Louisville got gashed for 190 yards on the ground and 481 yards of total offense in SMU’s 34-27 win over the Cardinals last weekend.
UL coach Jeff Brohm stressed the need to get back to basics with Virginia up next on Saturday.
“When the ball’s snapped, we need to be lined up and on the same page about the call. If we get beat, let’s get beat because the other team outplayed us. That has not taken place,” said Brohm, whose D has largely been a strength for his team in 2024, ranking fourth in the ACC in total defense, surrendering an average of 313.4 yards per game, and ranking sixth in scoring defense, allowing 19.6 points per game.
But the SMU offense took the Cards to the woodshed, scoring on four of five first-half possessions, with TD drives of 75, 75 and 78.
Mustangs QB Kevin Jennings had a career day in the win, gaining 113 yards on 10 rushing attempts, with a 59-yard TD run, and going 21-of-27 for 281 yards through the air.
The vulnerabilities in the run game were up the middle and on the left side of the Louisville front.
SMU gained 89 yards on eight attempts running between the guards, and 53 yards on 13 attempts running behind the right guard and right tackle.
Virginia, which is averaging 180.2 yards per game on the ground in 2024, has had success running behind center Brian Stevens (PFF grade: 74.7), left guard Noah Josey (PFF grade: 75.0) and the two guys splitting time at right guard, Ty Furnish (PFF grade: 63.6) and Ugonna Nnanna (PFF grade: 60.3).
The ‘Hoos have gained 305 yards on 50 attempts (6.1 yards per attempt) up the A gap, and 183 yards on 27 attempts (6.8 yards per attempt) in the B gap.
Jennings also had success on scrambles, going for 41 yards on three scrambles last week.
Virginia QB Anthony Colandrea is averaging 7.7 yards per scramble this season, with 123 yards on his 16 scrambles.
Virginia will want to run at the Louisville D
I think we can expect UVA coach Tony Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings, in their game plan for this weekend, to want to try to take advantage of the vulnerability in Louisville’s run defense that SMU was able to find and then exploit.
Elliott has been trying to build around the run game since he took the job in December 2021. His first two teams weren’t able to live out his vision – the 2022 team averaged 123.1 yards per game on the ground; the 2023 team averaged 117.9 yards per game.
“We want to run the football. That’s the mentality. That’s what we desire to do,” Elliott said on Tuesday as he talked with reporters about this weekend’s game. “I think sometimes, I’ve said this before, you can too easily get caught up in stats. For us, it’s being efficient, being effective. … There’s a lot of things that come off the ability to be efficient running the football.”
Kobe vs. the X Man
Kobe Pace is still the featured back, averaging 41.2 snaps and 12.2 rushing attempts per game, even as Xavier Brown (16.8 snaps per game, 7.6 rushing attempts per game) is the team’s leading rusher, with 315 yards on 38 attempts.
Pace has 293 yards on 61 rushing attempts.
Pace had a big day in the 24-14 win over Boston College last week, rushing for 83 yards on 19 attempts, but that came at the expense of touches for Brown, who had just five rushing attempts, which went for 22 yards.
“Yes, he’s a guy that we want to get involved more in the right situations,” Elliott said. “So, do we have an ideal number for him? No, but I anticipate that he’ll have more than five touches, and he’s a guy that needs more than five touches, because each time he touches it, you’re seeing that he has the ability to have a big play.”
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Chris Graham
