UVA Football: The ‘Hoos are strong in the trenches, where games are won and lost

Football games are won at the line of scrimmage. What has me feeling reasonably optimistic about UVA Football going into the 2024 season is its strength up front, on the O and D lines.

The offensive line returns the five starters from 2023 – center Brian Stevens (869 snaps, one sack, nine QB pressures, 77.1 Pro Football Focus grade), left guard Noah Josey (870 snaps, three sacks, 23 QB pressures, 63.5 PFF grade), left tackle McKale Boley (847 snaps, two sacks, 18 QB pressures, 62.8 PFF grade), right guard Ty Furnish (772 snaps, four sacks, 28 QB pressures, 47.9 PFF grade), and right tackle Blake Steen (466 snaps, six snaps, 18 QB pressures, 52.2 PFF grade).

Also on the two-deep are Ugonna Nnanna (382 snaps, eight sacks, 17 QB pressures, 41.7 PFF grade) and Jimmy Christ (146 snaps, one sack, eight QB pressures, 41.6 PFF grade), who are listed as backups at the two guard positions, and Dartmouth grad transfer Ethan Sipe, who logged 672 snaps at right tackle over the past two seasons, and allowed just three sacks on 282 pass dropbacks, with a PFF grade of 69.6 in 2023.

The defensive line has Chico Bennett (556 snaps, 34 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 28 QB pressures, one sack, 60.1 PFF grade) back at the edge position, Kam Butler (212 snaps, 23 tackles, 11 QB pressures, 3.5 sacks, 69.5 PFF grade) back at defensive end, and Jahmeer Carter (557 snaps, 35 tackles, eight QB pressures, one sack, 60.4 PFF grade) at nose tackle.

That’s a lot of depth and experience on both lines.

Which is where games are won and lost.

Elliott on his O line: ‘Cohesion’

Third-year head coach Tony Elliott rebuilt the offense from the ground up when he took the job in 2002, eschewing the Air Raid approach that Bronco Mendenhall utiilized under the thumb of his offensive coordinator, Robert Anae, for an attack that, in theory, would be built on a strong ground game.

It hasn’t worked yet – Virginia averaged 123.1 yards per game on the ground in Elliott’s first year, in 2022, and 117.9 yards per game in 2023, that figure ranking 13th in the 14-team ACC.

You could write off the poor O line play to Anae’s guys leaving after Elliott hired Des Kitchings to be his offensive coordinator, bypassing the players’ choice, Jason Beck, Anae’s QBs coach, forcing Elliott and Kitchings to craft a makeshift line for the 2022 season from what was left over and the transfer portal, and then a second mass exodus from the O line room after the 2022 season when assistant coach Garett Tujague left to rejoin Anae at NC State.

The 2024 unit has everybody back, and they’re playing in the same system for a second straight year, under Tujague’s successor, Terry Heffernan.

“What I like is, you’re seeing more cohesion with the group, and so, there’s not as many, I guess, in our terms, guys turning loose,” Elliott told reporters at his Richmond game-week press conference on Tuesday. “There’s not as many of those situations, telling us the communication is where it needs to be. All five guys have a good understanding of not just their job, but the guys next to them, and what kind of communication they have together.”

D line: ‘Expectation’

Bennett transferred in from Georgia Tech back when Mendenhall was the head coach, but had to sit out the 2021 season with a torn ACL, and he’s had to play through nagging injuries in each of the past two years.

Butler is a seventh-year senior because of a medical redshirt that cut what was shaping up to be a promising 2023 season cut short by a shoulder injury.

The game plan is having those two guys creating havoc around Carter holding down the middle at nose tackle.

As long as everybody stays healthy, the Virginia D line should be a foundational piece for the defensive unit.

“think the expectation was what they created when they were healthy playing at their best. I think you saw that the first four games of the season,” Elliott said. “Last year Kam was playing at a high level. Then two years ago, Chico was playing at a high level. And now I think they’re back healthy, and they have the ability to play at that level.

“That’s what the expectation is for those guys, is just get back to playing your best football, and then when that happens, everything else will take care of itself,” Elliott said. “So, not trying to put numbers or status, expectations, just, hey, be your best day in, day out and everything else will take care of itself.”