2019 Virginia Cavaliers football team

2019 Virginia Cavaliers football
ACC Coastal Division champion
ACC Championship Game, L 17–62 vs. Clemson
Orange Bowl, L 28–36 vs. Florida
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Coastal Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
2019 record	9–5 (6–2 ACC)
Head coach	Bronco Mendenhall (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Robert Anae (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Nick Howell (4th season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Kelly Poppinga (2nd as co-DC; 4th overall season)
Home stadium	Scott Stadium (Capacity: 61,500)
Uniform
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 2 Clemson x$^		8	–	0					14	–	1
Louisville		5	–	3					8	–	5
Wake Forest		4	–	4					8	–	5
Florida State		4	–	4					6	–	7
Boston College		4	–	4					6	–	7
Syracuse		2	–	6					5	–	7
NC State		1	–	7					4	–	8
Coastal Division
Virginia x		6	–	2					9	–	5
Virginia Tech		5	–	3					8	–	5
Miami		4	–	4					6	–	7
Pittsburgh		4	–	4					8	–	5
North Carolina		4	–	4					7	–	6
Duke		3	–	5					5	–	7
Georgia Tech		2	–	6					3	–	9
Championship: Clemson 62, Virginia 17
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2019 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cavaliers were led by fourth-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall and played their home games at Scott Stadium. The team competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Coming off an 8–5 season in 2018, Virginia was considered the favorite to win the Coastal Division.^[1] The Cavaliers began the season with four straight victories, but then lost three games in a four-game stretch to Notre Dame, Miami, and Louisville. The team rebounded with four straight victories to close out the regular season, including a win over rival and 24th-ranked Virginia Tech to secure Virginia's place in the ACC Championship Game. It was Virginia's first win over Virginia Tech since 2003, and it was the school's first appearance in the conference title game, concluding a seven-year stretch in which all seven members of the Coastal Division won the division. In the Championship Game, Virginia lost to Clemson, 62–17. The team received an invitation to the Orange Bowl to play Florida, where they lost 36–28, to end the season with a 9–5 record.

Virginia was led on offense by quarterback Bryce Perkins, who finished with 3,530 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, and was named second-team all-conference. Perkins also led the team in rushing, finishing with 769 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Wide receiver and return specialist Joe Reed was named first-team all-conference as an all-purpose back. On defense, the team's leading tackler and sacks leader was linebacker Zane Zandier.

Preseason[]

Preseason media poll[]

In the preseason ACC media poll, Virginia was predicted to win the Coastal Division, but received just one vote out of 173 to win the ACC Championship Game.^[1]

Media poll (Coastal Division)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Virginia	1003 (82)
2	Miami (FL)	992 (55)
3	Virginia Tech	827 (20)
4	Pittsburgh	691 (8)
5	Duke	566 (6)
6	North Carolina	463 (1)
7	Georgia Tech	302 (1)

Media poll (ACC Championship)
Rank	Team	Votes
1	Clemson	170
2	Syracuse	2
3	Virginia	1

Regular season[]

• In September, the Cavaliers defeated the Seminoles for the Jefferson-Eppes Trophy.
• In early November, the Cavaliers defeated the Tar Heels in the South's Oldest Rivalry.
• In late November, the Cavaliers defeated the Hokies for the Commonwealth Cup.

Bronco Mendenhall became the first coach to bring both trophies to Charlottesville at the same time. The Jefferson-Eppes Trophy may remain in Cavalier hands until at least 2025, as FSU does not appear on the ACC schedules for Virginia through 2024.

