2019 Virginia Cavaliers football team

The 2019 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cavaliers were led by fourth-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall and played their home games at Scott Stadium. The team competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2019 Virginia Cavaliers football
ACC Coastal Division champion
ACC Championship Game, L 17–62 vs. Clemson
Orange Bowl, L 28–36 vs. Florida
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Coastal Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
2019 record	9–5 (6–2 ACC)
Head coach	Bronco Mendenhall (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Robert Anae (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Nick Howell (4th season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Kelly Poppinga (2nd as co-DC; 4th overall season)
Home stadium	Scott Stadium (Capacity: 61,500)
Uniform

2019 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 2 Clemson x$^		8	–	0					14	–	1
Louisville		5	–	3					8	–	5
Wake Forest		4	–	4					8	–	5
Florida State		4	–	4					6	–	7
Boston College		4	–	4					6	–	7
Syracuse		2	–	6					5	–	7
NC State		1	–	7					4	–	8
Coastal Division
Virginia x		6	–	2					9	–	5
Virginia Tech		5	–	3					8	–	5
Miami		4	–	4					6	–	7
Pittsburgh		4	–	4					8	–	5
North Carolina		4	–	4					7	–	6
Duke		3	–	5					5	–	7
Georgia Tech		2	–	6					3	–	9
Championship: Clemson 62, Virginia 17
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Coming off an 8–5 season in 2018, Virginia was considered the favorite to win the Coastal Division.[1] The Cavaliers began the season with four straight victories, but then lost three games in a four-game stretch to Notre Dame, Miami, and Louisville. The team rebounded with four straight victories to close out the regular season, including a win over rival and 24th-ranked Virginia Tech to secure Virginia's place in the ACC Championship Game. It was Virginia's first win over Virginia Tech since 2003, and it was the school's first appearance in the conference title game, concluding a seven-year stretch in which all seven members of the Coastal Division won the division. In the Championship Game, Virginia lost to Clemson, 62–17. The team received an invitation to the Orange Bowl to play Florida, where they lost 36–28, to end the season with a 9–5 record.

Virginia was led on offense by quarterback Bryce Perkins, who finished with 3,530 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, and was named second-team all-conference. Perkins also led the team in rushing, finishing with 769 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Wide receiver and return specialist Joe Reed was named first-team all-conference as an all-purpose back. On defense, the team's leading tackler and sacks leader was linebacker Zane Zandier.

Preseason

Preseason media poll

In the preseason ACC media poll, Virginia was predicted to win the Coastal Division, but received just one vote out of 173 to win the ACC Championship Game.[1]

Media poll (Coastal Division)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Virginia	1003 (82)
2	Miami (FL)	992 (55)
3	Virginia Tech	827 (20)
4	Pittsburgh	691 (8)
5	Duke	566 (6)
6	North Carolina	463 (1)
7	Georgia Tech	302 (1)

Media poll (ACC Championship)
Rank	Team	Votes
1	Clemson	170
2	Syracuse	2
3	Virginia	1

Regular Season

• In September, the Cavaliers defeated the Seminoles for the Jefferson-Eppes Trophy.
• In early November, the Cavaliers defeated the Tar Heels in the South's Oldest Rivalry.
• In late November, the Cavaliers defeated the Hokies for the Commonwealth Cup.

Bronco Mendenhall became the first coach to bring both trophies to Charlottesville at the same time. The Jefferson-Eppes Trophy may remain in Cavalier hands until at least 2025, as FSU does not appear on the ACC schedules for Virginia through 2024.

