Virginia head coach Tony Elliott on the sidelines during the UVA football game against Richmond. — Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Tony Elliott: "I should've kept my foot on the gas" before halftime against Richmond

Elliott admitted that it was a mistake to not try to score before halftime of UVA's win over Richmond

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Sep 7, 2022 1:55 PM EDT

In this story:

More than a few miscues during Virginia's season-opening win over Richmond on Saturday gave the Cavaliers a lot of things to clean up this week as they turn their attention towards Illinois. Those areas of improvement are not limited to the players, as Tony Elliott was quick to note during Tuesday's press conference that the coaching staff has a great deal to work on, himself included.

Elliott recognized that he has a lot to learn as he begins his first season as a college football head coach. One decision he made in his head coaching debut drew the ire of many UVA fans and Elliott acknowledged that he made a mistake with that decision on Tuesday.

With a minute and twenty-two seconds left in the first half, Virginia got the ball back leading 28-10. The Cavaliers had the ball at their own 34-yard line with all three timeouts still in hand. At the time, the UVA offense was clicking on all cylinders, having scored touchdowns on each of its last four possessions. With Virginia's lead at 18 points - hardly an insurmountable advantage - it would have made a lot of sense for the Cavaliers to be aggressive and try to push the ball down the field with a two-minute drill offense to try to score another touchdown or at least get a field goal before the half.

Instead, Elliott instructed offensive coordinator Des Kitchings to run the ball. Three-consecutive Perris Jones runs resulted in a first down near midfield and only then did UVA attempt a single passing play - an incompletion to Lavel Davis Jr. Virginia ran it one more time to Perris Jones and the clock ran out on the second quarter.

The consequences of that decision ran deeper than not putting more points on the scoreboard before the intermission, as the UVA offense was taken out of its rhythm. The Cavaliers opened the third quarter with the ball, but Dontayvion Wicks fumbled on the third play from scrimmage, which gave the Spiders the ball at the UVA 34-yard line and resulted in a Richmond touchdown eight plays later. On Virginia's next possession, Armstrong threw an interception. The Cavaliers would not score a single point in the third quarter and UVA scored just one time in the entire second half. What could and should have been a dominant victory turned into a more marginal, and more frustrating, 34-17 win.

In Tuesday's press conference, Tony Elliott admitted that his passive approach to that final possession of the first half was a costly mistake:

"In fairness to our guys - and this is a lesson that I learned and the question came up during the press conference... We had four-straight touchdown drives after the opening drive. Offensively, we were in a rhythm. Defense gets a stop. I'm sitting there like, 'okay, Des [Kitchings] - run the ball. If we have a big play, then we'll be aggressive and we'll go attack.' I probably should have just came out attacking. It set their mindset going into half... It was a learning opportunity for all of us - I should've kept my foot on the gas so that these guys can come out of the second half and get out to a fast start."

Thankfully, that decision did not cost Elliott the win in his head coaching debut, but a more aggressive approach will likely be needed in order to win games against some of the ACC's better teams later this season.

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