CHARLOTTESVILLE — Virginia’s defense gave up more than a full touchdown less per game this football season, and the unit earned plenty of postseason recognition for its work on Tuesday.
UVa placed seven players on the all-ACC team, and five of those players came from the defensive side of the football.
Senior cornerback Anthony Johnson was a first-team selection, as voted by a panel of media members and the league’s 14 coaches, while junior cornerback Fentrell Cypress and senior linebacker Nick Jackson made the second team, as did senior punter Daniel Sparks.
Senior wide receiver Keytaon Thompson was named to the third team, and senior defensive end Chico Bennett and senior defensive tackle Aaron Faumui were honorable mentions.
Virginia Tech didn’t place any players on the three all-conference teams but did have six chosen as honorable mention: Senior wide receiver Kaleb Smith, senior offensive tackle Silas Dzansi, senior defensive end TyJuan Garbutt, senior linebacker Dax Hollifield, freshman cornerback Mansoor Delane and freshman return specialist Tucker Holloway.
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The Hokies (3-8) were the only team without a player on the three all-conference teams. It’s the first time that’s happened to Virginia Tech since joining the league in 2004.
Atlantic Division champion Clemson led the way with 12 all-conference selections. The Tigers’ Will Shipley was a first-team pick at running back, all-purpose back and return specialist.
Pitt followed with nine selections, while Florida State and Coastal Division champion North Carolina each had eight players chosen.
For Virginia, Johnson — who transferred to the Cavaliers before the 2021 season — ranked second in the ACC in passes defended with 14 and had two interceptions.
His fellow corner Cypress had 13 passes defended.
Jackson totaled 104 tackles and 5 sacks in 10 games and his 10.4 tackle-per-game average ranked second in the ACC. It was the senior’s third straight season with more than 100 tackles. Jackson is tied for 11th place on UVa’s all-time tackles list with 354.
They led a defense, under coordinator John Rudzinski, that gave up 24 points per game a season after allowing 31.8.
Sparks, a transfer from Minnesota, ranked second in the ACC with a 45.8 yards-per-punt average.
As Virginia transitioned to first-year coach Tony Elliott’s more timing-based, pro-style offense, Thompson had the biggest season of the returning Big Three receivers.
Thompson’s 72.4 receiving yards per game ranked seventh in the ACC, and his 6.6 receptions per game put him second in the league. Thompson caught 53 passes for 579 yards in eight games.
He missed two games due to injury, and UVa (3-7) canceled its final two games following the on-campus shooting death of three football players.
Bennett, who transferred from Georgia Tech before the 2021 season but suffered a knee injury, led Virginia with 7 sacks this year.
Faumui, who was part of UVa’s 2018 recruiting class and played as a true freshman and opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, had four sacks and 8½ tackles for loss this season.
First team
Offense
QB: Drake Maye, UNC, 177; RB: Israel Abanikanda, Pitt, 187; RB: Will Shipley, Clemson, 164; WR: Zay Flowers, Boston College, 184; WR: Josh Downs, UNC, 184; WR: A.T. Perry, Wake Forest, 167; TE: Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse, 127; AP: Will Shipley, Clemson, 166; OT: Jordan McFadden, Clemson, 159; OT: Graham Barton, Duke, 132; OG: Dillan Gibbons, FSU, 131; OG: Chandler Zavala, NCSU, 119; OG: Marcus Minor, Pitt, 119; C: Grant Gibson, NCSU, 132
