CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS) -- Instead of on the practice field, players on the Virginia football team have gotten their reps this spring on the white board.  Instead of being together on campus this summer, the Cavaliers are trying to build chemistry on Zoom.

Quarterbacks coach Jason Beck hopes these months of virtual work will help the Wahoos start filling some big holes offensively when they do reunite as a team.

"There's a lot of young, hungry guys that are looking to step in there.  They've been working hard.  There's some transfers coming in," Beck told reporters during a Zoom session on Thursday.  "They want to make the most of this opportunity."

It took Bryce Perkins just two seasons as the Cavaliers' starting quarterback to become the program's all-time leader in yards of total offense, and several other statistics.  But Perkins is gone now, and so are receivers Joe Reed and Hasise Dubois -- which means the Wahoos need to replace the leading passer, leading rusher and top two pass-catchers from last year's Coastal Division title team.

Rising redshirt sophomore Brennan Armstrong spent his first two UVA seasons backing up Perkins.  The Cavaliers also added grad transfer quarterback Keytaon Thompson, who will join the team once he's completed classes at Mississippi State.

Terrell Jana, a rising senior who caught 74 passes for 886 yards last fall, and junior Wayne Taulapapa, who ran for a team-high 12 touchdowns, are both back.  Running back Mike Hollins and receiver Dontayvion Wicks, both sophomores, are at the top of the list of young players expected to fill bigger roles offensively.  UVA also added transfer running back Ronnie Walker -- whose status for next season is still undetermined, Beck said on Thursday -- and grad transfer receiver Ra'Shaun Henry.

But instead of getting on-field reps in 15 practices this spring, UVA players were all sent home because of the coronavirus pandemic.  The Wahoos have been meeting virtually as a team each morning, Beck said, in addition to other time spent with special teams units and position groups.  Coaches have been able to incorporate work on the white board, film study and quizzes into those virtual position meetings.

Beck hopes that virtual coaching has jump-started a chemistry-building process between UVA's skill position players that under normal circumstances would be cultivating on the practice field.

"Obviously that's through technology, through film, through conversation," Beck said.  "But we want to encourage those guys to be connecting with each other and talking with each other just as much as we are as coaches doing it with them.  Because we need that chemistry to build amongst those groups."