When the South’s Oldest Rivalry between Virginia and North Carolina is renewed this Saturday in Chapel Hill, the bottom-line philosophy for UVA offensive coordinator Des Kitchings is a simple one — put more points on the scoreboard.
The Cavaliers (1-5, 0-2 ACC) are averaging just 22.3 points and 348.8 total yards per game thus far, and have only found the end zone 16 times in 24 quarters.
The Wahoos have had two weeks to prepare for the undefeated Tar Heels (6-0, 3-0), who are putting up 37.3 points per contest, and Kitchings said that the bye came at a perfect time at the halfway mark of the season.
He said it allowed the players to rest and recuperate, as the staff “tried to take some pounding off” of them. At the same time, there was the self-scouting aspect, giving the coaches an opportunity to correct some of the self-inflicting wounds that have gone a long way in several close finishes.
“Looking at ourselves, okay, what did we do good, what did we not do good? How can we improve on UVA not beating UVA?” Kitchings asked, before offering a three-pronged solution. “We’ve got to eliminate the penalties, eliminate the sacks and then be better on third downs. If we do those three things, we feel like the second half of the season we’ll put ourselves in a position to score points to win some games.”
Scoring more points and collecting more victories will require successfully running the football. On the year, the Hoos have gained more than twice as much through the air (1,496 yards) than they have on the ground (597).
A good chunk of that came in the win over William & Mary two weeks ago, when they went for 221 yards on the ground, a season high by far (the previous was 113 against NC State). Perris Jones and Kobe Pace combined for 217 of those, and both will be asked to try to replicate anything close to that kind of output this weekend.
UVA as a team has failed to eclipse 100 net yards rushing in four of the six games this season. The Cavaliers went for 186 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground against the Heels in last season’s 31-28 loss at Scott Stadium on Nov. 5.
“We had some decent success last year against Carolina running the football, so hopefully that trend continues for us, keeps us ahead of the chains where we’re not in obvious pass situations where [the Heels’ defense] could pin their ears back,” said Kitchings.
Much of the production obviously relies on the protection and blocking abilities of the offensive line, and Kitchings added that the bye week was crucial for his linemen as well.
With that extra week of rest, preparation, “productive practices” and self-evaluation, it will be interesting to see what adjustments will be made in the trenches against a dangerous Tar Heel front seven that will be doing everything possible to make things difficult for Tony Muskett.
The UNC defense sacked Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke three times last week and created four takeaways. Van Dyke still wound up throwing for nearly 400 yards and 4 TDs, and Kitchings has seen what Muskett is capable of when given time to execute.
“We have to change the launch point, we’ve got to move the pocket,” Kitchings said of what tweaks can be made to keep Muskett’s jersey clean. “[We may] have to chip some guys with their hands to help our tackles out, mix in some good runs. Just be — hopefully — unpredictable for [UNC], even in a passing situation, where we can control the pass rush.”
In the pass game, a lot of the focus and attention will undoubtedly be placed on UVA’s Malik Washington and Malachi Fields — who have combined for 1,086 of the team’s 1,496 receiving yards and 7 of the 10 touchdowns — over the remainder of the season.
That leaves the door open for some of the younger wideouts (Jaden Gibson, JR Wilson and Suderian Harrison) to step up and make some big plays. The message Kitchings specifically gave to Wilson — who he referred to as “the main one” of the trio — moving forward was that “this team needs you” to play a bigger role down the stretch.
“You will have opportunities here over the second half of the season; just capitalize on those opportunities, because rightfully so, right?” he said. “You would think that they would try to take away Malik or Malachi, so who’s the next guy that the ball’s got to get to? It’s one of the tight ends or JR Wilson or the backs, so he’s done a good job these two weeks and hopefully he has a good game for us on Saturday.”
Defense
Defensively, John Rudzinski’s unit will have arguably its most challenging 60 minutes of the season against Drake Maye and the high-powered UNC offense. The Heels are registering video-game numbers (501.3 total yards per outing), and Maye is the straw that stirs the drink.
“He’s got a big arm, can extend with his feet, and again, he’s a smart football player, so we’re looking forward to the challenge this weekend,” the second-year UVA coordinator said of the Heisman candidate.
“What you’ve got to do is you’ve got to try to minimize big plays,” he added. “You’ve got to force them to earn it, and that’s going to be the objective each and every week on defense.”
Along with Maye and all of his weapons — namely Tez Walker, Nate McCollum and J.J. Jones — in the air attack, Rudzinski has also been looking for ways to limit talented running back Omarion Hampton from having a monster game like he did last week against the Hurricanes.
“Another good, physical back that runs behind his pads,” Coach Rud said of the bruising back who went for 217 total yards and two scores against Miami. “He’s tough to take down and he gets yards after contact, so we’ll have to be great with our fundamentals as far as getting off the blocks.”
Rudzinski reiterated that the extra week paid huge dividends, not only in terms of getting physically healthy and revived, but also having more time to study the Heels.
“Any time that you can look at an offense, any time that you get an opportunity to rep plays more than once for two weeks, you’ll take it,” he admitted. “We’ll take any additional prep that we’ll get, and we’re fortunate to be able to have two weeks to get ready for this one.”
It’s a safe bet to agree that of all the opponents on UVA’s schedule this season (aside from Tennessee in the opener), if there were an offense to get that extra time and scouting in against, it’s certainly Carolina.
While it will definitely be a tough road test in a loud, hostile environment at Kenan Stadium, the Cavaliers are just hoping to stay competitive and hang around throughout all four quarters, and ultimately take as many positives as they can from the experience.
“We’re just going to get better one day at a time,” Rudzinski said. “We’re going to look for opportunities for us to be better, and excited for the challenge to be able to go after a really good team.”
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