As he walked onto the field at Scott Stadium to loosen up with about 90 minutes to go until kickoff, no one would’ve been able to detect that Virginia offensive lineman Kevin Wigenton II was nearing his first start as a member of the Hoos.
Wigenton, an Illinois transfer, moved with a calm focus and gave fist bumps to the teammates he encountered. The 6-foot-5, 335-pounder never showed any sign of nerves.
“It’s my responsibility to prepare every week as if I’m starting,” Wigenton said. “I owe it to my teammates. I owe it to myself, my coach, my family and to this university to be prepared whether I play 80 snaps, 30 snaps or zero snaps. It’s just being a pro and being about your business.”
And from the opening drive of the Cavaliers’ 46-38 upset win over No. 8 Florida State in double overtime on Friday night, they trusted Wigenton to fill in adequately on the offensive front.
UVa moved usual starting right guard Drake Metcalf to center to replace injured standout center Brady Wilson, who was sidelined with a calf issue. The Cavaliers inserted Wigenton, a former starter for Michigan State in 2023, into the lineup at right guard.
To convert a first down for the first time in the contest, Hoos running back J’Mari Taylor used Wigenton’s block to race 9 yards on a second-and-6. Wigenton drove Florida State’s hefty defensive tackle, Darrell Jackson, left and out of the way. Jackson stands at 6-foot-5, 337 pounds, and Wigenton had no problem dispatching Jackson to make room for Taylor.
“Kevin is just a big dude and in the run game, he’s mauling people,” UVa left tackle McKale Boley said. “We’re in practice telling people to stay up [on their feet] and it’s kind of hard with Kevin because he’s just so physical.”
Taylor made another block from Wigenton work on the third-and-5 from Florida State’s 14-yard to line to gain 6 yards during the Cavaliers’ first scoring drive. Two plays later, he held up in pass protection on quarterback Chandler Morris’ touchdown pass to tight end Sage Ennis, which provided UVa its first lead of the bout.
Even as the game wore on, UVa continued to believe in Wigenton.
In the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-1 inside Seminoles territory, the Hoos called for Taylor to run behind Wigenton and right tackle Jack Witmer. The pair did enough clearing of FSU’s defensive line to free up Taylor to advance past the line to gain.
That enabled a go-ahead scoring drive to keep going.
Wigenton credited third-year UVa offensive line coach Terry Heffernan for having the entire offensive line prepared on Friday night against the Seminoles’ defense, which entered the clash having yielded only 78.3 rushing yards per game. They hadn’t given up a rushing touchdown either until Friday.
The Cavaliers racked up 211 rushing yards and four scores on the ground in their win over Florida State.
“I don’t think you guys talk about Coach Heff enough,” Wigenton said. “With the injuries we’ve had at the right tackle position and the injuries we’ve had on the interior, he’s cross-trained us and he’s a big reason why I came to this University.
“He’s had extensive time in the [NFL]. He has knowledge,” Wigenton continued, “and I wanted to be around a guy like that, and I think that was on display today. It doesn’t matter who goes down. He has five or more people ready to play.”
Witmer was the Hoos’ fourth option at right tackle after Louisville transfer Monroe Mills suffered an ACL injury in the spring, Arkansas State transfer Makilan Thomas sustained an Achilles injury during training camp and former New Mexico tackle Wallace Unamba got hurt in Week 2 against N.C. State.
But all Witmer has done — just like Wigenton did on Friday in his first start and as Metcalf did while sliding to center — is play well enough to keep the offense moving forward and the rushing attack churning.
Boley said Heffernan, a former assistant with the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions, spent time this past summer with different NFL coaching staffs to bring back more ideas to help improve the Cavaliers’ O-Line.
Wigenton said he’s grown tremendously under Heffernan’s watch.
Morris said Wigenton’s performance is what UVa needed. Especially with Wilson out.
“He played really well,” Morris said of Wigenton. “I didn’t feel too much pressure from him. I thought he played great and I thought he stepped up for us this week.”
Wigenton had some catching up to do after missing a week of practice ahead of the Stanford game while dealing with an injury. He played against the Cardinal off the bench, and then returned to practice this past week to prepare for the Seminoles.
Wigenton said he couldn’t remember exactly when it was that he learned he’d start against Florida State.
But he was ready and ultimately handled his responsibility before he soaked in the thrill of the Cavaliers’ take down of Florida State as well as the field-storming by the Wahoo faithful afterward.
“It was amazing,” Wigenton said.
Greg Madia
gmadia@dailyprogress.com
@GregMadia on X
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Greg Madia
UVa Sports Reporter
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