Report Card: Grades for the offense, defense in Virginia’s 24-3 loss at Illinois

The work-in-progress Virginia offensive line allowed 26 QB pressures, and QB1 Brennan Armstrong didn’t fare well against the constant pressure from the Illinois front seven.

On 24 dropbacks against pressure, Armstrong was 5-of-16 passing for 42 yards and two INTs, according to data from Pro Football Focus.

Those numbers translate to an NFL passer rating of 1.0.

The impact of the pressure appears to have been felt by BA on his clean pocket throws. On 17 clean pocket dropbacks, Armstrong was 8-of-16 for 138 yards and an NFL passer rating of 79.7.

Not a good day, obviously, for an aspiring NFL prospect, who looked anything but in Virginia’s 24-3 loss.

Armstrong didn’t get much help from his receivers, either.

PFF had Dontayvion Wicks getting 13 targets, and only catching two balls, for 23 yards, and an NFL passer rating on those targets of 39.6.

And that actually wasn’t the lowest rating among the receiver group. Lavel Davis Jr. had two catches on eight targets for 67 yards and an NFL passer rating on those throws of 22.4.

The reason for the lower rating is that two of the targets resulted in the Armstrong INTs.

Keytaon Thompson had the only good day among those in the wideout corps, catching five balls on six targets for 62 yards and a 109.7 passer rating on those throws.

Back to the O line:

• LT-RT Logan Taylor: 67 snaps (43 at LT, 24 at RT), 55.5 PFF grade, 6 pressures (2 sacks) on 46 pass snaps, 1 penalty
• LT McKale Boley: 24 snaps, 49.9 PFF grade, 2 pressures on 14 pass snaps, 1 penalty
• LG John Paul Flores: 67 snaps, 61.5 PFF grade, 1 pressure on 46 pass snaps
• C Ty Furnish: 57 snaps, 34.3 PFF grade, 7 pressures on 37 pass snaps, 1 penalty
• C Jestus Johnson: 10 snaps, 66.8 PFF grade, 1 pressure on 9 pass snaps
• RG Derek Devine: 67 snaps, 56.7 PFF grade, 3 pressures on 46 pass snaps, 1 penalty
• RT Jonathan Leech: 43 snaps, 36.0 PFF grade, 6 pressures (1 sack) on 32 pass snaps, 1 penalty

Defense

The D actually graded out pretty well, with six guys getting PFF grades of 70 or better.

The front recorded three sacks, but only nine QB pressures, so that stands out.

The data there:

• DE Kam Butler: 53 snaps, 75.2 PFF grade, 1 sack, 3 tackles
• MLB Nick Jackson: 71 snaps, 73.9 PFF grade, 1 sack, 1 QBH, 9 tackles
• DE Chico Bennett Jr.: 46 snaps, 67.9 PFF grade, 1 sack, 1 QBH, 4 tackles
• LB James Jackson: 16 snaps, 66.3 PFF grade, 1 QBH, 3 tackles
• DE Paul Akere: 16 snaps, 65.9 PFF grade, 1 tackle
• LB Jack Campter: 25 snaps, 64.7 PFF grade
• Olu Agonloye: 11 snaps, 63.8 PFF grade, 1 tackle
• DT Ben Smiley: 30 snaps, 63.3 PFF grade, 1 tackle
• DT Aaron Faumui: 36 snaps, 60.2 PFF grade, 1 QBH, 2 tackles
• DE Bryce Carter: 2 snaps, 60.0 PFF grade
• DT Jahmeer Carter: 46 snaps, 59.9 PFF grade, 4 tackles
• LB Josh Ahern: 55 snaps, 53.1 PFF grade, 1 QBH, 4 tackles, 135.4 NFL passer rating against (39-yard TD pass)
• DT Devontae Davis: 19 snaps, 45.8 PFF grade, 2 tackles

Illini QB Tommy Devito was 17-of-25 passing for 196 yards, two TDs and one INT, and a 101.3 NFL passer rating.

The secondary:

• S Jonas Sanker: 71 snaps, 75.8 PFF grade, 9 tackles, 68.8 NFL passer rating against
• S Antonio Clary: 68 snaps, 75.0 PFF grade, 7 tackles, 1 PBU, 79.2 NFL passer rating against
• S Langston Long: 71 snaps, 72.9 PFF grade, 1 QBH, 11 tackles, 118.8 NFL passer rating against (2-yard TD pass)
• CB Anthony Johnson: 71 snaps, 70.8 PFF grade, 7 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU, 32.9 NFL passer rating against
• CB Fentrell Cypress: 71 snaps, 62.2 PFF grade, 4 tackles, 109.7 NFL passer rating against
• CB Dave Herard: 3 snaps, 60.0 PFF grade