Defense
DE: Jared Verse, FSU, 163; DE: Myles Murphy, Clemson, 112; DT: Calijah Kancey, Pitt, 160; DT: Tyler Davis, Clemson, 116; LB: Cedric Gray, UNC, 128; LB: Yasir Abdullah, Louisville, 116; LB: SirVocea Dennis, Pitt, 116; CB: Aydan White, NCSU, 117; CB: Anthony Johnson, UVa, 84; S: Kam Kinchens, Miami, 139; S: Jammie Robinson, FSU, 129
Specialists
K: Christopher Dunn, NCSU, 177; P: Lou Hedley, Miami, 133; SP: Will Shipley, Clemson, 131
Second team
Offense
QB: Jordan Travis, FSU, 98; RB: Sean Tucker, Syracuse, 140; RB: Trey Benson, FSU, 137; WR: Jared Wayne, Pitt, 114; WR: Tyler Hudson, Louisville, 109; WR: Johnny Wilson, FSU, 81; TE: Will Mallory, Miami, 94; AP: Josh Downs, UNC, 81; OT: Matthew Bergeron, Syracuse, 114; OT: Robert Scott, FSU, 69; OG: Sean Maginn, Wake Forest, 88; OG: Caleb Chandler, Louisville, 81; C: Bryan Hudson, Louisville, 57
Defense
DE: K.J. Henry, Clemson, 80; DE: Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College, 75; DT: DeWayne Carter, Duke, 95; DT: Bryan Bresee, Clemson, 61; LB: Drake Thomas, NCSU, 108; LB: Nick Jackson, UVa, 75; LB: Ayinde Eley, Ga. Tech, 70; CB: Fentrell Cypress, UVa, 69; CB: Storm Duck, UNC, 65; S: Tanner Ingle, NCSU, 91; S: Erick Hallett II, Pitt, 83
Specialists
K: B.T. Potter, Clemson, 86; P: Daniel Sparks, UVa, 97; SP: M.J. Devonshire, Pitt, 89
Third team
Offense
QB: Sam Hartman, Wake Forest, 82; RB: Henry Parrish, Jr., Miami, 49; RB: Justice Ellison, Wake Forest, 38; WR: Jalon Calhoun, Duke, 68; WR: Antoine Green, UNC, 56; WR: Keytaon Thompson, UVa, 50; TE: Davis Allen, Clemson, 52; AP: Sean Tucker, Syracuse, 64; OT: Matt Goncalves, Pitt, 66; OT: Asim Richards, UNC, 62; OG: D’Mitri Emmanuel, FSU, 57; OG: Jake Kradel, Pitt, 50; C: Will Putnam, Clemson, 51
Defense
DE: Yaya Diaby, Louisville, 65; DE: Keion White, Ga. Tech, 44; DT: Kobie Turner, Wake Forest, 53; DT: Cory Durden, NCSU, 44; LB: Charlie Thomas, Ga. Tech, 63; LB: Trenton Simpson, Clemson, 58; LB: Mikel Jones, Syracuse, 55; CB: Kei’Trel Clark, Louisville, 64; CB: Tyrique Stevenson, Miami, 42; S: Darius Joiner, Duke, 63; S: LaMiles Brooks, Ga. Tech, 47
Specialists
K: James Turner, Louisville, 72; P: Ben Kiernan, UNC, 53; SP: Jalon Calhoun, Duke, 74
Honorable mention
QB: Riley Leonard, Duke, 22; RB: Treshaun Ward, FSU, 31; RB: Tiyon Evans, Louisville, 30; WR -Thayer Thomas, NCSU, 43; WR: Nate McCollum, Ga. Tech, 37; WR: Kaleb Smith, Va. Tech, 22; WR: Jahmal Banks, Wake Forest, 21; WR: Antonio Williams, Clemson, 15; TE: Bryson Nesbit, UNC, 44; TE: Marshon Ford, Louisville, 27; AP: Jalon Calhoun, Duke, 32; AP: Hassan Hall, Ga. Tech, 18
OT: DeVonte Gordon, Wake Forest, 38; OT: Renato Brown, Louisville, 32; OT: DJ Scaife, Jr., Miami, 31; OT: Timothy McKay, NCSU, 30; OT: Silas Dzansi, Va. Tech, 21; OG: Walker Parks, Clemson, 48; OG: Marcus Tate, Clemson, 38; OG: Loic Ngassam Nya, Wake Forest, 19; OG: Jalen Rivers, Miami, 16; C: Michael Jurgens, Wake Forest, 44; C: Corey Gaynor, UNC, 26; C: Maurice Smith, FSU, 25; C: Jacob Monk, Duke, 25; C: Jake Kradel, Pitt, 21
DE: TyJuan Garbutt, Va. Tech, 38; DE: Akheem Mesidor, Miami, 36; DE: Chico Bennett, UVa, 35; DE: Jasheen Davis, Wake Forest, 21; DE: Deslin Alexandre, Pitt, 19; DE: Rondell Bothroyd, Wake Forest, 17; DT: Fabien Lovett, FSU, 36; DT: Leonard Taylor III, Miami, 34; DT: Aaron Faumui, UVa, 22; DT: Ruke Orhorhoro, Clemson, 18; DT: Robert Cooper, FSU, 17; DT: Chibueze Onwuka, Boston College, 16; DT: Ashton Gillotte, Louisville, 15
