The #1 reason Virginia was able to pull the 31-27 upset at then-#10 North Carolina last week was that the Cavaliers were able to gain 228 yards on the ground.
That translated to a 14 minute-plus advantage in time of possession, which kept the potent UNC offense off the field for long stretches.
A repeat performance will be tough sledding this weekend at Miami, which leads the ACC and ranks seventh nationally in rushing defense.
“This bunch is Top 10 in the country stopping the run for good reason, because they’re very talented,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said.
Talented, and deep. The guy with the most snaps on the Miami D is safety James Williams, at 420 through seven games.
Talented, fresh guys are going to play better when they’re out on the field, and that’s what you see out of this Miami group, which also gets great pressure on the QB – 23.1 pressures per game, per data from Pro Football Focus.
The guys up front whose names you will hear more than you want on Saturday include edge rusher Rueben Bain (27 pressures, five sacks, 72.9 PFF rush defense grade), defensive tackle Leonard Taylor (20 pressures, one sack, 78.9 PFF rush defense grade) and linebacker Francisco Mauigoa (11 pressures, two sacks, team-leading 38 tackles, 91.0 PFF rush defense grade).
Miami held Clemson to 31 net rushing yards in the 28-20 ‘Canes win last weekend, but it’s worth noting that they did get gashed two weeks ago in their 41-31 loss to North Carolina, which ran for 235 yards, with the ACC’s leading rusher, Omarion Hampton, going for 197 yards on 24 carries.
I bring that up to just make the observation: they can be run on, even if it’s only happened once this season.
Getting tough yards on the ground will be key for Virginia in this one, as it was last week in the upset in Chapel Hill.
“It allows us to play some complementary football, allows you to dictate the pace of the game, so to speak,” Elliott said. “In essence, you believe when you win the time of possession, you limit their opportunities to score. There’s a lot of benefits to time of possession. For us, we want to be a football team that’s balanced. We want to run the football. For us, when we can run the football, it opens up a lot of things on offense.”
Being able to run the ball, which Virginia hadn’t been able to do until its Week 6 win over William & Mary, in which the ‘Hoos rushed for 221 yards, “kind of sets the mindset for the game,” per Elliott.
“We know that for lack of a better way to describe it, down the stretch there’s going to be fistfights, and it’s going to be won in the trenches. Whoever can control the line of scrimmage is going to have the best chance of winning,” Elliott said.
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Chris Graham
