UVA football coach Mike London talks with reporters on Wednesday on the ACC coaches teleconference.
COACH LONDON: Good afternoon, everybody. We are excited about having an opportunity to have Georgia Tech come into Scott Stadium. We played good football against them in the past. We all saw their exciting victory last week versus Florida State. We’re excited to be back home, playing in front of our people, home crowd again, against a very talented, sophisticated offense, good defensive team. Our guys had a strong week of practice this week. Very strong and resilient about the opportunities that present this football team with the schedule that is left, three of the next five games at home, all those things. We’re looking forward to it. We’ll see everybody on Saturday. Questions, please.
Q. Coach, quarterback Matt Johns, 12 touchdowns, 12 interceptions. How do you assess him at this point going forward?
COACH LONDON: Yeah, Matt has been a guy that, as you said, has led us to drives to win football games, has been productive. The big thing is three interceptions against Boise, then four interceptions this past game. That’s seven of the 12 that he has. We’re hoping for a complete and efficient and competitive game from Matt from start to finish. He’s very capable of doing that. I know he’s very anxious to go out and show what type of quarterback that he is. We continue to encourage him, continue to keep having guys step up around him, like Smoke Mizzell, Canaan Severin, T.J. Thorpe around him to help him be efficient and put him in a position to be successful. We’ll keep doing that in hopes of that allowing Matt to be as productive as he needs to be.
Q. One of the guys you brought up, wide receiver, Severin, what you can say about his play so far this season, how he has tried to help the offense excel as a whole, how far he’s come this year.
COACH LONDON: Yeah, Canaan has become a guy who is already a very vocal leader, a visual leader. A lot of times not just saying what he’s doing, but actually exemplifying that by his actions, his behavior, the things that come out of his mouth. That’s always critically important that your leaders exemplify those things. Canaan I believe right now is fifth in the ACC in terms of reception yards. He’s up there. He’s been a productive guy for us. He’s going to continue to have to be productive and a guy this team relies on and counts on. We count on him because of what he does, who he is, not just on the field, but in the locker room. So Canaan would like to have I’m sure a year that has more victories attached to it. I believe with the games left and the opportunities left for this team, the opportunities to get a guy like Canaan Severin the ball, we can have those type of wins and opportunities that he and all the other players on this team have a goal for.
Q. I know you’re thoroughly familiar with the Georgia Tech offense by now, the unique problems that it presents. How do you practice against that? How do you get your scout team to simulate what they do? Is that possible?
COACH LONDON: It’s a challenge in that the offenses that you go week in and week out have elements of a spread to it, some power running game to it. Georgia Tech is unique in that it’s hard to simulate that style, that type, because there’s specifics in what their linemen do, in the motion, the short motions, the reads of the quarterback. Sometimes you do it early pre-season camp, you devote some time to that. We’ve had veteran coaches, Coach Tenuta, Mike Archer, that have played against that system. You rely on recall. As I said, we played them in the last couple years, because they’re in the Coastal Conference. You try to rely on as many things as you can for recall and preparation. But the actual execution of it, as you alluded to, the splits, the lean of the linemen, the short motions, the return motions of the backs, sometimes that’s hard to simulate in a week’s worth of preparation. We try to do the best we can, watch film, then rely on the experience and coaches and players that have played against that system in the past.
Q. Is there anything you can do, especially for the younger players on your team, to sort of get them ready for something they may not have seen much of before?
COACH LONDON: Again, you break it down. You try to be as elementary as you can. Tackle the dive. Make sure you have the quarterback. Everybody rally to the pitch, then run. This is a style of offense that they try to get you on the ground with, trying to get you off your feet so you have to use your hands, your eyes, just everything about what they do. What they’re doing more of is, Justin Thomas is also throwing the ball. He’s got almost a thousand yards passing with 10 touchdowns. There’s an element of what they’re doing that continues to be the ground and pound. Marcus Marshall is a true freshman that’s averaging almost nine yards a carry. There’s an element that they’re going to run the ball. What they’ve shown is they also will offer that option look, throw it. They’ve done some things you have to be alert and aware of your assignments. As I said, they will also throw the ball and cause you to have to defend the whole field.
Q. What can you tell me about the kind of season that Taquan Mizzell has had for you and the different ways you like to use him?
COACH LONDON: You know, he’s had a very productive season for us. Obviously he’s in the tops in the ACC in receptions. I believe he’s the top receiver in the country for running backs, receptions. All the things about being a five-star, all those things that come with it, you have to play, you have to execute. He’s become a better player from all the way from running the ball to pass protection. Obviously you can throw the ball to him out of the backfield. Just so many different things that an experienced player, a guy that learned, and continues to improve what he’s provided for this team. It’s important that Smoke continues to play well. It’s important that we continue to find players that are also play-makers that can complement the
things he can do, that he does right now. It’s important, as I said, going down the stretch here with three of the last five games here at home, having an opportunity. We played two of the leaders in the conference, Pitt and UNC, they’re 6-1 apiece. I know Georgia Tech has done that as well. They’re in a similar situation as far as record and conference. This game is important. But it’s important that we have guys like Smoke and Canaan and T.J. Thorpe, Matt Johns to be effective for us in order to give us a chance to win the game.
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