As projected by the pre-season media, Virginia won the Coastal division for the first time despite an early season-ending injury to the team's highest NFL prospect, Bryce Hall, in the game against Miami.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ACCN	W 30–14	47,144
September 6	8:00 p.m.	William & Mary*		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCN	W 52–17	45,250
September 14	7:30 p.m.	Florida State	No. 25	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (Jefferson-Eppes Trophy)	ACCN	W 31–24	57,826
September 21	7:00 p.m.	Old Dominion*	No. 21	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ESPN2	W 28–17	44,573
September 28	3:30 p.m.	at No. 10 Notre Dame*	No. 18	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	L 20–35	77,622
October 11	8:00 p.m.	at Miami (FL)	No. 20	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	ESPN	L 9–17	54,538
October 19	3:30 p.m.	Duke		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCN	W 48–14	52,847
October 26	3:30 p.m.	at Louisville		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN	L 21–28	48,689
November 2	7:30 p.m.	at North Carolina		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry)	ACCN	W 38–31	50,500
November 9	12:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCRSN	W 33–28	44,596
November 23	12:00 p.m.	Liberty*		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCRSN	W 55–27	37,329
November 29	12:00 p.m.	No. 24 Virginia Tech		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (Commonwealth Cup)	ABC	W 39–30	52,619
December 7	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Clemson	No. 23	Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC (ACC Championship Game)	ABC	L 17–62	66,810
December 30	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Florida*	No. 24	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl)	ESPN	L 28–36	65,157
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:[2]

Personnel

Coaching staff

Staff as of 2019.[3][4]

Name	Position
Bronco Mendenhall	Head Coach
Nick Howell	Defensive Coordinator, Secondary Coach
Kelly Poppinga	Co Defensive Coordinator, Outside Linebackers Coach
Shane Hunter	Inside Linebackers Coach
Vic So'oto	Defensive line
Robert Anae	Offensive Coordinator, Inside Receivers Coach
Mark Atuaia	Running Backs Coach
Jason Beck	Quarterbacks Coach
Marques Hagans	Wide Receivers Coach
Garett Tujague	Offensive Line Coach
Ricky Brumfield	Special Teams Coordinator