As projected by the pre-season media, Virginia won the Coastal division for the first time despite an early season-ending injury to the team's highest NFL prospect, Bryce Hall, in the game against Miami.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ACCN	W 30–14	47,144
September 6	8:00 p.m.	William & Mary*		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCN	W 52–17	45,250
September 14	7:30 p.m.	Florida State	No. 25	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (Jefferson-Eppes Trophy)	ACCN	W 31–24	57,826
September 21	7:00 p.m.	Old Dominion*	No. 21	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ESPN2	W 28–17	44,573
September 28	3:30 p.m.	at No. 10 Notre Dame*	No. 18	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	L 20–35	77,622
October 11	8:00 p.m.	at Miami (FL)	No. 20	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	ESPN	L 9–17	54,538
October 19	3:30 p.m.	Duke		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCN	W 48–14	52,847
October 26	3:30 p.m.	at Louisville		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN	L 21–28	48,689
November 2	7:30 p.m.	at North Carolina		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry)	ACCN	W 38–31	50,500
November 9	12:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCRSN	W 33–28	44,596
November 23	12:00 p.m.	Liberty*		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCRSN	W 55–27	37,329
November 29	12:00 p.m.	No. 24 Virginia Tech		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (Commonwealth Cup)	ABC	W 39–30	52,619
December 7	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Clemson	No. 23	Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC (ACC Championship Game)	ABC	L 17–62	66,810
December 30	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Florida*	No. 24	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl)	ESPN	L 28–36	65,157
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Personnel[]

Coaching staff[]

Staff as of 2019.^[3][4]

Name	Position
Bronco Mendenhall	Head Coach
Nick Howell	Defensive Coordinator, Secondary Coach
Kelly Poppinga	Co Defensive Coordinator, Outside Linebackers Coach
Shane Hunter	Inside Linebackers Coach
Vic So'oto	Defensive line
Robert Anae	Offensive Coordinator, Inside Receivers Coach
Mark Atuaia	Running Backs Coach
Jason Beck	Quarterbacks Coach
Marques Hagans	Wide Receivers Coach
Garett Tujague	Offensive Line Coach
Ricky Brumfield	Special Teams Coordinator

Roster[]

2019 Virginia Cavaliers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Joe Reed Sr QB 3 Bryce Perkins Sr TB 5 Lamont Atkins Jr TB 6 PK Kier Jr WR 8 Hasise Dubois Sr QB 10 Brennan Armstrong  Fr WR 13 Terrell Jana Jr WR 18 Ben Hogg  Sr WR 19 Chuck Davis Jr RB 20 Mike Hollins Fr TB 21 Wayne Taulapapa So FB 27 Jamari Peacock Jr TB 31 Chris Sharp Sr QB 36 Lindell Stone So RB 37 Perris Jones  Fr QB 40 R. J. Harvey Fr TE 44 Tanner Cowley Sr TE 46 Christian Baumgardner Jr FB 46 Andrew Yavinsky So T 50 Tommy Christ So WR 51 Jalen Harrison Jr G 52 Joe Bissinger  Fr T 54 Ryan Nelson So C/G 55 Olusegun Oluwatimi So WR 59 Andrew Spaziani Jr C 63 Tyler Fannin  So G 64 Ben Trent Jr T 65 Jonathan Leech Fr T 67 Derek Devine  Fr WR 68 Sean Moore Fr T 69 Chris Glaser Jr T 70 Bobby Haskins So T 72 Ryan Swoboda So T 75 Ja'Quay Hubbard Fr WR 77 Josh Clifford Fr G 79 Dillon Reinkensmeyer Jr HB 80 Billy Kemp IV So WR 82 Brandon White  Fr WR 83 Hayden Mitchell So WR 84 Dorien Goddard Fr TE 85 Grant Misch  Fr WR 86 Ugo Obasi So WR 87 Dontayvion Wicks Fr WR 88 Tavares Kelly Jr. So WR 89 Dejon Brissett Sr RB 96 Seneca Milledge Fr G Kariem Al Soufi Fr WR Nathaniel Beal III Fr G Charlie Boxley Fr WR Terrell Chatman Sr T Alex Gellerstedt Fr T Landry Gerbers Fr WR John Izlar Fr T Jack Keenan RFr WR Zack Kindel Fr TE T. J. Kitts So TE Mike Kosar G Micah Mariteragi RFr QB Jared Rayman Fr G Zachary Teter Fr C/G Gerrik Vollmer So G Martin Weisz RFr QB Luke Wentz Fr RB Justin Zollar Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 1 Nick Grant Jr ILB 4 Jordan Mack Sr FS 7 Chris Moore Jr DL 9 Samson Reed  Fr OLB 11 Charles Snowden Jr OLB 14 Noah Taylor So FS 15 De'Vante Cross Jr DE 16 Richard Burney Sr OLB 17 Elliott Brown Jr ILB 22 Robert Snyder Jr CB 23 Heskin Smith So DB 25 Joseph White  Fr FS 28 Brenton Nelson Jr FS 29 Joey Blount Jr DB 30 Antonio Clary Fr CB 30 Myles Robinson Jr CB 32 Darrius Bratton Jr ILB 33 Zane Zandier Jr CB 34 Bryce Hall Sr ILB 38 T. C. Harrison  Fr CB 39 Jaylon Baker  Fr CB 41 Germane Crowell So 41 41 Darnell Pratt So ILB 42 Nick Jackson Fr ILB 45 Reed Kellam Sr OLB 47 Dre Bryant Jr DB 49 Coen King  Fr DB 53 Fentrell Cypress II Fr OLB 56 Matt Gahm Jr OLB 57 Colin Dixon So DT 58 Eli Hanback Sr DB 60 Chayce Chalmers Fr OLB 66 Jairus Satiu Fr S 71 Darren Klein  Fr DB 74 Jake Dewease Fr NT 76 Jordan Redmond So DB 90 Major Williams Fr DE 91 Mandy Alonso Jr DB 92 Tenyeh Dixon Fr OLB 93 Hunter Stewart Fr DT 94 Aaron Faumui So DE 95 Ben Smiley III Fr OLB 98 D'Sean Perry Fr DT 99 Jowon Briggs So ILB Josh Ahern Fr DL Isaac Buell So DB Jude Carlon Fr CB Mark Chichester RFr LB Evan Clark RFr DE Sam Galletta Fr ILB DaJuan Moore RFr LB Aidan Saunders Fr S Vinnie Vladic RFr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 26 Brian Delaney Jr K 43 Justin Duenkel Fr LS 61 Enzo Anthony Fr LS 62 Lee Dudley  Fr PK/P 81 Nash Griffin Jr PK 89 Hunter Pearson  Fr PK 95 A. J. Mejia Jr P Brendan Farrell 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 Jordan Arcement (Nicholls State) Assistant Director of Player Personnel Shawn Griswold (Utah State) Director of Football Training & Player Development Matt Edwards (BYU) Football Analyst Kirk Garner (Virginia) Graduate Assistant C.J. Stalker (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[]

