Wahoos pick up costly victory versus Wildcats

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Virginia 55, Abilene Christian 15

UVa coach Bronco Mendenhall got to experience one of his favorite parts and one of his least favorite parts of leading a football program as the Cavaliers creamed the Wildcats on Saturday at Scott Stadium.

On the one hand, with the game all but over as Virginia (4-4) led 42-7 going into the fourth quarter, several players who had seen little to no time on the field this season got to play.

On the other hand, the UVa defense, already wrecked by injuries and the departure of DL Jowon Briggs, saw four starters go down: CB Nick Grant, OLB Charles Snowden, DL Nusi Malani, and safety D’Angelo Amos. Only Grant returned to the field, but luckily, all except Snowden are listed on the depth chart for this week’s Florida State game.

The worst injury was sustained by Snowden, who broke his ankle and is done for the season. That’s two straight years in which a leader on the Wahoos’ defense has sustained a season-ending broken ankle. In 2019, it was CB Bryce Hall against Miami in October. Brutal.

Charles Snowdens heads off the field
after the game. He finishes his 2020
season with six sacks.
(Erin Edgerton/The Daily Progress)

“Yeah, it’s the highest level of concern when we’re thin already,” Mendenhall said after the game. “That added to it and it was really unfortunate. It’s always hard to see players get hurt. I hate that part of the business in this job, especially the players that I have such good relationships with and just admire.”

On Monday, Mendenhall tried to put the loss of Snowden into words.

“I don’t know if I can articulate it,” the fifth-year coach said. “Charles’ influence on our program has been breathtaking in terms of maturity and growth. In a lot of ways, his own maturity and growth is matched out of the program.

“He came in as tall and thin and a basketball player, and he’s blossomed into a future NFL player with amazing leadership skills, and a captain of our team in a four-year period. That trajectory has almost been straight up, and I think it is almost a mirror image of the program’s culture and direction. So it’s hard to separate Charles Snowden and UVa football. They seem to be one in the same, and I’m not sure if there could be a better exemplar than him, of what I would like our program to be.”

Snowden became a leader not only on Grounds but in the greater Charlottesville community as the city began to heal after the events of 2017 and then also in 2020 after the racial protests all across the country.

On the field, Snowden’s season got off to a slow start. But after the North Carolina game, Mendenhall revealed that he gave Snowden more rest in practice, and he took off. Going into the matchup with Abilene Christian (1-5), Snowden had at least one sack in three straight games, with six total. He had four just against UNC. The senior from St. Albans School in Washington finishes his 2020 campaign with 44 tackles, 10 for losses, the six sacks, three passes defended, and a forced fumble. Despite missing the rest of the season, Snowden might finish with the team lead in sacks, with no one else having more than three.

Since this season does not count against student-athletes’ eligibility, Snowden could potentially return for a fifth year. Should he? Only he and his family can decide, but there are compelling arguments both ways.

Snowden was an NFL prospect heading into this season, possibly a mid-round draft pick if he progressed in 2020 and avoided injury. He was coming on strong down the stretch. If he were to come back and pick up where he left off and have a superb 2021 season, he could get back into that conversation, or possibly even move up draft boards. But that’s easier said than done. He also could come back and be not quite the same player. If that happens, he will then have sort of wasted a year not getting developed specifically in the NFL. Or worse, he could injure himself again. My guess is Snowden is going to leave in hopes that he gets drafted, and if not, he will try to latch on as a free agent.

For those keeping track, Virginia is now down five defensive starters since the beginning of the season: Snowden, safeties Joey Blount and Brenton Nelson, DE Richard Burney, and Briggs — not to mention the fact that DL Aaron Faumui opted out. Blount and Nelson may return; we will have to wait and see. Fans were hoping the defense could stay healthier than it did a season ago, and that just has not been the case.

But as I mentioned, good things happened in the game, too. As I was watching, I was scrolling through the Virginia roster to see who everyone was that was getting playing time. It was tough to keep up.