Roster

2019 Virginia Cavaliers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class C 63 Tyler Fannin  So C, OG 55 Olusegun Oluwatimi So C, OG Gerrik Vollmer So FB 27 Jamari Peacock Jr FB 46 Andrew Yavinsky So HB 80 Billy Kemp IV So OG Kariem Al Soufi Fr OG 52 Joe Bissinger RFr OG Charlie Boxley Fr OG Micah Mariteragi RFr OG 79 Dillon Reinkensmeyer Jr OG Zachary Teter Fr OG 64 Ben Trent Jr OG Martin Weisz RFr OT 67 Derek Devine RFr OT Alex Gellerstedt Fr OT Landry Gerbers Fr OT 69 Chris Glaser Jr OT 70 Bobby Haskins So OT 75 Ja'Quay Hubbard Fr OT 65 Jonathan Leech Fr OT Jack Keenan RFr OT 54 Ryan Nelson So OT 72 Ryan Swoboda So QB 10 Brennan Armstrong RFr QB 40 RJ Harvey Fr QB Jared Rayman Fr QB 3 Bryce Perkins Sr QB 36 Lindell Stone So QB Luke Wentz Fr RB 20 Mike Hollins Fr RB 37 Perris Jones RFr RB 96 Seneca Milledge Fr RB Justin Zollar Sr TB 5 Lamont Atkins Jr TB 6 PK Kier Jr TB 31 Chris Sharp Sr TB 21 Wayne Taulapapa So TE 44 Tanner Cowley Sr TE 46 Christian Baumgardner Jr TE 85 Grant Misch RFr TE T.J. Kitts So TE Mike Kosar WR 9 Terrell Chatman Sr WR 77 Josh Clifford Fr WR 19 Chuck Davis Jr WR 8 Hasise Dubois Sr WR Shane Eilers So WR 18 Ben Hogg RSr WR 13 Terrell Jana Jr WR 88 Tavares Kelly Jr So WR 83 Hayden Mitchell So WR 86 Ugo Obasi So WR 59 Darnell Pratt So WR 2 Joe Reed Sr WR 82 Brandon White RFr WR 51 Jalen Harrison Jr WR 84 Dorien Goddard Fr WR 87 Dontayvion Wicks Fr WR 89 Dejon Brissett Sr WR Nathaniel Beal III Fr WR Tristan Hillerich So WR John Izlar Fr WR Zack Kindel Fr WR Andrew Spaziani Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 39 Jaylon Baker RFr CB 32 Darrius Bratton Jr CB Mark Chichester RFr CB 41 Germane Crowell So CB 1 Nick Grant Jr CB 34 Bryce Hall Sr CB Myles Robinson Jr CB 23 Heskin Smith So DB Jude Carlon Fr DB 60 Chayce Chalmers Fr DB 30 Antonio Clary Fr DB 53 Fentrell Cypress II Fr DB 74 Jake Dewease Fr DB 92 Tenyeh Dixon Fr DB 49 Coen King RFr DB 68 Sean Moore Fr DB 25 Joseph White RFr DB 90 Major Williams Fr DE 16 Richard Burney Sr DE 91 Mandy Alonso Jr DE 95 Ben Smiley III Fr DL Isaac Buell So DE Sam Galletta Fr DL Samson Reed RFr DT 99 Jowon Briggs So DT 50 Tommy Christ So DT 94 Aaron Faumui So DT 58 Eli Hanback Sr NT 76 Jordan Redmond So FS 15 De'Vante Cross Jr FS 7 Chris Moore Jr FS 28 Brenton Nelson Jr FS 29 Joey Blount Jr ILB 78 Josh Ahern Fr ILB 38 T.C. Harrison RFr ILB 42 Nick Jackson Fr ILB 45 Reed Kellam Sr ILB 4 Jordan Mack Sr ILB DaJuan Moore RFr ILB 22 Robert Snyder Jr ILB 33 Zane Zandier Jr LB Evan Clark RFr LB Aidan Saunders Fr OLB 17 Elliott Brown Jr OLB 47 Dre Bryant Jr OLB 57 Colin Dixon So OLB 56 Matt Gahm Jr OLB 98 D'Sean Perry Fr OLB 66 Jairus Satiu Fr OLB 11 Charles Snowden Jr OLB 93 Hunter Stewart Fr OLB 14 Noah Taylor So S 71 Darren Klein RFr S Vinnie Vladic RFr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 26 Brian Delaney Jr K 43 Justin Duenkel Fr PK A.J. Mejia Jr PK Hunter Pearson RFr P Brendan Farrell Fr PK, P 81 Nash Griffin Jr LS 61 Enzo Anthony Fr LS 62 Lee Dudley RFr LS Tucker Finkelston RFr	Head coach Bronco Mendenhall (Oregon State) Coordinators/assistant coaches Robert Anae (BYU) Offensive Coordinator, Inside Receivers Marques Hagans (Virginia) Wide Receivers Mark Atuaia (BYU) Running Backs Garett Tujague (BYU) Offensive Line Jason Beck (BYU) Quarterbacks Vic So'oto (BYU) Defensive Line Nick Howell (Weber State) Defensive Coordinator, Secondary Kelly Poppinga (BYU) Co-Defensive Coordinator Coordinator, Outside Linebackers Shane Hunter (BYU) Inside Linebackers Rickey Brumfield (Utah State) Special Teams Coordinator Patrick Hickman (BYU) Director of Football Operations Justin Anderson (BYU) Director of Player Personnel Jordan Arcement (Nicholls State) Assistant Director of Player Personnel Shawn Griswold (Utah State) Director of Football Training & Player Development Matt Edwards (BYU) Football Analyst Kirk Garner (Virginia) Graduate Assistant C.J. Stalker (Virginia) Graduate Assistant Jackson Matteo (Virginia) Graduate Assistant Andrew Meyer (Wisconsin) Graduate Assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2018-07-27

Depth chart

Defense [5] FS Joey Blount De'Vante Cross ⋅ WLB BLB MLB SLB Noah Taylor Zane Zandier Jordan Mack Charles Snowden Matt Gahm Robert Snyder Nick Jackson Elliott Brown ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ SABRE Brenton Nelson Chris Moore ⋅ CB Nick Grant Jaylon Baker ⋅ DE NT DE Eli Hanback Jowon Briggs Richard Burney Mandy Alonso Jordan Redmond Aaron Faumui ⋅ ⋅ Tommy Christ CB Bryce Hall Heskin Smith ⋅ Offense [5] WR (X) Terrell Jana Terrell Chatman Billy Kemp IV WR Joe Reed Tavares Kelly Jr Chuck Davis LT LG C RG RT Ryan Swoboda Ryan Nelson Olusegun Oluwatimi Chris Glaser Dillon Reinkensmeyer Bobby Haskins Joe Bissinger Tyler Fannin Ja'Quay Hubbard Derek Devine ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Tanner Cowley Grant Misch ⋅ WR (Y) Hasise Dubois Dontayvion Wicks Dorian Goddard QB Bryce Perkins Brennan Armstrong Lindell Stone Key Reserves KO Brian Delaney RB Wayne Taulapaga PK Kier Lamont Atkins Special Teams PK Brian Delaney PK Justin Duenkel P Nash Griffin P Brian Delaney KR Joe Reed KR Perris Jones PR Chuck Davis PR Tavares Kelly Jr LS Lee Dudley LS Enzo Anthony H Nash Griffin

