The UVA offense stat that is most important from Saturday: 7-for-9. That was the efficiency number in the red zone – OK, so we’re supposed to call it the blue zone now – in the 48-14 win over Duke.
Seven scores in nine trips – five touchdowns, two field goals.
This, a week after getting a grand total of three field goals on six trips inside the Miami 30 in a dispiriting 17-9 loss to the ‘Canes.
The aggregate number for the day – 307 yards total offense – is immaterial. The Duke offense kept giving Virginia short fields to work with, and if you can score on drives of 8, 34, 21, 40, you don’t look the gift horse in the mouth.
The offensive line, maligned, as it should have been, for surrendering 13 sacks in back-to-back losses at Notre Dame and at Miami, kept Bryce Perkins upright, by and large.
Perkins was sacked twice, but he seemed generally to have plenty of time to do what he needed to do to get the ball to his receivers.
Some of that was just better blocking, some tweaks to the scheme. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae put Perkins under center for a handful of snaps, kept a combination of tight ends and running backs in to max-protect on others.
The play-calling was also tweaked nicely. There was an under-center jet sweep to get Tavares Kelly into space for a 17-yard gain, a traditional play-action that would have made George Welsh proud that sprung tight end Tanner Cowley for 19 yards.
Most important was punching it in when the ball was in the … blue zone.
Still having a hard time calling it that.
“We put a lot of work in when it comes to the red zone,” said sophomore tailback Wayne Taulapapa, who ran for a career-high 77 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries in the win.
See, I’m not the only guy who isn’t all into this blue zone stuff.
“There was a lot of talk on how we can dominate more when it comes to that, and throughout the game it was evident that we did a good job. The coaches really set up schemes that worked well for us,” Taulapapa said.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall seemed to acknowledge that there was awareness in the coaching war room that there were critics on the outside wondering what was going on with the UVA offense.
Ahem. There was even one, unnamed, suggesting that it was time to make a change at play-caller.
“I pay zero attention to any outside interference,” Mendenhall said. “I know exactly who our players are. I know exactly what they have to do to improve. I know exactly what my coaches are capable of. It’s why I brought 14 of them with me. We’re making progress and improving the program, not accidentally, but intentionally, and there will always be criticism through a transparent business that is so volatile.”
For one game, at least, the critics will quiet down.
Though, OK, about those 307 total yards. The 48 points and 7-for-9 in the … blue zone … are nice, but 307 yards and 4.4 yards per play are still concerning.
As is an offense that still seems to be, Hey, Bryce, do something.
Bryce Perkins threw or ran on 48 of UVA’s 69 snaps, going 13-for-26 passing for 141 yards, and an ugly interception in the Duke end zone on a late and over-the-middle throw on a third-and-eight play in the blue zone on Virginia’s first drive.
Perkins also ran the ball 22 times for 62 yards, and seemed to want pull the ball down to run after going through just one read in his progression on an uncomfortable number of pass plays.
But, oh, well, that’s nitpicking, on a day when you just beat down a good opponent after putting 48 on the board.
Story by Chris Graham
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