Boise State Football: 3 bold predictions for Virginia game

1. Kurt Benkert won’t finish the game for Virginia after getting benched

Kurt Benkert, the East Carolina transfer, is now in his second season as the starting quarterback for Virginia. After a so-so season in 2016, Benkert has taken the next leap for Bronco Mendenhall and the Cavaliers. He has improved his completion rate by 10 percent, and already has nearly 1000 passing yards on the year.  Benkert has also done a better job of protecting the ball, throwing just one pick so far against seven scores.

Last year he had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 21-to-11. Even in the Cavaliers’ lone defeat so far, against Indiana, Benkert threw for 259 yards and a touchdown without turning over the football. His smart play has helped Virginia improve from last year’s 2-10 effort. Against Boise State, though, he is going to find it much harder to continue producing at such a high rate.

Next: NFL Mock Draft 2018: Quarterbacks dominate first round

The Broncos secondary already has four interceptions this season and is holding opponents to 213 passing yards per game. Playing on the Smurf Turf, Benkert is going to toss a couple of interceptions and get himself benched. Mendenhall and the offensive staff will decide to get freshman Lindell Stone some snaps once the game is out of reach, and he’ll engineer a late score to pull back a touchdown for Virginia.