Cavs head home, this time for real
After dispatching a pesky Ohio team 45-31 last Saturday in Nashville, Virginia (2-1) heads back to Scott Stadium to open ACC play against Louisville (2-1) in what was supposed to be the second of four home games in the first six games of the season for the Cavaliers.
That was not the case.
Hurricane Florence’s original path forced Virginia to move their home contest against the Bobcats to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville where the two teams met in front of a crowd of around 5,000 people.
“The whole thing was weird,” Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall said after Saturday’s game.
“Not knowing whether we were going to play was weird, not knowing where we were going to play was weird. Coming a day early and changing hotels twice, and then showing up to an empty stadium that we have no affiliation with, the whole thing was weird.”
Virginia now returns to Scott Stadium to open ACC play against a Louisville team that has been somewhat of an enigma this season. Sure, losing star quarterback Lamar Jackson was certain to hamper the Cardinals’ offense, but an opening 51-14 loss to Alabama followed by two dull victories over Indiana State and Western Kentucky has Louisville fans wondering what is to come.
The Cavaliers have shown the ability to score points at will so far this season and tallied two touchdowns of 75 yards or more in the win over Ohio. Wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus set a school record catching nine passes for 247 yards and will be a challenge for a struggling Louisville secondary.
“It’s clear that all of our pieces have to play well,” Mendenhall said of his team. “It showed on the scoreboard at Indiana and it showed last week against Ohio. When we have all of our pieces going, we play well.”
Virginia will look to break a two-game losing streak against the Cardinals with their last win coming in 2014.
The Cavaliers are 25-39 all-time in ACC openers and this will mark just the fifth time over the last 13 seasons that they will open conference play at home.
“Every game at home is critical and any advantage you can gain is critical,” Mendenhall said. “They don’t come around often so if you have the chance to play at home, you can’t squander it. I like the resiliency of our team.”