Game summaries[]

at Pittsburgh[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	10	3	10	7	30
Panthers	0	14	0	0	14

William & Mary[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tribe	0	3	7	7	17
Cavaliers	21	14	7	10	52

Florida State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	0	14	3	7	24
No. 25 Cavaliers	3	7	0	21	31

Old Dominion[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	10	7	0	0	17
No. 21 Cavaliers	0	7	7	14	28

at Notre Dame[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Cavaliers	7	10	0	3	20
No. 10 Fighting Irish	14	0	14	7	35

at Miami (FL)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Cavaliers	0	3	0	6	9
Hurricanes	7	0	0	10	17

Duke[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	0	7	7	14
Cavaliers	0	17	24	7	48

at Louisville[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	7	7	0	7	21
Cardinals	7	0	7	14	28

at North Carolina[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	7	10	21	0	38
Tar Heels	3	14	14	0	31

Georgia Tech[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	14	7	0	7	28
Cavaliers	14	10	0	9	33

Liberty[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	7	7	7	6	27
Cavaliers	10	14	14	17	55

Virginia Tech[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Hokies	3	3	21	3	30
Cavaliers	13	0	7	19	39

Clemson (ACC Championship Game)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Cavaliers	7	0	7	3	17
No. 3 Tigers	14	17	14	17	62

vs. Florida (Orange Bowl)[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Cavaliers	7	7	0	14	28
No. 9 Gators	14	10	3	9	36

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV	RV	25	21	18	23	20	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	RV	RV
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	22	18	22	19	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	25	25
CFP	Not released										NR	NR	NR	NR	23	24	Not released

Players drafted into the NFL[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
5	151	Joe Reed	WR	Los Angeles Chargers
5	158	Bryce Hall	CB	New York Jets

References[]