In the game plan, a concession

That was my first thought after watching Virginia struggle to try to move the ball in the first half in its 33-21 loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday.

My second thought: Is it accurate to even use the term try to describe the game plan on offense after what we saw in the first half?

Yeah, sure – Marc Verica ended up throwing for 239 yards, but a lot of that came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. Verica threw for just 22 yards in the first half on 6-of-11 passing.

That’s right. Virginia threw the ball 11 times in the first two quarters and gained 22 yards for its trouble.

Two yards per attempt.

The game plan had to be this: We have so little confidence in our offense that we’re not going to let it beat us.

Which might have been fine if the Virginia D wouldn’t have given up 477 yards on the ground. And indeed, even with the Yellow Jackets moving the ball at will, the ‘Hoos were down just 20-14 midway through the third quarter when Keith Payne scored from a yard out, and had a chance to get back within six when a fourth-and-goal pass from Verica fell incomplete in the end zone with 10 and change to go in the fourth.

Leading to my third thought: Might Mike London and Bill Lazor be doing the best they can with what they have to work with?

I say that thinking that that game was anything but a 33-21 game – honestly, in every respect but the final score it was an ass-whuppin’. For the second straight week, the Cavs were dominated on the line of scrimmage and to top things off had so much trouble tackling that you’d think that the guys on the other side of the field had lathered themselves up in Crisco.

And yet … last week Virginia had a couple of shots of making a game with streaking Florida State interesting after trailing 27-0 at the half, and this week the Cavs were a couple of plays away from putting a scare into a Georgia Tech team that should have beaten them by 35 from a quick scan of the box score.

Fourth thought: The second-half numbers the past two weeks might suggest that London and Lazor could let off on the reins on the UVa. offense a bit.

Fifth thought: If they’re still reluctant, it could be time to go ahead and give the ball to Ross Metheny and get that over with.

The thinking there being: No sense repeating the Tim Sherman and Christian Olsen disasters.

Column by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].