How will the UVA defense look in 2018?

The UVA defense made great strides in 2017, but the ‘Hoos lose linebacker Micah Kiser, safety Quin Blanding and defensive lineman Andrew Brown from that group.

No worries. There is plenty on the defensive side of the ball for coach Bronco Mendenhall to work with.

And this is Year 3 for Mendenhall with this group in his system, a 3-4 that emphasizes speed at linebacker and in the secondary.

The linchpin this year will be junior inside linebacker Jordan Mack, who was third on the team, and fifth in the ACC, in tackles in 2017 (114 tackles, 7 TFL, 3 sacks).

Mack, unfortunately, won’t have Kiser (145 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 5 sacks in 2017) on the inside helping him chase down ballcarriers and patrol the middle on passing downs.

He will have senior outside linebacker Chris Peace flanking him, which is a big help. Peace stuffed the stat sheet in 2017 (68 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 7.5 sacks, 1 INT, 2 PBUs, 2 QBHs), and can be utilized in passing situations both as an edge rusher and in coverage.

Also returning at ‘backer are senior ILB Malcolm Cook (46 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks in 2017) and OLB Charles Snowden (13 tackles, 2 TFL, 1.5 scks, 1 QBH as a true freshman in 2017).

Guys expected to contribute in the two-deep include senior C.J. Stalker (8 tackles) and Zane Zandier (3 tackles as a true freshman in 2017).

The secondary will certainly miss Blanding (137 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 4 INTs, 2 PBUs, 1 QBH in 2017), a four-year starter at safety, but senior strong safety Juan Thornhill (64 tackles, 2 TFL, 4 INTs, 6 PBUs in 2017) and sophomore free safety Brenton Nelson (64 tackles, 2 TFL, 4 INTs, 6 PBUs in 2017) are proven, and talented, commodities on the back line.

Junior Chris Moore (41 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 INT, 2 PBUs in 2017), listed as a hybrid free safety/outside linebacker, is a key guy for Mendenhall, who likes to go with a 3-3-5 on passing downs

Junior cornerback Bryce Hall (47 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT, 9 PBUs in 2017) is a good cover guy who can help defend the run.

Tim Harris is back for a sixth year, after having each of his past two seasons cut short due to injury. Harris has 26 career starts at corner dating back to 2013, including one in 2014 at BYU, when Mendenhall was still the head coach there.

Whatever you get out of Harris at this point is gravy, considering.

The most work needs to be done up front, which has to account for Brown (46 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 3 QBHs), who finally had the year that UVA fans had been expecting from the former consensus Top 10 national high-school recruit.

Junior defensive tackle Eli Hanback (58 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks in 2017) will be the anchor of this unit. Ohio State grad transfer Dylan Thompson is intriguing. The former four-star high-school recruit only played in two games for the Buckeyes in four injury-filled years, but reports from summer drills included raves about his athleticism.

Also expected to contribute on the D line will be defensive end Mandy Alonso (14 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sack as a true freshman in 2017) and junior ends Richard Burney and Cassius Peat.

 

2017 UVA Defense Stats

Total defense

• 28.4 ppg (12^th ACC)
• 365.1 yards per game (7^th ACC)

Rush defense

• 199.3 yards per game rushing (13^th ACC)
• 4.7 yards per attempt (11^th ACC)
• 25 rushing TDs (12^th ACC)

Pass defense

• 165.8 yards per game passing (2^nd ACC)
• 6.7 yards per attempt (6^th ACC)
• 118.2 efficiency (7^th ACC)
• 18 TDs (tied-7^th ACC)
• 15 INTs (tied-3^rd ACC)
• 28 sacks (tied-6^th ACC)