Last Wednesday’s practice cost Virginia its top three wideouts, according to head coach Tony Elliott, who revealed that bit of news while talking about how backups Sean Wilson and Demick Starling had to step up in the North Carolina game.
“Those guys didn’t find out until Thursday because, you know, we had the situations, injuries in practice on Wednesday, and weren’t sure until Thursday or Friday if the other guys would be able to play,” Elliott said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
Maybe dial back the hitting in practice a little bit going forward, eh, Coach?
Wilson had five catches on eight targets for 61 yards in the 31-28 UVA loss. Starling had one catch, a 40-yarder, on six targets.
Heading into the Week 10 game, Starling had two catches on three targets for 35 yards in the Week 6 loss to Louisville, single targets with no catches in the losses at Illinois and Duke and the win at Georgia Tech, and had logged a total of 58 snaps on the season.
Wilson had logged a total 25 snaps at wideout in Weeks 1-9, with two targets (one each at Georgia Tech and the home loss to Miami) and no receptions.
“I think the biggest thing from Saturday was he knew that it was his opportunity,” Elliott said of Wilson. “I said this before in the challenge with any football player is if you’re in a backup role that you continue to prepare as if you’re a starter, and it shouldn’t be any different. But unfortunately, at times the starter, when you feel that responsibility, there’s a different sense of urgency.
“What I think what you saw was him having an opportunity, being excited by his opportunity, and then going out and performing and knowing that the team was counting on him, and really, really proud of him, proud of Demick, for stepping up,” Elliott said.
The unit’s top three pass-catchers – Keytaon Thompson (53 catches, 77 targets, 579 yards), Dontayvion Wicks (30 catches, 72 targets, 430 yards) and Lavel Davis Jr. (16 catches, 40 targets, 371 yards) – are all “day to day,” Elliott said.
“Lavel, because of his situation, wasn’t with us on Saturday, but he’s back. I just saw him as I was coming across the street. Got a big smile on his face,” said Elliott, who later said Davis had been in concussion protocol from his mid-week practice injury.
“You want to make sure you do what’s best for them, make sure they’re fully healthy,” Elliott said. “But KT is probably the closest, you know, right now. With Tay being the longest because of the bone bruise. And Lavel’s going to be day to day.”
The injuries to the Big Three from the Wednesday practice would prove costly in the narrow loss on Saturday.
Brennan Armstrong, throwing to the makeshift wideout corps, was 17-of-35 passing for 232 yards, an INT and a 98.5 passer rating against a North Carolina defense that ranks last in the ACC in passing defense (277.6 yards per game) and pass-defense efficiency (143.9).
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Chris Graham
