change the game for Virginia, but the rest of his offense needs to find consistency.</p>

Junior quarterback Bryce Perkins has shown he can change the game for Virginia, but the rest of his offense needs to find consistency.

After a bye week, Virginia football is back in action to host No. 16 Miami for the Cavaliers’ (3-2, 1-1 ACC) third weekend of ACC play. 

The last game for the Cavaliers was a 35-21 loss to No. 20 N.C. State. In the game against the undefeated Wolfpack (5-0, 2-0 ACC), Virginia’s defense struggled to contain N.C. State’s offense, lead by talented senior quarterback Ryan Finley. 

“We kind of pride ourselves on being able to hit the quarterback, and we didn’t,” Coach Bronco Mendenhall said after the game. “They threw and caught and protected on third down better than we rushed and covered and executed. That hasn’t happened it seemed like for a long time, a team having that much success on third down, which I attribute to their protection, their quarterback, and their receiving play.” 

The defensive difficulties against N.C. State were in part related to the numerous injuries that Virginia has seen on that end of play. Junior defensive end Richard Burnley, senior linebacker Malcolm Cook and junior linebacker Jordan Mack all didn’t play due to injuries, and sophomore safety Brenton Nelson left the game early with a concussion.  

“It'll play out over time,” Mendenhall said of the status of the team’s injuries. “But I'm not sure what the other rosters look like, and nor does it really matter. So the job now is to manage the personnel that you have the best possible way you can down the home stretch. That's a seven-week stretch, and that's what we plan to do.”

Sophomore linebacker Charles Snowden, senior safety Juan Thornhill and sophomore linebacker Zane Zandier have been among the players that have stepped up to fill in the gaps on defense. 

Offensively, the Cavaliers have been led by junior quarterback Bryce Perkins, who is averaging 225 passing yards and 68.2 rushing yards. Perkins’s main target has been senior Olamide Zaccheaus, who is collecting an average of 100 passing yards per game. Zaccheaus has had three games this season with over 100 receiving yards, and he currently sits in fourth place all-time in the program’s record books for career receiving yards. 

“He has the physical skills,” Mendenhall said of Zaccheaus. “He is just able now to produce week in, week out. More importantly, practice in and practice out. That's how he's earned my respect.”

Miami enters the game after escaping with a 28-27 win over in-state rival Florida State. The Seminoles (3-3, 1-3 ACC) had a 20-point lead in the third quarter, but Miami’s defense turned up the intensity and sparked the comeback. The win marked the Hurricanes fifth win a row, with their only loss in the season coming to No. 13 LSU in the first weekend of action. Among Miami’s wins this season was a 77-0 win over Savannah State, which set a new program record for largest margin of victory.

So far this season, the Hurricanes are averaging 41.5 points per game and 409.5 offensive yards per game. Redshirt freshman quarterback N’Kosi Perry is averaging 129.2 passing yards per game, and has been seeing the most playing time of the four quarterbacks that Miami has played this season. Leading Miami’s running game is junior running back Travis Homer, who is averaging 72.3 rushing yards per game. 

“[Perry] seems to provide a spark and an ability to move the ball a little bit with his legs,” Mendenhall said. “It appears that they're opportunistic and [with] the energy and the turnovers that their defense creates their offense then is opportunistic and leverages that.”

Defensively, the Hurricanes have notched eight interceptions so far this season, and are holding teams to an average of 237.3 points per game. 

When Virginia and Miami faced off last season, the Cavaliers suffered a 44-28 loss. Though Virginia struggled to gain rushing yards with 55 yards on 28 carries, they were able to generate 384 passing yards. However, a 30-0 run in the second half by the Hurricanes proved Virginia’s passing game wouldn’t be enough to knock down Miami. 

“At this point when I look at every game from here through the end of our season, there is certainly a chance that all those games are winnable,” Mendenhall said. “Any of them independently and all of them collectively. Conversely, you can flip it the other way. And so when you look at the game from a year ago, we played well enough long enough to make it really interesting, but not quite well enough and long and consistent enough to hold on.”

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff from Scott Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 13 and it will be a part of homecomings weekend for Virginia sports. After this weekend, the Cavaliers will hit the road to take on Duke on Oct. 20. 

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