2018 Virginia Cavaliers football team

2018 Virginia Cavaliers football
2018 Virginia Cavaliers football
Belk Bowl champion
Belk Bowl, W 28–0 vs. South Carolina
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
	Coastal Division
Record	8–5 (4–4 ACC)
Head coach	Bronco Mendenhall (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Robert Anae (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Nick Howell (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Kelly Poppinga (1st as co-DC; 3rd overall season)
Home stadium	Scott Stadium; (Capacity: 61,500)
Uniform
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 1 Clemson x$#^	8	–	0	15	–	0
No. 15 Syracuse	6	–	2	10	–	3
NC State	5	–	3	9	–	4
Boston College	4	–	4	7	–	5
Wake Forest	3	–	5	7	–	6
Florida State	3	–	5	5	–	7
Louisville	0	–	8	2	–	10
Coastal Division
Pittsburgh x	6	–	2	7	–	7
Georgia Tech	5	–	3	7	–	6
Miami (FL)	4	–	4	7	–	6
Virginia	4	–	4	8	–	5
Virginia Tech	4	–	4	6	–	7
Duke	3	–	5	8	–	5
North Carolina	1	–	7	2	–	9
Championship: Clemson 42, Pittsburgh 10
# – College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 Virginia Cavaliers football team represents the University of Virginia during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cavaliers are led by third-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall and play their home games at Scott Stadium. They compete as a member of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Previous season

Virginia ended the 2017 season with a 6–7 overall record, 3–5 in the ACC, to finish in a tie for fourth place in the ACC Coastal Division. They were invited to the Military Bowl, where they were defeated by Navy.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Chuck Bednarik Award^[1]	Juan Thornhill	S	SR
Fred Biletnikoff Award^[2]	Olamide Zaccheaus	RB	SR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy^[3]	Juan Thornhill	S	SR
Paul Hornung Award^[4]	Joe Reed	WR/KR	JR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award^[5]	Bryce Perkins	QB	JR

ACC media poll

The ACC media poll was released on July 24, 2018.

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Media poll (Coastal)
1	Miami	998 (122)
2	Virginia Tech	838 (16)
3	Georgia Tech	654 (8)
4	Duke	607 (1)
5	Pittsburgh	420
6	North Carolina	370 (1)
7	Virginia	257

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	Richmond*		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCN Extra	W 42–13	40,524
September 8	7:30 p.m.	at Indiana*		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	BTN	L 16–20	35,492
September 15	4:15 p.m.	vs. Ohio*		Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN^[a]	ESPN2	W 45–31	5,438
September 22	12:30 p.m.	Louisville		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCRSN	W 27–3	34,446
September 29	12:20 p.m.	at NC State		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	Raycom	L 21–35	57,600
October 13	7:00 p.m.	No. 16 Miami (FL)		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ESPN2	W 16–13	42,393
October 20	12:30 p.m.	at Duke		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ACCRSN	W 28–14	20,277
October 27	12:20 p.m.	North Carolina		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	Raycom	W 31–21	43,000
November 2	7:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 23	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ESPN2	L 13–23	36,256
November 10	3:00 p.m.	Liberty*		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCRSN	W 45–24	41,485
November 17	3:30 p.m.	at Georgia Tech		Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ACCRSN	L 27–30 ^OT	37,543
November 23	3:30 p.m.	at Virginia Tech		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (Commonwealth Cup)	ABC	L 31–34 ^OT	60,776
December 29	12:00 p.m.	vs. South Carolina*		Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC (Belk Bowl)	ABC	W 28–0	48,263
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^ Moved from Scott Stadium in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.^[6]

