Virginia football coaches know all about Boise State’s ‘shock and awe’ from BYU days

The Boise State football team hosts its first regular season game against an Atlantic Coast Conference program when Virginia takes to the blue turf Friday night.

The two schools have played just once before — a 56-14 BSU win at Virginia on Sept. 25, 2015 — but the coaches know each other well.

Before he took over at Virginia, Bronco Mendenhall was the head coach at BYU for 11 seasons, playing the Broncos four times, including two games at Albertsons Stadium. He also was the defensive coordinator for the 2003-04 games between BSU and BYU.

BYU is 2-5 against the Broncos, and Mendenhall can claim both those victories, but neither of them came in Boise.

Eleven of the 15 coaches listed on Virginia’s website have BYU ties, giving Friday’s matchup (6 p.m., ESPN2) a familiar feel, at least from the coaches’ perspective.

“I believe one of my first games there at BYU, we missed a field goal to win,” Mendenhall said, referencing the 2004 game. “Another game we went for a two-point conversion and I think lost 7-6. I think there was another close one in there, and then they came to our stadium and we won a couple.

“But the stadium, the turf is one thing, but the style of play, Boise is always really aggressive at the beginning of the game. They prefer to get out in front in kind of shock and awe, and gadget or trick, or momentum or tempo or something unique and different. They really play hard and play fast at the beginning of the games there.”

Virginia is 2-1 with wins over William & Mary and UConn and a home loss to Indiana. The Cavaliers rank 44th in total defense, allowing 327.3 yards per game.

“There’s a lot of similarities (to playing BYU). Obviously this is (Mendenhall’s) defense,” Boise State offensive coordinator Zak Hill said. “We’re going to be ready for whatever. He likes to do a lot of different things with his pressures, and we’ve got to be able to adjust in the game and stick to what we do offensively.”

Virginia ranks 17th in passing offense at 325.3 yards per game. Senior quarterback Kurt Benkert has started 13 games for the Cavaliers and has thrown for at least three touchdowns in six of those starts.

Benkert is No. 3 in the ACC in passing yards (976) and passing touchdowns (7). His 32 completions per game rank No. 3 in the nation and No. 1 in the ACC.

Virginia’s trip to Boise is the fifth-longest in school history, at approximately 2,400 miles. It’s also the Cavaliers’ first road game of the 2017 season.

The Broncos traditionally haven’t been easy on visiting teams. Boise State has won 24 straight at home against nonconference foes, with its last loss coming against Boston College in the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl.

Mendenhall knows why it can be so difficult to win on the Blue.

“The initial onslaught is usually — and the crowd especially — that’s usually those two things together kind of make this a unique challenge,” Mendenhall said. “You have to start fast and you have to be resilient, especially early, to play well there.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Virginia football coaches know all about Boise State’s ‘shock and awe’ from BYU days."