Notebook: UVA Football gets a lot of mileage from The Grady Bunch

Grady Brosterhous is what you’d have to call a short-yardage quarterback, which is something that I don’t know exists outside of him.

The former walk-on is used exclusively in third- and fourth-and-short situations and in the red zone, and he’s effective.

Brosterhous has six touches through four games this season, and has three touchdowns to show for them – including two in Virginia’s 43-24 win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday.

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The first was different in that it wasn’t in the Grady Bunch formation – the name that has come attached to Virginia’s version of the tush push popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL.

Brosterhous scored in the first quarter on a 5-yard run in a more traditional Wildcat formation, where the quarterback is more another running back taking a direct snap.

The second TD, a 1-yarder late in the second quarter, was from the Grady Bunch set – in essence, a rugby scrum.

“He’s a big body. He’s 210 pounds-plus, and he’s a good runner, and so, and then he’s really, really taken hold of the role that we’ve asked him to have on this football team, by being a short-yardage back for us from the quarterback spot,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said.

The success that the ‘Hoos have had using Brosterhous in these situations gives Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings an interesting weapon to use in play-calling.

“It allows us, from a play-calling standpoint, right, to be more flexible with our play calls, when we get into those situations where we feel like we’re going to go for it on fourth down,” Elliott said.

I liked the new wrinkle that we got with the Wildcat play. That’s something else that defensive coordinators have to plan around in the future.

“When you get down inside the 5 yard line, man, you’re in a compressed field zone, there’s extra bodies everywhere,” Elliott said. “So, he gives us a little bit more umph, right, with the direct snap, and you can pick up a hat with your running back if you want to use him as an extra run blocker. He’s big, he’s real big, and he plays with great leverage, and he’s able to just kind of push and move.”