The UVA Football depth chart for the Week 3 game with Maryland, in prime time on Saturday night in Scott Stadium, has linebacker Kam Robinson and left tackle McKale Boley listed as starters.
It doesn’t sound like it’s a given that either will be on the field, to hear coach Tony Elliott tell it.
“Kam is a little bit limited,” Elliott said, and Boley is “day to day.”
With Robinson, who had five tackles and a sack in 20 snaps before leaving with a knee injury in the second quarter of the 31-30 win at Wake Forest in Week 2, “it’s just more of getting to a point of being able to deal with the pain tolerance, from that standpoint,” Elliott said.
Boley, the projected starter at left tackle coming out of training camp, has yet to take the field in the 2024 regular season, after going down with an ankle sprain in camp.
The word from Elliott on Boley on Tuesday: “he’s out, moving around, so we’re hopeful that we’ll get him back here pretty soon.”
One other injury update: cornerback Corey Thomas was back for practice on Tuesday, and is a full-go for Maryland.
Thomas had five tackles and a 63.7 Pro Football Focus grade in 47 snaps in the win at Wake.
Next man up: Trey McDonald
Trey McDonald stepped up after Robinson had to leave with his ankle injury and put up big numbers – nine tackles, a sack, four QB pressures and a 60.9 PFF grade in 66 snaps.
The sack was a game-changer. Wake, up 30-24 with 7:20 to go in the game, was going for a conversion on a fourth-and-9 at the UVA 36, and McDonald fought through a double-team to take down QB Hank Bachmeier for an eight-yard loss, setting up the offense with great field position.
The ensuing drive ended with a Grady Brosterhous TD run that put Virginia on top for the first time in the game, and also for good.
Elliott said McDonald got a “ton of reps” in training camp with starting middle linebacker James Jackson limited at the outset of camp as he recovered from offseason surgery.
“I don’t know if there’s a more fierce competitor on our team than Trey McDonald. He’s extremely physical. He’s very, very smart, and now he’s really starting to be able to come into his own because he’s getting the physical reps,” Elliott said.
“I’m excited about his opportunity if Kam is not able to play. He came in, finished the game, was productive. So, I feel good. I’m confident in him,” Elliott said.
Another next man up: Jack Witmer
Jack Witmer is a senior who saw action in one game in his first three years at UVA, back in 2022, as he struggled to get on the field as a tight end.
Witmer moved to O line in the spring, put on 50 pounds, and with Boley out, he has been a life-saver for Elliott and O line coach Terry Heffernan.
Left tackle is the blind spot position on the offensive line, and Witmer has played it like a veteran, earning a 70.5 PFF grade through two weeks and 118 snaps, including going all the way, all 73 offensive snaps, in the win at Wake.
Elliott said Tuesday that the coaching staff had been challenging the 6’7” Witmer to use his size as an advantage at tight end, “and then you move to a position where it’s basically hand-to-hand combat every single play.”
“But he embraced it. He went to work,” Elliott said. “He transformed his body, got into the playbook. It’s a little bit different going from a perimeter guy to now being in the box, and not only learning left tackle, but you’ve got to know right tackle to give us flexibility.
“So, just really, really proud of his investment,” Elliott said. “He’s invested in the group. You kind of wonder, OK, here’s a guy that’s a skill guy, now he’s going to an offensive line room, because each position has a different temperament, and he fit right in with the guys. He’s really embraced it, and just super proud of the production that he’s been able to have in the absence of Boley.”
Video: UVA Football notes heading into Week 3
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Chris Graham
