Every time Brennan Armstrong took off running in Week 1, everybody in Scott Stadium in orange held their breaths.
The new-look Virginia offense was supposed to cut down on the QB1’s need to gain yards with his feet, but there he was, going for 100+, scoring on a scintillating 64-yard TD run, and otherwise taking hits that head coach Tony Elliott doesn’t want him taking.
On one play, he came up grabbing his left shoulder. Elliott could see his chance at a decent first season flash before his eyes.
“It was a scary moment there for a second because he was grabbing his left shoulder, but as soon as I got to him in the huddle, and just in Brennan fashion, waved like, I’m all right, I’m going to be OK, so I was like, all right, he’s OK. There was also one, too, where I was like, dude, be smart, don’t drop your pads on three defenders and try to be a running back and split them. Let’s live to fight another day,” Elliott said.
The coach wants to see Armstrong find a “happy balance” between being aggressive and being smart.
“What you don’t want to do is you don’t want to take away what makes him great, and that’s the edge that he plays with,” Elliott said. “But you do want him to get him to understand, field general now, we need you in the battle. I don’t need you on the sideline for something foolish. There’s nothing wrong with you. Now, my running backs, you’re not running out of bounds, you’re sending a message. Quarterback, get your butt out of bounds and get on to the next play.”
Armstrong, for his part, doesn’t seem to be wired that way.
After the game, he talked about how good it felt “just being out there and going live.”
“I haven’t been live, been hit for a long time. Took some good licks out there, so I’ll probably be sore. But I’m just glad to be playing again,” the QB said.
And the bulk of the yards came on that long TD run that will no doubt be in the back of every defensive coordinator’s mind the rest of the season. Perris Jones, who also went over 100 yards in Week 1, was gaining good, consistent yardage on stretch plays, so when Armstrong went to hand the ball off to him for what appeared to be another stretch play, the Richmond defense keyed on Jones.
Armstrong kept, burst through the line, past linebackers and safeties still chasing after Jones, and sprinted to the end zone.
Even if Virginia doesn’t run that play that way again this season, the scamper in Week 1 should give Jones a little extra daylight because opposing DCs will coach into their ‘backers and secondary guys to be on the lookout for BA on the keeper.
That kind of thing is, of course, perfectly OK to Elliott.
His thing is, just be smart.
“Sometimes we’re going to ask him, we’re going to put the ball in your hand and say, you’ve got to go get it. But when you have opportunities and you extend plays, let’s just be smart and not be foolish and be reckless, and getting him to understand, too, more so for him is that his greatest asset as a football player is his body, and as a football player there is a shelf life on your body, and there’s only so many hits at any position that your body can take before your body says, hey, you’re expired, it’s time to hang it up. So, he’s got to be mindful of that and don’t take any unnecessary hits, and then all the guys around him have to take great pride in making sure he doesn’t get him because they didn’t do their responsibilities,” Elliott said.
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Chris Graham
