Nelson certainly has plenty more plays to focus on this season, starting Saturday night when OR (1-0) hosts Virginia (0-1).
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“For me, and for everybody in here, the coaches just talk about playing the next play, that’s what I try to do: Just brush it off and play the next play”, he said. “We have significant tests coming up that we have to go through, and that’s going to season our team, it’s going to shape our team, it’s going to mold our team, it’s going to unite our team”. “There’s no such thing as going into a game thinking that, All right, we just want to improve the play from what we had last weekend.’ You’ve got to go into the game thinking, ‘We have to win the game.’ Just like we have to think for every game this season – we have to win the game”. “This is one of them”.
Troy Dye has appeared in just one college game but already he’s grabbing attention with his play – so much so that he was named Pac-12 defensive player of the week.
Mendenhall won 99 games in 11 seasons at BYU before taking over Virginia, which hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2011.
Virginia’s last road victory anywhere came in 2012, when it beat North Carolina State in Raleigh. The Cavaliers, under new coach Bronco Mendenhall, fell to Richmond 37-20 in their opener. Mendenhall sounded more curious than confident this week when asked how his players would handle the cross-country trip and imposing atmosphere in Eugene, Ore. “Usually, you make the most improvement between games one and two and we have a lot of improvement to make”, Hoke said. “We watched a lot of film last week and we dissected the offense really well, so I mean there were a lot of indicators and keys that they had so I just read them”. “We are more than consumed by what we have in our corner”.
He figures to be an important piece of the Ducks’ defense under new coordinator Brady Hoke, the former MI coach, who is installing a new 4-3 scheme. Pac-12 reporter Chantel Jennings and ACC reporter Andrea Adelson break down the matchup between the Ducks and Cavaliers. The Ducks are 1-0, after beating UC Davis 53-28 over the weekend.
Mendenhall has an idea of what to expect. Though he said a neck injury limited how much he got into the game, he remembers being impressed with the crowd.
“It was a mutual decision between the coaches and I”, he said at the time.
U.Va. has been working on a silent count for loud stadiums this season, a process that began back in the spring.
Even after the struggle that was Saturday’s game, the Hoos will not have time to lick their wounds as they travel to one of the most hostile environments in the country. “During camp, I feel like we believed”. Last week, they tended to be hesitant and as a result did not make big plays, often leaving their cornerbacks without the help they should receive on deep routes or post pass patterns. We didn’t have a great silent count in. So we have a lot of practice with that now.
Mendenhall said that on Saturday, the coaching staff needs to see “a fundamental football improvement” and better scheme execution to have a chance. The Cavaliers also bring consistent pressure, so Prukop’s running ability could be of more prominence this week than last.
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Zaccheaus will certainly be a player to look for in upcoming games, as his chemistry with Benkert will be an important factor in his development, especially when he is able to play a full 60 minutes.