LB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson, 51; LB: Isaiah Moore, NCSU, 48; LB: Ryan Smenda, Jr., Wake Forest, 45; LB: Barrett Carter, Clemson, 36; LB: Shaka Heyward, Duke, 34; LB: Payton Wilson, NCSU, 25; LB: Dax Hollifield, Va. Tech, 22; LB: Momo Sanogo, Louisville, 20; LB: Tatum Bethune, FSU, 19; LB: Power Echols, UNC, 17; LB: Marlowe Wax, Syracuse, 16; LB: Vinny DePalma, Boston College, 15
CB: Duce Chestnut, Syracuse, 39; CB: Elijah Jones, Boston College, 37; CB: M.J. Devonshire, Pitt, 33; CB: Zamari Walton, Ga. Tech, 27; CB: Garrett Williams, Syracuse, 26; CB: Marquis Williams, Pitt, 26; CB: Sheridan Jones, Clemson, 25; CB: Renardo Green, FSU, 24; CB: Nate Wiggins, Clemson, 24; CB: Josh DeBerry, Boston College, 23; CB: Mansoor Delane, Va. Tech, 19; CB: Tyler Baker-Williams, NCSU, 17; S: Brandon Hill, Pitt, 37
; S: Andrew Mukuba, Clemson, 34; S: Ja’Had Carter, Syracuse, 33; S: Jaiden Woodbey, Boston College, 25; S: Brandon Johnson, Duke, 22; S: Jalyn Phillips, Clemson, 17
K: Andres Borregales, Miami, 17; P: Mark Vassett, Louisville, 45; P: Porter Wilson, Duke, 16; SP: Mycah Pittman, FSU, 59; SP: Tucker Holloway, Va. Tech, 26
29 photos from The Times-Dispatch archives
In February 1956, “Teen Age Party,” a televised music and dancing show for the younger crowd, was broadcast on Saturdays from the WRVA Theatre in downtown Richmond.
In 1963, Virginia Polytechnic Institute Associate Entomologist J.M. Amos demonstrated a mole trap. Though he said moles weren’t a gardener’s top enemy, their runways were used by other rodents that eat plant roots or bulbs.
This November 1971 image shows a monument in eastern Henrico County that commemorated the “calamitous year 1771” flood in Richmond. On another side, the monument included an inscription from Ryland Randolph citing 1772 and memorializing his parents.
In August 1953, members of the Monacan Junior Woman’s Club sought volunteers for the upcoming blood drive at Tuckahoe Elementary School in Henrico County. While Mrs. Allan J. Carter called prospects, Mrs. William F. Thornton worked at the typewriter.
In May 1963, Florence H. Rose outlined registration procedures to students Joan Voss and Harold Costley at the Richmond Youth Employment Center on Ninth Street downtown. By July that year, the center, operated by the Virginia Employment Commission and the Richmond Federation of Parent-Teacher Associations, had helped employ about 9 percent of Richmond’s youth.
In August 1968, trash was strewn along a street in downtown Richmond. In late June and early July, the eight-day “Fight Litter ’68” campaign gathered a cleanup force of 150 city workers and made progress in seven areas. But the Advertising Club of Richmond planned a follow-up appeal to city residents to join the local fight against litter.
In July 1959, a Tredegar Co. worker collected parts at the company’s new plant on Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County. One of company’s jobs at the time was doing machine work on missile stabilizers.
In February 1961, Adrienne Price, a senior at Westhampton College in Richmond, got ready for geography class. She recently had been voted “best dressed” at the school, which is affiliated with the University of Richmond.
In November 1944, Mrs. Alfred Adkins of Gordo, Ala., and her two young daughters visited the Travelers Aid Society in Richmond en route to Williamsburg, where her military husband was stationed. The society was a charter member of the Richmond War and Community Fund and offered travel assistance to servicemen and civilians.
In March 1990, a young bagpiper was part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade procession on West Broad Street in Richmond.
