Can Virginia football repeat as ACC Coastal champ without Bryce Perkins?

Fresh off one of the best seasons in program history, can Virginia football show that it was more than just star quarterback Bryce Perkins?

Last season was a one in which Virginia football took a lot of pressure off itself and accomplished some things that either the program had not done or had not done in a long time.

Since the ACC split into two divisions in 2005, the Cavaliers had not yet won the division and were voted in the preseason as the team that would win the Coastal and take on Clemson in the conference championship. That is a type of pressure that the program is not used to frankly.

It had also been 15 years since Virginia had beaten arch rival Virginia Tech and there had been some serious heartbreaking losses in the meantime and Cavs fans were wondering when they could take down the Hokies. Virginia went 9-3, won the ACC Coastal and beat Virginia Tech for the first time in 15 years.

Now Virginia football fans are wondering: what will head coach Bronco Mendenhall do for an encore?

Virginia has been mostly an afterthought in many preseason projections, as most analysts are focusing on North Carolina, Miami and Virginia Tech as the favorites in 2020 and some of that can be contributed this the fact that all three schools have established quarterbacks. Former quarterback Bryce Perkins meant a lot to the program and he was the main source of offense for the past few years.

Another loss that was hard to overcome for Virginia last season was the season-ending injury to cornerback Bryce Hall. The Cavaliers secondary was not the same after his injury, but they were one of the best defenses in the entire country at getting pressure on the quarterback and most of that front-seven returns intact.

The Cavaliers will try to be the first team to repeat as Coastal champions since Virginia Tech in 2010 and 2011.