The good news about the UVA offensive line, it seemed, last week, was that senior Jonathan Leech was going to be available for Illinois, and it turns out, Leech would get on the field for 43 of the Cavaliers’ 67 offensive snaps.
The bad news: Leech graded out at an awful 36.0, from the rendering by Pro Football Focus.
Leech came in for the struggling true freshman left tackle McKale Boley (24 snaps, 49.4 PFF grade), allowing Logan Taylor (67 snaps, 55.5 PFF grade) to shift from right tackle over to the left side.
Tackles protect the edge, at least they’re supposed to.
Brennan Armstrong was under fire from the edges – Taylor and Leech each allowed six pressures, and a total of three sacks, and Boley allowed 14 pressures before going to the bench.
There was also plenty of pressure up the middle.
Center Ty Furnish (57 snaps, 34.3 PFF grade) allowed seven pressures, and Jestus Johnson (10 snaps, 68.8 PFF grade) allowed one.
All told, Armstrong was getting it from all sides, up the middle.
The guards – John Paul Flores (67 snaps, 61.5 PFF grade, one pressure allowed) and Derek Devine (67 snaps, 56.7 PFF grade, three pressures allowed) – were something of anchors for the unit.
The next test: an ODU front that recorded 14 pressures in the Monarchs’ 20-17 upset of Virginia Tech in Week 1.
The guy to watch for on the ODU front is junior defensive end Deeve Harris, who had five pressures in the win over the Hokies, and had 28 pressures, including three sacks, on 235 pass-rush snaps for the Monarchs a year ago.
ODU did get gashed on the ground in its 39-21 loss to East Carolina last week, allowing 261 yards rushing to the Pirates, with tailback Keaton Mitchell going for 160 yards and two TDs.
UVA gained just 42 net yards rushing last week in the 24-3 loss to Illinois, after going for 259 yards a week earlier in a 34-17 win over Richmond.
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Chris Graham
