Virginia aiming for upset of No. 16 Miami
Bronco Mendenhall and his Virginia team take on mimai on Saturday.
Ahead by 14 points early in the second half, it looked as though Virginia was in the driver's seat to pull off one of the biggest upsets in college football last season as the Cavaliers were shocking No. 2 Miami in Miami Gardens.
But in a matter of minutes, Virginia's lead spiraled out of control, much like the latter half of their entire season as Miami scored 30 unanswered points to knock off the Cavaliers 44-28 and keep their undefeated season alive.
"I like the way my team played," Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said last season after the loss. "We were well prepared, played hard. We had plenty of chances to stage the upset. Came up short."
Eleven months later, the two Coastal Division foes meet again, this time in Charlottesville where Virginia (3-2, 1-1) has had great success against the Hurricanes since Miami (5-1, 2-0) entered the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004. The Cavaliers have beaten Miami three times at home since 2010 including a 22nd-ranked Hurricane team 24-19 in 2010.
This go around, the Hurricanes will travel north with a No. 16 nationally ranking after narrowly edging in-state rival Florida State 28-27 last Saturday. Miami needed 21-straight points in this act to earn their first home win over the Seminoles in over a decade.
"Well, history has proven that's the kind of game it's been," Miami head coach Mark Richt said. "When you stop a streak, normally it takes something, I'll say, spectacular. Like, last year, we had lost seven in a row and it took a spectacular play to win the game."
Virginia's heartbreaking loss to the Hurricanes last season was one of four straight defeats for the Cavaliers to end their season and just two games into the conference slate in 2018, Virginia will be looking for a marquee win to keep pace in the ACC's Coastal Division.
"Our players know they're capable of beating top teams, they just have to finish," Mendenhall said of his team. "That's the task, to play well through the majority of the game and add the other component to close it out."
Miami enters Saturday night's showdown with the nation's 20th ranked offense as the Hurricanes are averaging 41.5 points per game. Virginia's defense surrenders just over 20 points per game but showed signs of fatigue against a high-powered N.C. State offense two weeks ago. The Cavaliers used their bye week to get healthier on the defensive side of the ball but will need to put the pieces back together to tangle with quarterback N'Kosi Perry who tossed four touchdowns in the Canes' win over Florida State.
Perry has thrown for 646 yards and 11 touchdowns so far this season and has emerged as the Hurricanes' number one quarterback after taking over for Malik Rosier who struggled earlier in the season.
"The quarterback (Perry) seems to provide a spark and an ability to move the ball a little bit with his legs," Mendenhall said of Perry. "It appears they're opportunistic and the energy and the turnovers that their defense creates their offense then is opportunistic and leverages that."
Miami's defense has proven to be one of the best in the conference as they've sacked an opposing team's quarterback 20 times already in 2018 and have forced 14 turnovers through six games.
Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins will need to be ready to get the ball out of his hands quickly as the Cavaliers' offensive line has yielded 12 sacks.
Perkins' first season as a Cavalier got off to a hot start but the junior recorded his first two-interception game against the Wolfpack. His speedy weapon in the slot, senior wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, is continuing his record career as a Cavalier and will need to be Perkins' constant weapon against a fast Miami defense.
Zaccheaus is the only active player in the country with 2,000 career receiving yards and 450 career rushing yards and has 501 receiving yards and six touchdowns this season.
Recent Stories
No. 16 Marquette kicks off Big East schedule vs. St. John's
After an impressive showing during a formidable non-conference slate, No. 16 Marquette kicks off the Big East portion of its schedule Tuesday night when it takes ...
Virginia Tech begins ACC season against Notre Dame
No more preliminaries or cupcakes. No more feeling-out processes.
The basketball teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference will know knock antlers for the next two ...
No. 9 Florida State ready for final non-conference game before ACC play
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- After another long layoff, the Florida State men's basketball team finds itself ready to the page on 2018 on Tuesday with a New Year's Day showdown ...
No. 7 Gonzaga on roll as it faces Cal State Bakersfield
A softening schedule and being home for the holidays have Gonzaga humming.
The No. 7 Zags have raced to leads of 31-2 and 29-1 in their past two games, blowouts ...
No. 4 Virginia wraps up non-conference slate against Marshall
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. -- Playing just their third game over the past couple of weeks during the holiday season, No. 4 Virginia closes out their non-conference schedule ...
Latest Player Notes
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing ...
Ball security, leadership key as Aztecs look to identify starting quarterback
San Diego State seemingly auditions a new starting quarterback on an annual basis.In the past 12 years, the Aztecs have opened ...
Results and more: A look at what happened at Penn State football’s Pro Day inside Holuba Hall
Most of those at Penn State’s Pro Day Friday were relatively quiet throughout the afternoon’s workouts, but there was one ...
Defense dominates first two weeks of Oregon State spring practice as Beavers ready for 2-week breather
CORVALLIS – Oregon State hit the break of spring practices Saturday, not exactly the midpoint but a good place to assess ...
Dillon Gabriel to have similar input, autonomy as Bo Nix had in Oregon’s offense
Published Mar. 16, 2024, 6:26 p.m.By James CrepeaEUGENE — Dillon Gabriel will have much of the same autonomy as Bo Nix did ...
Two transfers, one underclassman who impressed in Missouri football's spring game
With that, spring camp’s a wrap.Missouri football held its Black & Gold spring game Saturday in front of a healthy crowd ...