Roster

2018 Virginia Cavaliers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
C	`63`	Tyler Fannin	Fr
C, G	`77`	Jake Fieler	Sr
FB		Dylan Crawford	Fr
FB	`10`	Jamari Peacock	So
FB	`90`	Andrew Yavinsky	RFr
HB	`80`	Billy Kemp	Fr
HB	`4`	Olamide Zaccheaus	Sr
G	`65`	Ben Knutson	So
G	`78`	R.J. Proctor	Jr
OL, LS		Daniel Moore	Fr
OL	`71`	Marcus Applefield	Sr
OL		Joe Bissinger	Fr
OL	`67`	Derek Devine	Fr
OL	`70`	Bobby Haskins	Fr
OL		Jack Keenan	Fr
OL		Micah Mariteragi	Fr
OL		Victor Oluwatimi	RFr
OL	`53`	Gerrik Vollmer	RFr
OL	`66`	Martin Weisz	Fr
OT	`54`	Ryan Nelson	RFr
OT	`64`	Ben Trent	So
OT	`69`	Chris Glaser	So
OT	`79`	Dillon Reinkensmeyer	So
OT	`72`	Ryan Swoboda	RFr
OT	`74`	Ryan Bischoff	Jr
QB, LS	`99`	Joe Spaziani	Sr
QB	`98`	Brennan Armstrong	Fr
QB		Tristan Hillerich	RFr
QB		T.J. Kitts	RFr
QB		DaJuan Moore	Fr
QB	`3`	Bryce Perkins	Jr
QB	`36`	Lindell Stone	So
RB	`75`	Webster Hill IV	Fr
RB		Chris Jones	Fr
RB	`92`	Perris Jones	Fr
RB	`88`	Justin Zollar	Jr
TB	`25`	Lamont Atkins	So
TB	`1`	Jordan Ellis	Sr
TB	`6`	PK Kier	So
TB	`31`	Chris Sharp	Jr
TB		Wayne Taulapapa	Fr
TE	`46`	Evan Butts	Sr
TE	`44`	Tanner Cowley	Jr
WR	`85`	Cole Blackman	So
WR	`82`	Riah Burton	RFr
WR	`19`	Chuck Davis	So
WR	`8`	Hasise Dubois	Jr
WR		Shane Eilers	RFr
WR	`86`	Ross Gardner	Sr
WR	`18`	Ben Hogg	Sr
WR	`84`	Terrell Jana	So
WR	`27`	Tavares Kelly	Fr
WR		Zain Khokhar	Sr
WR	`83`	Hayden Mitchell	RFr
WR	`86`	Ugo Obasi	Fr
WR		Darnell Pratt	RFr
WR	`2`	Joe Reed	Jr
WR		Wooby Theork-Youmans	Fr
WR		Brandon White	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB		Jaylon Baker	Fr
CB		Mark Chichester	Fr
CB	`41`	Germane Crowell	RFr
CB	`20`	Nick Grant	So
CB	`34`	Bryce Hall	Jr
CB	`5`	Tim Harris	Sr
CB	`30`	Myles Robinson	Jr
DB	`32`	Darrius Bratton	So
DB, WR		Josh Clifford	Fr
DB, WR	`15`	De'Vante Cross	So
DB	`14`	Donovan Rolle	RFr
DB	`23`	Shawn Smith	RFr
DB	`93`	Joseph White	Fr
DE	`16`	Richard Burney	Jr
DE	`91`	Mandy Alonso	So
DE	`88`	Osiris Crutchfield	So
DL	`61`	Isaac Buell	RFr
DL	`50`	Tommy Christ	RFr
DL	`94`	Aaron Faumui	Fr
DL	`76`	Jordan Redmond	Fr
DL	`62`	Samson Reed	Fr
DL		Christian Smith	Fr
DL		Trevor Storm	Fr
DL		Dylan Thompson	Fr
DT	`58`	Eli Hanback	Jr
FS	`28`	Brenton Nelson	So
FS	`29`	Joey Blount	So
ILB		Parker Chenault	Fr
ILB	`17`	Malcolm Cook	Sr
ILB	`45`	Reed Kellam	Jr
ILB	`37`	Jordan Mack	Jr
ILB	`55`	Mikey McDonald	Sr
ILB	`9`	Dominic Sheppard	Jr
ILB	`22`	Robert Snyder	So
ILB	`40`	C.J. Stalker	Sr
LB		Evan Clark	Fr
LB	`51`	Javar Garrett	Fr
LB	`57`	T.C. Harrison	Fr
LB	`52`	Grant Misch	Fr
LB	`33`	Zane Zandier	So
OLB	`43`	Elliott Brown	So
OLB	`59`	Dre Bryant	So
OLB	`60`	Colin Dixon	RFr
OLB	`56`	Matt Gahm	So
OLB	`38`	Gladimir Paul	Jr
OLB	`13`	Chris Peace	Sr
OLB, FS	`7`	Chris Moore	Jr
OLB	`11`	Charles Snowden	So
OLB	`42`	Noah Taylor	Fr
S		Darren Klein	Fr
S	`96`	Cole Lytle	Fr
S		Vinnie Vladic	Fr
SS	`21`	Juan Thornhill	Sr
SS	`39`	CJ Epps	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Jack Collins	Fr
K	`26`	Brian Delaney	So
PK	`95`	A.J. Mejia	So
PK	`89`	Hunter Pearson	Fr
P	`47`	Lester Coleman	Sr
PK, P	`81`	Nash Griffin	So
PK, P		Jerry Horng	Fr
LS		Lee Dudley	Fr
LS		Tucker Finkelston	Fr

