Virginia Football Season Preview: Special Teams
In the first four years of Bronco Mendenhall’s tenure as head football coach at Virginia, the Cavaliers increased their win total each year from 2-10 in 2016, to 6-7 in 2017, to 8-5 in 2018, to a 9-4 run in 2019 that included an ACC Coastal title and a trip to the Orange Bowl. In 2020, that stretch of continued improvement came to an end as the Hoos went 5-5 and ended the season with a disappointing loss against Virginia Tech. With a brand new season right around the corner and UVA looking to continue to establish a winning football program, it is time to preview the 2021 Virginia Cavaliers football season. In this four part series, we will break down the UVA offense, defense, special teams, and schedule.
Note: This is part three of the four-part analysis of the 2021 Virginia football season. Check out part one here and part two here. Be sure to stay tuned for part four arriving later this week.
It was clear from the opening kickoff of Virginia’s first game in 2020 that Joe Reed was going to be missed as UVA’s kickoff returner. Tavares Kelly Jr. ran Duke’s opening kick for 19 yards before fumbling the ball and turning it over to the Blue Devils before the Cavalier offense even took the field. It was an immediate signal that UVA was going to be very aware of the absence of Reed, who was a threat to score a touchdown every time he touched the ball.
Virginia’s special teams unit did not have a bad season in 2020 by any means. The Cavaliers largely took care of business and maintained a passing standard on plays involving kickoffs, punts, and field goals. However, the Hoos were missing an element of explosiveness especially in the return game, as UVA did not have any kickoff or punt return touchdowns and rarely had long returns of any kind to set up the offense in plus territory. In 2021, the Cavaliers are hoping to maintain a solid level of consistency and make high energy plays on special teams to sway 50-50 games in their favor.
Punt Return
Virginia’s biggest strength on special teams is at punt return, a role which senior Billy Kemp IV has been filling since the final game of his first season at UVA in 2018. In a press conference on Friday, head coach Bronco Mendenhall praised Kemp’s reliability as a punt returner. “Billy has been here a long time and has made a lot of plays,” Mendenhall said. “He’s very productive. His results show it, the time shows it, and the consistency shows it.” A considerable part of Kemp’s value as a return man is his ability to secure the ball, as he has not had a single fumble as the starting punt returner over the past two seasons. However, there is still substantial room for improvement in this area this season, as the UVA punt return unit averaged 5.1 yards per punt return in 2020, 10th in the ACC.
Kick Return
After the departure of Joe Reed, who averaged 28.7 yards per kick return in 2019 (No. 2 in the country, No. 1 in the ACC), Tavares Kelly Jr. handled most kickoff returns in 2020 before missing the final three games of the season with an injury. Kelly then left the football program to join the UVA track and field team in the spring of 2021. As was stated before, the kickoff return unit deeply felt the absence of Joe Reed in 2020, as UVA averaged 23.2 yards per kickoff return in 2020, which was the 4th-best mark in the ACC and 32nd nationally. Not terrible, but not even close to the level of production the Cavaliers had with Reed. Bronco Mendenhall has yet to name a starting kick returner for the upcoming season and said there is “a significant amount of work to do there” to determine the starter, backup, and third string return man. There are several players in the running for the position, but expect sophomore wide receiver Demick Starling and senior running back Ronnie Walker Jr. to be in the mix for the spot.
Punter
Nash Griffin is gone after starting as punter for the last two seasons for UVA. Griffin was a decent but consistent punter during his time at Virginia, averaging 41.9 yards per punt in 2019 and 41.4 yards per punt in 2020, 11th in the ACC in that category in both seasons. Graduate transfer Jacob Finn appears to be the new starter. Finn averaged 46.2 yards per punt during his time at Florida and the Gators were third in the country in net punting in 2020.
Kicker
In 2020, Brian Delaney finished his career No. 3 all-time in program history in points scored from the kicker position and No. 6 overall in points scored with 236. Now, it appears that sophomore Justin Duenkel is lined up to fill Delaney’s shoes as the expected starter for kickoffs and field goals headed into the 2021 season. Duenkel has not yet attempted a field goal in his career but he is 1/1 on extra points and was the primary kicker for kickoffs last season, notching 26 touchbacks on 43 kickoffs in 2020.
Long Snapper
Virginia returns both of its starting long-snappers from a season ago, with senior Danny Caracciolo expected to snap for field goals and extra points and junior Tucker Finkelston expected to snap for punts this season.
Virginia did a respectable job containing opposing returns last season, yielding six yards per punt (5th in the ACC) and 19.75 yards per kickoff (4th in the ACC). The Hoos are hoping they can lean on their special teams play to win the battle of field position and tip the scales in their favor this season.