Game summaries

at Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	10	3	10	7	30
Panthers	0	14	0	0	14

See also: 2019 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–8	Nov. 2, 2018	L, 13–23

William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tribe	0	3	7	7	17
Cavaliers	21	14	7	10	52

See also: 2019 William & Mary Tribe football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
29–6–1	Sept. 2, 2017	W, 28–10

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	0	14	3	7	24
No. 25 Cavaliers	3	7	0	21	31

See also: 2019 Florida State Seminoles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–14	Nov. 8, 2014	L, 20–34

Old Dominion

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	10	7	0	0	17
No. 21 Cavaliers	0	7	7	14	28

See also: 2019 Old Dominion Monarchs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Cavaliers	7	10	0	3	20
No. 10 Fighting Irish	14	0	14	7	35

See also: 2019 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	Sept. 12, 2015	L, 27–34

at Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Cavaliers	0	3	0	6	9
Hurricanes	7	0	0	10	17

See also: 2019 Miami Hurricanes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–9	Oct. 13, 2018	W, 16–13

Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	0	7	7	14
Cavaliers	0	17	24	7	48

See also: 2019 Duke Blue Devils football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
37–33	Oct. 20, 2018	W, 28–14

at Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	7	7	0	7	21
Cardinals	7	0	7	14	28

See also: 2019 Louisville Cardinals football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–4	Sept. 22, 2018	W, 27–3

at North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	7	10	21	0	38
Tar Heels	3	14	14	0	31

See also: 2019 North Carolina Tar Heels football team and South's Oldest Rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
56–64–4	Oct. 27, 2018	W, 31–21

Georgia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	14	7	0	7	28
Cavaliers	14	10	0	9	33

See also: 2019 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–21–1	Nov. 17, 2018	L, 27–30

Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	7	7	7	6	27
Cavaliers	10	14	14	17	55

See also: 2019 Liberty Flames football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	Nov. 10, 2018	W, 45–24

Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Hokies	3	3	21	3	30
Cavaliers	13	0	7	19	39

See also: 2019 Virginia Tech Hokies football team and Virginia–Virginia Tech football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
37–58–5	Nov. 23, 2018	L, 31–34

Clemson (ACC Championship Game)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Cavaliers	7	0	7	3	17
No. 3 Tigers	14	17	14	17	62

See also: 2019 Clemson Tigers football team and 2019 ACC Championship Game

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–38–1	Nov. 2, 2013	L, 10–59

vs. Florida (Orange Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Cavaliers	7	7	0	14	28
No. 9 Gators	14	10	3	9	36

See also: 2019 Florida Gators football team and 2019 Orange Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	Oct. 3, 1959	L, 10–55

Rankings

Further information: 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV	RV	25	21	18	23	20	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	RV	RV
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	22	18	22	19	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	25	25
CFP	Not released										NR	NR	NR	NR	23	24	Not released

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2020 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
5	151	Joe Reed	WR	Los Angeles Chargers
5	158	Bryce Hall	CB	New York Jets

References

1. "Clemson Favored to Continue ACC Football Championship Run". theACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
2. "Virginia Announces 2019 Football Schedule". VirginiaSports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. January 16, 2019.
3. "Mendenhall Adds Eight to Coaching Staff" (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. December 12, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
4. "Mendenhall Announces Defensive Coaching Switch" (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. March 18, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
5. "DEPTH CHART" (PDF) (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.