Lavel Davis runs away from
ACU CB Christopher Satterfield
for his 90-yard touchdown.
(UVa Athletics)

“It was just really gratifying to see smiles from so many players that hadn’t had a chance to play this year in a real game after they’ve been just practicing, laboring and working and trying to help their teammates and this program move forward,” Mendenhall said. “To be able to get so many of those guys in the game was the best part of the game for me.”

Among the participants, some playing in their first college games, were QB Lindell Stone, RB Perris Jones, WR Demick Starling (who caught his first TD), WR Hayden Mitchell, DL Olasunkonmi Agunloye, DL Jordan Redmond, LB Robert Snyder (one sack), LB Matt Gahm (one sack), LB Elliott Brown, LB Josh Ahern, LB Hunter Stewart, DB Darrius Bratton, DB Donovan Johnson, DB Elijah Gaines (one sack), DB Jake Dewease, DB Darren Klein, DB Chayce Chalmers, and LB D’Sean Perry, who, for those with some cash riding on the outcome, came up with the biggest play of the day.

The wild final two minutes included an ACU TD, a bowling celebration by the ‘Cats that induced an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, a backward pass in the end zone by UVa which resulted in a safety, and a pick-6 by Perry as time expired. The zaniness even landed on ESPN personality Scott Van Pelt’s “Bad Breaks” segment, and that’s because Virginia was a 39.5-point favorite at kickoff. The Wahoos covered the spread on the last play of the game by half a point.

Mendenhall insisted that the strange double pass in the end zone from Stone to Keytaon Thompson and back to Stone was the result of offensive coordinator Robert Anae being one line off on the play sheet.

“So, we literally were lining up players at timeouts and having them study the call sheet and have older guys telling younger guys what to do and yell from the sideline,” he said. “Then Robert Anae was off a line. He called in the wrong play at the end. We were trying to run out the clock, and we end up getting a double pass called out of our own end zone. So it’s a complete accident. It was just like, ‘What the crap just happened?’ … I guess if that didn’t happen, then D’Sean Perry doesn’t have a chance to run an interception back for a touchdown. So, yeah, there’s a silver lining and great moment for him.”

The pick-6 wasn’t the only big play on a day that was filled with them. The touchdowns included a 28-yard pass from Brennan Armstrong to Tony Poljan (who did a good job of holding onto the ball throughout the game and finished with five catches for 77 yards), a 90-yard bomb from Armstrong to Lavel Davis Jr., a 56-yard “pass” from Armstrong to Thompson (technically a pass because the ball went forward, but it worked more like a handoff), and a 52-yard Thompson-to-Armstrong-to-Ra’Shaun Henry trick play. As was said about Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter, all Henry does is catch touchdowns. That’s three on three receptions, and he had another TD called back against Miami.

Armstrong completed 16 of 23 passes for 383 yards and four scores, and added 52 rushing yards. Stone went a perfect 5 for 5 with 23 yards and a TD. Shane Simpson had a pair of 1-yard TD runs. Ronnie Walker recorded 14 carries for 36 yards.

It was a fun day as the Cavaliers got back to .500 and won their third straight game, but one clouded by injuries. UVa must move on into its final three games of the ACC regular season with less heralded players having to fill Snowden’s cleats. Among them will be Gahm and Brown, both of whom have made their share of plays as ‘Hoos. Most notably, last season, Gahm recorded an interception against Pittsburgh and a sack of Virginia Tech QB Hendon Hooker on the famous second-to-last drive of that game.

“Matt Gahm is equipped and prepared. He has the abilities. He is ready,” Mendenhall said Monday. “Between Matt Gahm and Elliott Brown, they have experience and maturity.”

In another tough year for the defense, the players know they lost more than just a great defender.

“I’d venture to say anybody on the team would say Charles is their best friend,” Grant said.

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