Everything UVA football’s coaching staff said after the Miami loss

Following the Virginia Cavaliers 14-12 loss to the Miami Hurricanes, the Wahoo coaching staff addressed the media to provide their thoughts on today’s defeat.

Head Coach Tony Elliott

On the offense’s performance today:

“We just needed to make one more play than they did. And they made a play there at the end and we didn’t make a play. But it seems like that’s been the theme with us offensively, is we’re just leaving points on the field. There were several trips to the red zone.”

“That’s why you always tell them, guys like Lavel [Davis Jr.] he’s trying hard but man find a way to keep your feet and score a touchdown. [Grant] Misch, he had the ball, got on him quick, and find a way to make the touchdown. Mike [Hollins], get the ball in the endzone. We knew coming into this game, and I challenged the guys offensively, the defensive line that Miami has is pretty good. They’re pretty stout. They’ve played a lot of football, they’re experienced.”

“I knew that it was gonna be a challenge to run the football and we were going to have to do a good job to be able to protect, but there were some plays there. I think maybe the first or second play we got [Dontayvion] Wicks open, we got to make those plays.”

“The guys continue to strain and continue to fight, I thought that overall, the team made progress. You look at two weeks ago versus Louisville, we were trying to give the game away early. Then we came back and battled through adversity. And then now we’re in a four quarter overtime game all the way down to the end. So definitely not the outcome that we wanted and the guys are going to be sick when they watch those four or five, maybe six plays that would have made a big difference in the game that we didn’t make.”

On the difficulty of preparing for overtime situations:

“That was a tough situation there because you don’t know if you’re gonna go first. You don’t know if you’re gonna go second. You’re kind of seeing if you need a touchdown. We knew that in our kicking situation we couldn’t lose any yards but at the same time too, we don’t want to end the game by putting the ball in the air in some of those earlier overtime situations.”

“And to a point you work on it [overtime situations] on Mondays, you work on it on Thursdays, and then there’s gonna be some time on Wednesday, when you work all your redzone stuff to be able to have a plan for your overtime and you carry probably six or so, maybe seven plays that you feel good about in the low red, so it’s not just two point [conversion], but it’s third and three from the from the three, starting four from the four. So you’re going to practice those plays all throughout the course of the week.”

On the improvement the defense has seen over this season:

“I think as I’ve said, the influx of the guys on the D line has just brought competition. Competition and camaraderie. So when we go to the movie the night before [the game], I see Chico [Bennett], I see Kam [Butler], I see Paul [Akere] all sitting together. Those guys right there, if they’re sitting together, and they’re having fun, they’re joking and they’re competing on the field you’ve got a chance to have great chemistry and then it flows over to the linebacker spot and then you’re seeing that the safeties are becoming more confident and then our corners are doing a good job of covering on the on the back end.”

“They have found a way to stay hungry amidst the success so they’re doing a good job of handling this success. I’ve got to do a better job of getting the offense and the special teams to play more complimentary football. I think if we can get that done, then what you’re gonna see is a different outcome on the scoreboard and these guys in the locker room are going to see what they’re truly capable of.”

Offensive Coordinator Des Kitchings

On what kept the UVA offense out of the end-zone:

“It was ourselves. A combination of things and missed opportunities. It’s unfortunate. We popped a big pass to Lavel [Davis Jr.] and fell down on the three, and then we missed a deal with [Keytaon Thompson] on the pass that we dropped on fourth down. Another drive on the third down, Mike Hollins gets down there, I thought he scored, it gets out of bounds and we stall out there.”

“Then, there was a bad third down call going into our locker room area during the fourth quarter at third down and three. We should have had a better call there. So, it was a combination of things. We talked about competitive stamina and the guys showed that. They battled for four quarters. They’ve been working hard. I would’ve loved for them to reap the benefits of hard work out there today, they deserved to win, and unfortunately we didn’t get it for them.”

On changing the play call after the false start on the first two-point attempt in OT:

“Yes. We went through that knowing that they will be in a man [to man] situation. So we have Wicks one on one, and they played zone; then we had [Keytaon Thompson] and Billy [Kemp] on a double out with Lavel running the backline so we can high low it there.”

On if the under-thrown 47-yard completion to Lavel Davis Jr. was Brennan Armstrong’s fault or not:

“I wouldn’t say the ball was on underthrown, [Lavel] had to adjust to it but just keep your feet biting. You can get it in there for us, but that’s just kind of been our luck this year.”

On dealing with the frustration of losing:

“The guys put it all in. We’ll bounce back. We have a good group of kids, character kids and coaches, and we will bounce back, pull ourselves up and put in the work to play again next week.”

Defensive Coordinator John Rudzinksi

Opening Statement:

“Compliments to Miami. They found a way to score more points. Frankly, it’s a team game. Our guys, they fought. They fought for the V-Sabre and I know how important it is for them to perform well and to perform at a high level.”

On frustration with the offense:

“Our focus defensively is to take care of great defensive football. Compliment to these young men fighting all day long. We had a chance to win the football game. Again, compliments to Miami.”

On practicing two-point conversions

“It’s something we do on Wednesday, every week. Every week, we go through those two points. You have a few calls on that menu that you go through. We had a chance to really, if we would have done our jobs there on that, we had guys in position to make plays. Again, compliments to Miami for making the final play.”

On the game-winning Miami two-point conversion:

“Like we’re always going to have to do, somebody’s got to take the quarterback. Somebody’s got to take two to the flat. They out executed and that’s what it comes down to. That’s what good football teams do is they go execute.”

On preparing for multiple overtimes:

“You get a chance to work the red zone situation a bunch. And so for us, working as far as the true overtime, you work two point plays and then you work the red zone, which ends up being a good simulation for those situations.”

On player frustrations:

“I want these guys to be frustrated. We’re frustrated as coaches. We want to win. We want to win for that V-Sabre. We want to win for Charlottesville. We want to win for all the folks here in the state of Virginia. We’re frustrated. And at the same time, there’s a lot of good things that we can learn from. We owe it to this university to play at a high level and then ultimately, frankly, to win.”

On safety Antonio Clary’s interception and the secondary’s success:

“Clary flew around. All these guys flew around. They bled for the V-Sabre, and they bled over and over and over again. That’s on all three phases of the ball. Again compliments to Miami.”

On freshman linebackers Trey McDonald and Stevie Bracey getting more snaps

“Depth is super important late in the season. Those guys earned the snaps. They’ve come on as freshmen, and they’re no longer freshmen for us here in this program. What they are, is they are older guys now, for as many reps as they’ve gotten. We’re excited to create opportunity for for young guys to come in here, learn the system and be able to contribute.”

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Thanks to the UVA Media Relations team for providing these transcripts!