Virginia football starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong, back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion against NC State on October 10, throws a pass against Miami. ~ Photo courtesy Jim Daves/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

Starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong returned to action for the University of Virginia football program after missing one-and-a-half games due to a concussion. How did the 6’2”, 215-pound redshirt sophomore signal caller perform against Miami on Saturday night? Here are the positive and negative takeaways in UVA’s 19-14 loss to the Hurricanes.

Positives

- Armstrong totaled 272 yards of offense, including 181 yards passing and a team-best 91 yards rushing. He threw two touchdown passes and, most importantly, had zero turnovers except for an essentially meaningless fumble on a lateral on the last play of the game. The play was not going anywhere, and time had expired.

Turnovers have been a big issue for the lefty signal caller, who threw two interceptions in each of his first three games this season.

- Virginia finally scored a first quarter touchdown in 2020. On its opening drive, the Cavalier offense marched 64 yards on 11 plays to tie the game at 7-7. Armstrong completed 4-of-5 passes for 26 yards and had nine yards rushing on the drive, which ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Armstrong to tight end Tony Poljan.

- Armstrong completed eight of his first 13 passes of the game. The incompletion on Virginia’s first drive was a good pass to Poljan, but a Miami defender made a better play to knock the ball away. Poljan dropped what appeared to be an on-the-money throw from Armstrong on the next drive.

- Decision-making overall seemed better as Armstrong did not force any throws into tight coverage. This had been an issue, resulting in some bad interceptions.

- Armstrong showed no effects from the concussion despite taking some solid hits from the Miami defense. He had some very good runs, highlighted by a 32-yard scamper on 4th-and-1 on Virginia’s second scoring drive. He found a wide open Ra’Shaun Henry for a touchdown the next play.

- According to Pro Football Focus, the Miami game was easily Armstrong’s highest overall offensive grade (87.1) and highest passing grade (83.5) of 2020. His next highest overall offense grade was Clemson (77.3), while his next highest passing grade was also Clemson (69.3).

Negatives

- Accuracy. Armstrong tied his lowest completion percentage of the season (53.3%), matching his performance against Duke. Reviewing the game, three of the incompletions versus Miami were drops – good passes the receiver should have caught – and two were simply good plays by the defense. The remaining nine were either simply poorly placed passes, uncatchable throws, or throwaways.

Armstrong, who completed only 7-of-14 passes in the second half, is going to have to be more accurate for Virginia to have a consistent passing attack needed to complement the newfound rushing attack.

- On some trickery from the Virginia coaches on the Cavaliers’ third drive of the game, Armstrong took a handoff from Keytaon Thompson and rolled left. He had Tavares Kelly Jr. wide open but woefully underthrew him. Had Armstrong made a good pass, it was just Kelly Jr. and another Virginia receiver and two Miami defenders in the area. The play potentially could have gone for a touchdown, and it is a play Armstrong has to make. Missed opportunities have been huge in Virginia’s 1-4 start to the season.

- Accuracy downfield. While Armstrong connected with senior receiver Terrell Jana on a 49-yard pass in the second half, most of the yards came from Jana, who fought through multiple defenders for significant yards after the catch. With 6’7” true freshman Lavel Davis Jr. sitting out, Virginia really did not have a downfield threat. Armstrong did connect with Henry on the 35-yard touchdown pass, but a blown coverage certainly helped there as Henry was wide open.

Armstrong missed several other 20+ yard pass attempts. In Armstrong’s defense the receivers were not very open, but will have to get better at throwing the ball into tight windows. Throwing the ball up to Davis Jr. cannot be the main downfield threat.

- For the most part Armstrong made good decisions on the day. One poor decision was scrambling up the middle on 1st and 5 at the Miami 44 with around 20 seconds left in the first half. The Hoos had no timeouts. Armstrong should have thrown the ball away, giving the offense time to perhaps complete a pass and get into field goal range. Instead, UVA rushed on the last play of the half. Armstrong wound up throwing the ball out of bounds as time expired.

- Third quarter woes. Virginia’s struggles in the first quarter have been well documented, but the Hoos’ offense isn’t faring well in third quarters, either. Through five games Virginia has only 14 points in the third quarter. The Hoos have not scored in the third in the past two weeks.

UVA managed just one first down – the 49-yard pass from Armstrong to Jana – in three third-quarter drives against Miami. Armstrong was just 2-of-4 passing in those three drives.

Moving Forward

Virginia’s sophomore quarterback had a hint of optimism in terms of how the offense was able to move the ball. Scoring points is what counts, but Miami could have given Armstrong and the rest of the offense some confidence.

“We didn't score but we felt good, like the offense felt good,” Armstrong said postgame. “We were like alright, we're moving the ball. We had a big play, I took a sack one time brought us back, got us out of field goal range. We were moving the ball down into the red zone, making sure we would keep our field position if we did so happen to stall out, field position would be flipped. You know Miami would be starting back on their side. It wasn't demoralizing at all. Everyone was positive, just moving around ready to go because we knew we were going to score. It just didn't come.”

Henry Makes His First Catch As A Cavalier

Graduate transfer wide receiver Ra’Shaun Henry had a productive fall camp and was a preseason frontrunner in terms of who could emerge at the wide receiver position for Virginia this season. Henry, who had 90 receptions for 1,118 yards last season at St. Francis (PA), has not had the start to his Virginia career that he envisioned.

The 6’3”, 185-pound redshirt senior played in Virginia’s first three games of 2020 but received only two targets and had zero catches in that span. He was sidelined for the Wake Forest game. Henry returned to play against Miami and finally made his first reception as a Hoo.

Henry’s 35-yard touchdown catch is the only catch of his Cavalier career, but it was an important one that got UVA within five points of Miami in the fourth quarter. He had a 29-yard touchdown catch in the first half called back because of a procedural penalty on the Hoos.