Reality check time. Virginia is now 6-1 and remains undefeated in ACC play at 3-0. Every future opponent is a conference foe and knows that the ‘Hoos have an amazing opportunity to have what would likely be considered the greatest season in UVA Football ever.
But there are four teams who would like to turn that dream into a Halloween nightmare.
- UNC (A)
- Wake Forest (H)
- Duke (A)
- Virginia Tech (H)
I’m excluding Cal, but maybe they do, too.
ICYMI
- UVA Football: Availability report for ‘Hoos heading into Week 9 matchup with UNC
- UVA Football: Something is off with the Virginia offense, but, what?
We’ve seen over the last two contests that teams like Louisville and Washington State read the polls and want to knock off a ranked team – and both made it way to close. This will probably be the most difficult five games a Wahoos team has faced. Not because the opponents are the best teams in the country, but because they have the opportunity to take something away from a conference rival they know they can’t have.
Records do not matter. UVA must take nothing for granted and do what winning teams do. They finish. They finished against WSU coming from 10 points behind in the third quarter to win. UVA has finished strong in three consecutive games. It might be like this for five more weeks. Winning teams don’t get complacent. They self-evaluate and diligently and maturely work to position themselves to continue to win. They take nothing for granted.
Operations Breakdowns
Offense Game Recap & Game Grade: 77.4 (C)
After a tremendous start, averaging grades of 92 in their first five games, outscoring opponents 45.6-23.2 and being among the Top 10 offenses in the nation, the ‘Hoos have struggled over the last two games. They’ve dropped 17 points in our grades but have also come away from both contests with wins. But the numbers need to start moving in the opposite direction they’ve been going.
Virginia’s offense recorded its second worst grades of the season against the Cougars. The Cavalier wide receivers scored the best in a lousy week with solid 88.8. They were followed by the quarterback unit with a 75, the offensive line with a 74.6, while the running backs posted an operational low of 71.18.
The QB position led the team in rushing with an 82.72, and the offensive line came in second with a 71.18. The running backs notched a 68.3, and the pass catching crew came in at the bottom with a 65.23. The wide receivers paced the passing offense with an average of 77.8, and the O line came in second in passing with a 72.6. The quarterback operation came in third with a 69.54, and the running backs were a sliver behind with a 69.37.
The UVA offense had its second worst run total of the season (122 yards), second worst passing game (149 yards), second worst total offense (301 yards) and their worst third-down conversion effort of the season.
Defense Game Recap & Game Grade: 88.23 (B+)
While the offense has been struggling, UVA’s defense has been steadily progressing upward. After averaging an 86.3 in its first four games, the defense took a small one point jump to an 87.2 average over their recent three contests. The defensive line has improved one-point from an 87.87 in games 1-4 to an 88.87 in the last three, Virginia linebackers have improved 2.87 points in the last three games, and the defensive backs have gained 2.96 points.
The defensive backs also led the defense Saturday evening in rush defense with 97.4 mark, followed by the defensive line with a 95.32 and the linebackers with a 94.52. Virginia’s defensive line was stellar against the pass, not so much in sack totals (they did have one) but with two pass breakups (PBUs), four QB pressures (QBH), and they posted 4.5 tackles for loss (TFL).
At this moment, I must vent a little regarding the statistical numbers from this game. Virginia had seven run plays where Washington State got zero yards or lost yards, but somehow the defense had only three TFL. Same thing with QBH. I charted seven QBH in the game, but somehow the ‘Hoos had zero. The college game needs to really fix the issue of charting QBH. The PBU numbers were mostly accurate where the stats people assigned seven breakups to the defense where I had eight. I might have been wrong.
I’ll move on. The DL graded out with a 97.8 in the passing game, and it’s a good thing, because the linebackers and DBs had a rough evening, with both posting pass defense grades of 77.35 and 77.625, respectively.
I want to close with this; the Wahoo defense was overwhelmingly dominant over the Washington State offense in the fourth quarter. The ‘Hoos outscored the visitors 15-3 in the second half, outgained them 192-74, limited Cougar QB Zevi Eckhaus to a 6-for-12 passing second half, including a 1-for-4 fourth quarter, and produced three chunk play passes (19, 15, 23) and a 22-yard rushing play in the final quarter.
