UVA football coach Mike London talks with reporters. The Cavaliers open their 2015 season at #13 UCLA on Saturday.
MIKE LONDON: Definitely a great opportunity for the University of Virginia to travel out to California, play in the Rose Bowl out there in Pasadena against a very good UCLA team, the team that was here in Charlottesville last year in a game that was very competitive. Our guys are excited about making the trip out West, and we look forward to seeing our team, what we are, what we’re about as we start the season.
Q. Starting the season against a team like UCLA and especially doing it on the road on the West Coast, just what you can say about what this means for your team and kind of jumping into the fire right away?
MIKE LONDON: Well, yeah, obviously the opportunities that are presented to us this year and the challenges are ones that our guys embrace. We have a strong leadership unit that, again, embraces the challenge. UCLA is a very, very good football team, as I said before, one that we had here in Charlottesville and played very well against but didn’t finish the game off. So with that being said, there’s a mindset of when we play good teams, in order to have special seasons, you have to take care of the little things that can cause you to win or lose a game, and for us it’s hanging onto the football. We gave it away in three instances last year that led to touchdowns for them, playing really good defense, and our special teams have to fight for field position. But it’s an exciting opportunity and a challenge these guys are ready to embrace, and we look forward to making the trip out there. Actually we’re leaving tomorrow to head out to California.
Q. When you look at so much of the focus being on a team like UCLA, your focus is obviously on your team and Virginia controlling what you can control. What can you say about some of the leaders that have stepped out of fall camp that are going to be integral in this game against UCLA?
MIKE LONDON: I’ll tell you, you start with the captains, obviously, guys like Vince Croce, David Dean, Canaan Severin, but a guy like Matt Johns, a guy that’s our quarterback, that the team has a tremendous amount of respect for, coaches that have done all the right things as representatives of this University. When you look at us, we’ve got 13, 14, 15 fifth-year seniors. That’s the most in the ACC of fifth-year guys, and although we’re a young team, we still have a level of leadership. There are guys that have been around here, played in games, and upped their level of responsibility and accountability. The mindset of this team is different, different than what it’s been in the past, and we welcome the challenges that are presented to us, and the first one is out there in Pasadena in the Rose Bowl.
Q. You guys haven’t had a road opener since like ’07. Just curious, you guys also haven’t won a road game since 2012. When you went into the last off-season is that one thing you evaluate, something you want to change things up and change road trips to kind of buck that trend a little bit?
MIKE LONDON: Well, it obviously is to be successful at home or on the road, but particularly in this situation traveling as far as we are, that’s one of the reasons why we’re leaving a little earlier. But again, it boils down to the execution of the offense, defense and special teams aspect of it. Our focus has been more on the things that we can control and limit those issues that cause you to lose when you go on the road. You can’t do anything about the crowd, you can’t do anything about the weather, but what you can do are the things that you practice day in, day out, and we’ve been talking about that, we’ve been messaging that, and again, it’s a football game that’s got to get played, and it just happens to be at their place. We’ve embraced that, and I look forward to our guys having an opportunity to play the first game of this season and kind of show what we are and who we are and then move forward with that.
Q. Myles Jack from UCLA is such a dynamic player. How do you game plan around him knowing that not only will he be playing on defense but he might be able to play offensively, as well? Talk about him.
MIKE LONDON: Obviously he’s a tremendous player, very versatile, very athletic, as you alluded to. He’s a guy that plays on offense and defense, and I’m quite sure there will be things that they showed last year that we won’t see until game time. There’s things that we’ll show them. You know that Myles is such a terrific athlete that he can carry the ball, he can do a lot of things for them, and plus he’s a run-and-hit guy. It’s rare that you have a linebacker that’s also a running back that can carry the ball and probably do some things with it that a player of his skill level can achieve, so definitely he is very talented. You have to know where he is at all times because like you said, he can come in in any situation, offensively, defensively, and be a significant part of their success. Knowing where he is is critically important to us but also just understanding that we have to execute regardless of who’s in the game, what we have to do on offense, defense and special teams.
Q. Tre Nicholson has basically played one game in the last 22 months. What do you expect from him going out there Saturday and going forward?
MIKE LONDON: I expect a healthy Tre Nicholson. I expect a guy that’s mentally in tune to where he needs to be. I expect a leader in Tre Nicholson, and I expect a guy that’s been around the program for a while that has had some success. Tre Nicholson’s best football is ahead of him we believe because now he is to a place where he is mentally, physically and emotionally ready and mature. It’s been a long time coming for Tre, as you said. He kind of reminds you of a guy like Jay Whitmire who has practiced and has not had any ill effects of the back injury. Jay is going to be playing his first football game in a while. Having two guys back like that that are older guys that have been around that will help this football team win games, not only from a physical standpoint but in the locker room and from a mental standpoint has made us a better football team.
Q. Do you think he is physically where he was prior to the injury at Pittsburgh or wherever it was that year?
MIKE LONDON: You know, he’s healthy. As I said, he’s there mentally. Physically there’s no ill effects of his injury. He’s practiced several practices now. What’s left to be done is play in a contest, play in a game, and he’s ready for that, and I know he’s excited about the opportunity to play in his first college game in a while.
Q. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Matt Johns come off the bench and play pretty well against UCLA a year ago, and now that he’s established as a starter, can you talk about him and how you feel about him going into the season?
MIKE LONDON: Yeah, I had made reference to that particular game when Matt came in, when he was ready to go in and I grabbed him by the arm and asked him are you ready for this, and he grabbed me by my arm and he said, I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life, so that was the game. It was the kind of moxie, the kind of confidence that the young man has in himself, and now Matt has done well. He’s got over 1,000 yards passing in the ACC, he’s played in games, and he is our starter. He’s our guy. And now he has the opportunity to go out and really establish himself as not only a player but as a team leader and a guy that we can count on to be successful this year.
Q. Can you talk about some of your other guys you expect to be playmakers on offense?
MIKE LONDON: Well, on offense, again, Canaan Severin who’s a captain for us and kind of a guy that’s in the trenches, Ross Burbank who’s played multiple positions for us, but he’s a captain and he’s also a guy that played center and guard for us. We’ve got, we believe, a running back group that we’ve been very fortunate to have a guy like Albert Reid that’s joined us that’s shown very, very good skills in practic I believe this is the year for Taquan Mizzell to have a breakout year opportunity after all the things people talked about coming out of high school. He’s really learned how to be a good football player in all aspects of it. Our tight ends are — Charlie Hopkins, a Stanford grad student, is here now, has looked good, and Evan Butts, redshirt freshman, looked good in practice. Been more guys that have done things in practices, whether it’s catching the ball, on-line blocking or play-making ability that we feel really good about, and when an older guy like Matt Johns is surrounded by guys who have been in football games, you feel pretty good. On the other side defensively, our secondary, I believe our secondary is a pretty good secondary. The interior of the defensive line, obviously we need — we’ll find out what our linebacker corps looks like, but there’s a lot of guys capable of athleticism and ability there. But yeah, we’re looking forward, again, to finding out the identity of this team and the first opportunity will be this Saturday against UCLA.
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