Head coach

Bronco Mendenhall (Oregon State)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Robert Anae (BYU)
Offensive Coordinator, Inside Receivers
Marques Hagans (Virginia)
Wide Receivers
Mark Atuaia (BYU)
Running Backs
Garett Tujague (BYU)
Offensive Line
Jason Beck (BYU)
Quarterbacks
Vic So'oto (BYU)
Defensive Line
Nick Howell (Weber State)
Defensive Coordinator, Secondary
Kelly Poppinga (BYU)
Co-Defensive Coordinator Coordinator, Outside Linebackers
Shane Hunter (BYU)
Inside Linebackers
Rickey Brumfield (Utah State)
Special Teams Coordinator
Patrick Hickman (BYU)
Director of Football Operations
Justin Anderson (BYU)
Director of Player Personnel
Shawn Griswold (Utah State)
Director of Football Training & Player Development
Matt Edwards (BYU)
Football Analyst
Krik Garner (Virginia)
Graduate Assistant
Matt Johns (Virginia)
Graduate Assistant
Jackson Matteo (Virginia)
Graduate Assistant
Andrew Meyer (Wisconsin)
Graduate Assistant

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2018-07-27

Depth chart

Defense

^[7]

FS
Joey Blount
De'Vante Cross
⋅

WLB	BLB	MLB	SLB
Chris Peace	Malcolm Cook	Jordan Mack	Charles Snowden
Matt Gahm	Rob Snyder	Zane Zandier	Elliott Brown
⋅	C.J. Stalker	⋅	Noah Taylor

SABRE
Juan Thornhill
Brenton Nelson
⋅

CB
Tim Harris
Darius Bratton
⋅

DE	NT	DE
Mandy Alonso	Eli Hanback	Aaron Faumui
Aaron Faumui	Jordan Redmond	Tommy Christ
⋅	Dylan Thompson	⋅

CB
Bryce Hall
Nick Grant
⋅

Offense

^[7]

WR (X)
Joe Reed
Ben Hogg
Cole Blackman

WR
Olamide Zaccheaus
Tavares Kelly
Chuck Davis

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Ryan Nelson	R.J. Proctor	Dillon Reinkensmeyer	Jake Fieler	Marcus Appliefield
Bobby Haskins	Chris Glaser	Gerrik Vollmer	Ben Knutson	Ryan Swoboda
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

TE
Evan Butts
Tanner Cowley
⋅

WR (Y)
Hasise Dubois
Terrell Jana
Ugo Obasi

QB
Bryce Perkins
Brennan Armstrong
Lindell Stone

Key reserves
KO Brian Delaney
BB Jamari Peacock
BB Chris Sharp

RB
Jordan Ellis
PK Kier
Lamont Atkins

Special teams
PK Brian Delaney
PK Hunter Pearson
P Lester Coleman
KR Joe Reed KR PK Kier
PR Chuck Davis PR Tavares Kelly
LS Joe Spaziani
H Nash Griffin

Game summaries

Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spiders	10	0	3	0	13
Cavaliers	14	14	7	7	42

at Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	9	0	7	0	16
Hoosiers	13	7	0	0	20

vs Ohio

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	7	14	7	3	31
Cavaliers	21	17	0	7	45

Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	0	3	0	3
Cavaliers	0	6	7	14	27

at NC State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	7	0	7	7	21
Wolfpack	3	17	7	8	35

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Hurricanes	0	6	0	7	13
Cavaliers	0	13	0	3	16

at Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	7	7	6	8	28
Blue Devils	0	0	7	7	14

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	7	7	0	7	21
Cavaliers	14	3	7	7	31

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	7	9	23
No. 23 Cavaliers	7	3	0	3	13

Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	7	10	7	0	24
Cavaliers	14	10	14	7	45

at Georgia Tech

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Cavaliers	14	7	0	6	0	27
Yellow Jackets	13	3	0	11	3	30

at Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Cavaliers	0	0	14	17	0	31
Hokies	0	14	3	14	3	34

vs. South Carolina (Belk Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Gamecocks	0	0	0	0	0
Cavaliers	7	7	7	7	28

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	23	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	RV	—	—	RV	RV	22	—	RV	RV	—	—
CFP	Not released									25	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

2019 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
2	63	Juan Thornhill	S	Kansas City Chiefs
6	198	Tim Harris	CB	San Francisco 49ers

References

^ "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
^ "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
^ "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
^ "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
^ "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
^ "Virginia Football vs. Ohio Moved to Nashville Due to Hurricane Florence" (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. September 11, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "DEPTH CHART" (PDF) (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.

[7] Moved from Scott Stadium in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.^[6]

[1] "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.

[2] "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.

[3] "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.

[4] "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.

[5] "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.

[florence-6] "Virginia Football vs. Ohio Moved to Nashville Due to Hurricane Florence" (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. September 11, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.

[depth_chart-8] "DEPTH CHART" (PDF) (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.

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v t e Virginia Cavaliers football
Venues	Madison Hall Field (1888–1912) Lambeth Field (1913–1930) Scott Stadium (1931–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Florida State: Jefferson-Eppes Trophy Maryland North Carolina: South's Oldest Rivalry Virginia Tech
Culture & lore	"The Cavalier Song" "The Good Old Song" Cavalier Marching Band 1990 Georgia Tech game 2022 shooting
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders W. A. Lambeth
Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024