Special Teams Recap & Game Grade: 89.56 (B+)
Throughout the season, it seems as if in every game, two of the operations have a B or higher grade during the contest. Against Coastal Carolina, all three operations were above average. In Raleigh, the defense had its worst showing of the year, but the special teams and offense played well. Against William & Mary and Stanford, all three operations were solid, and the special teams struggled in the FSU tilt.
Over the last two games, the offense barely made it over the average line with a 75.45 average. But the defense and special teams have played well.
In fact, UVA’s special teams have played their best two games of the season with a total grade of 89.56 this past weekend and recorded a 91.22 last week against the Cardinal.
Placekicking has dominated the grades the last three weeks, posting a 97.27 against FSU, a 97.56 at Louisville and a season-high 97.91 Saturday evening. Punt coverage (91.43) and punt return (89.03) came in second and third, respectively. Kickoff returns put up a 86.79 and kickoff coverage an 82.64.
Washington State Grades & Notes
Offense – Grades: 77.4 (C)
- Quarterback: 75 (C)
- Running backs: 71.18 (C-)
- Wide receivers & tight ends: 88.8(B+)
- Offensive line: 74.6 (C)
Offense – Quick Takes & Notes
Highlights: Talking about doing what winning teams do; UVA’s nine minute and 45 second, 97-yard touchdown drive to tee off the fourth quarter was stunning.
Not so bright: Quarters 1 through 3.
Notes & Stats
- Virginia has still not lost a fumble this season.
- UVA’s 33% third down conversion percentage was the lowest in any game this season.
- The ‘Hoos are ranked 21st in the NCAA for Highest Average Scoring Margin in the FBS at +13.0.
- Washington State is the fourth game this season the Cavalier offense has not surrendered a sack.
- Virginia is the only FBS team this season to have at least three wins by 25+ points and at least three wins by one possession (8 points or fewer).
- The Wahoos are 140 points (28/game) from breaking the all-time single season scoring record at UVA.
Defense – Grades: 88.23 (B+)
- Defensive line: 91.68 (A-)
- Linebackers: 85.97 (B)
- Secondary: 87.05 (B)
Defense – Quick Takes & Notes
Highlights: The “walk-off” safety was as sweet as mango cheesecake.
Not so bright: This is not a team, “Not so bright,” this is an officiating just plain stupid. If you call a facemask penalty and do not know the number of the player who did it, Mr. Official, you need to pick up your yellow hanky and put it in your pocket. If you don’t know who did it, keep it in your pants.
Notes & Stats
- Linebacker Kam Robinson took ACC honors again this week, earning the ACC Linebacker of the Week nod for a second time.
- Virginia’s defense recorded seven tackles for loss Saturday.
- John Rudzinski’s defense held the Cougars to 1-of-7 in power rushing (runs with 2 yards or less to go that convert a first down or touchdown).
- UVA’s defense has started the same players in 10 of the 11 defensive positions this season.
- The Wahoo defense has held four teams to 20 or fewer points this season. The last time that occurred was in 2022.
- Virginia is one of three FBS teams leading its conference in points per game and turnover margin this season. The only ACC team in the last decade to finish a campaign leading the conference in both categories was Clemson in 2019, which made the College Football Playoff that year.
Special Teams – Grades: 89.56 (B+)
- Kickoff return: 86.79(B)
- Kickoff coverage: 82.64 (B-)
- Place kicking: 97.91 (A+)
- Punt return: 89.03 (B+)
- Punt coverage: 91.43 (A-)
Special Teams – Quick Takes & Notes
Highlights: The special teams operation recorded its second highest grade of the season.
Not so bright: J’Mari Taylor’s return of the safety kickoff was dangerous and unwise based on the game situation.
Notes & Stats
- Punter Daniel Sparks averaged 53 yards per boot, kicked five punts of 50+ yards and dropped three kicks inside the 20. That’s 318 yards of field position.
- Will Bettridge has gone 4-for-4 in field goals in his last three games, including a long of 47-yards (WSU).
- Cam Ross is ranked 29th in the NCAA in punt return average yards.
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