Virginia was a huge underdog against Florida in the Orange Bowl. Many did not give them much of a chance to compete with a top 10 Florida team. Compete and compete hard is exactly what they did. The Virginia coaching schemed around the team’s deficiencies and injuries in the secondary as best they could.
It was almost enough in a 36-28 Orange Bowl loss.
The Hoos significantly out-manned by Florida, have nothing to be ashamed of in their performance. Bryce Perkins showed flashes of what made him one of the best QBs in the ACC.
The defense only gave up 12 points in the 2nd half – what more could the the Hoos do?
When you play a team the caliber of Florida you have to take advantage of every single opportunity to spring an upset of that magnitude. Despite tremendous effort, the Hoos missed several chances. TD passes that were under-thrown. TD passes that were over-thrown. Interceptions that were dropped. This was just in the 2nd half.
What can you say? Virginia needed close to a flawless game and didn’t quite get it. While I’m not big on moral victories, Virginia acquitted themselves well. I’ll always wonder how much a fully healthy Virginia secondary would have changed this game. We’ll never know, but this is what we know about Virginia football.
Bryce Perkins leaves a Virginia legend, and was the only QB to throw for more than 300 yards against Florida. The Hoos won a Coastal Division title, beat Virginia Tech for the first since 2003, and went to the Orange Bowl. They could still finish the season ranked in the top 25. By any measure this was a successful season for Virginia and coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Mendenhall inherited a mess of a program and has turned them around. Virginia fans are excited for the future.
So proud of this 2019 team.
9 wins.
Beat VA Poly Tech.
Won the ACC Coastal.Bryce Perkins is probably my favorite player of the decade. This team has come so far under Bronco and staff. Recruiting is picking up, fans are coming back.
The future is bright! Wahoowa! 🔷⚔️🔶
— Cavalier Blue (@CavalierBlue) December 31, 2019
Can Mendenhall take them even higher? We saw the Hoos be competitive with top 15 teams Notre Dame and Florida, even with a discrepancy in overall talent.
If Bronco Mendenhall can continue to improve talent base and depth of the Virginia football team, the coaching, effort, and changed culture are all there for Virginia to take the next step and finish in the top 20 sometime in the next 2 or 3 years.
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