In March 1954, Perry Sinnickson, 8, eagerly mounted a horse with little assistance from instructor Stewart Felvey. They were at the Deep Run Pony Club in Goochland County, a new equestrian program for juniors and the first club of its kind in Virginia.
In November 1964, St. Catherine’s School students Cindy McDonough (left) and Rozzie Kemper (right) accompanied teacher Lucile Tang Liu to class. Liu, the new Upper School librarian and a French and Chinese history teacher, was from China and moved to Richmond from Montreal as one of several international teachers added to the school faculty.
In June 1966, 8-year-old summer day camper Larry Harris surveyed the water facilities at Camp Thunderbird, which the YMCA opened that year in Chesterfield County. For more than 50 years before, the Boy Scouts had operated Camp Shawondasee there.
In December 1947, T.E. Burton Jr. diagnosed a patient at his doll hospital on Forest Hill Avenue in Richmond. Burton, a state Highway Department employee, was part-time chief surgeon at the doll hospital he ran out of his home. He got into the repair business when his two young daughters received as gifts antique china dolls that were badly in need of work. Burton averaged about 10 patients a week, with a busy season around the holidays.
In October 1982, Tim Smith checked the progress of a bunch of bananas in Highland Springs. His father, George, began cultivating the banana grove 10 years earlier after a friend gave him a plant as a gift. The plant grew and multiplied into 89 banana trees, ranging from 6-inch shoots to 18-foot trees. (George Smith said he didn’t eat the fruit — he grew them because he said they were beautiful plants.)
In June 1973, the pews were full at Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond for a service marking the 50th anniversary of the ordination of the Most Rev. John J. Russell, retired bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
In April 1985, Blanche Whitaker operated the elevator one last time at Central Fidelity Bank in downtown Richmond. Whitaker was retiring after more than three decades and was believed to be the last manual elevator operator in the city. With her departure, the bank planned to convert the elevator to automatic control.
In December 1991, the Westover Hills Neighborhood Association held a dedication ceremony for the recently erected bronze markers in the median on Westover Hills Boulevard in South Richmond.
In August 1989, Coppola’s Deli owner Joe Coppola (right) and manager Bill Gerloff carefully assembled a 40-foot Italian hero in the Carytown eatery. The giant sub required three cases of tomatoes, 50 pounds of cold cuts and 15 pounds of provolone cheese. The sandwich was made for the Carytown Watermelon Festival, where patrons could buy 5 inches for $5.
In November 1965, Richmond Mayor Morrill M. Crowe cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the inauguration of the Eastern Airlines passenger service from Byrd Field to New York. The pilot for the flight, Capt. R.D. Tyler, and stewardess Margaret McLaughlin held the ribbon.
In November 1961, state Sen. John J. Wicker dressed as a colonist and, having flown to Boston, presented the governor of Massachusetts with documents — and live turkeys — to make the case that Virginia held the first Thanksgiving in 1619, two years before the Pilgrims held a celebration at Plymouth.
In January 1972, the Rev. Constantine N. Dombalis, leader of Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Richmond, sprinkled holy water on the foreheads of two parishioners at the beginning of his tour to perform blessings of the homes for his 300 parishioners.
In July 1954, Mrs. Arthur Franklin worked on a display at Jeter’s, her harness shop at 221 E. Main St. in Richmond. The shop was founded in 1888 and had been a supplier of saddles and bridles for Abercrombie & Fitch, the New York sporting goods house. By the 1950s, a key customer was Colonial Williamsburg: It equipped its horses with harnesses and other accessories made by Jeter’s in strict accordance with 18th-century design.
In September 1975, handler Bobby Barlow showed off his basset hound, Champion Slippery Hill Hudson, who was named best in show at the Virginia Kennel Club dog show at the Arena in Richmond. At left is judge George C. Ehmig, and at right is show executive Lawrence W. Bracken Jr.
In October 1959, the rain-swollen Rivanna River flooded the Albemarle County Fairgrounds, postponing the opening of a carnival. A pelican that was part of a wildlife exhibit for the event stayed dry while tents and vehicles were under several feet of water.
In the 1960s, the Artmobile for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was essentially a rolling exhibit. The updated version, a museum and classroom on wheels, is expected to stop at schools, retirement facilities and community centers.
