Virginia, on Saturday, down in ran the ball, then ran the ball some more, then, you see where this is going, ran the ball some more, repeat, rinse, et cetera, on its way to 384 yards.
That’s almost as much as UVA gained on the ground in its first three games total.
I wrote last night, I loved the game plan, to beat up Coastal Carolina in the trenches, and that offensive coordinator Des Kitchings stuck to it.
This week’s Report Card, with grades from Pro Football Focus, will focus a lot on the backs and the O line, and the secondary, which wasn’t so good on its end of the 43-24 Virginia win.
Ground and pound
Three O linemen went all 83 snaps – left guard Noah Josey (PFF grade: 64.2), right guard Ugonna Nnanna (PFF: 58.7) and center Brian Stevens (PFF grade: 52.7).
The focus of the ground game was up the middle – 169 yards on 17 attempts on middle left and middle right runs – and around the left end, largely around left tackle Jack Witmer (72 snaps, PFF grade: 68.8).
Virginia gained 84 yards on 13 attempts around left end.
The good grades for Witmer, the converted tight end, and Josey are reflective of the success that Virginia had running behind them.
Backup tailback Xavier Brown (PFF grade: 85.9) had 171 yards on nine carries, with 125 yards after contact.
The backs as a unit had 227 yards after contact.
Kobe Pace (PFF grade: 73.5) had 62 yards on 15 carries.
The starting QB, Anthony Colandrea (PFF grade: 71.2), gained 59 yards on seven tries – with five scrambles for 49 yards, and two designed runs that went for 10 yards total.
Third-string QB and short-yard specialist Grady Brosterhous (PFF grade: 89.1) had two touchdowns on three short-yardage carries – one a read-option from five yards out, the second a more standard Grady Bunch 1-yarder.
Quick look at the passing game
Because of the success on the ground, Colandrea only dropped back 28 times, going 13-of-21 for 131 yards and two TDs through the air, with the aforementioned 49 yards on five scrambles, and two sacks.
Almost all of what Virginia did through the air was short stuff – Colandrea was 5-of-5 for 29 yards on passes behind the line of scrimmage and 6-of-10 for 51 yards on passes that traveled between 0-9 yards through the air.
He had one intermediate (10-19 yards) completion, for 14 yards, to Malachi Fields (PFF grade: 69.2, four catches/six targets, 65 yards, two TDs), and was 1-of-3 with a 37-yard completion (a TD pass to Fields) on passes that went 20+ yards in the air.
The secondary
The two Coastal Carolina QBs, Ethan Vasko (PFF grade: 67.1) and Noah Kim (PFF grade: 87.1), combined to pass for 303 yards, completing 16-of-33, with two TDs and one INT.
You can see from their PFF grades that the people scoring their efforts thought pretty highly of their work.
That’s in large part because the UVA secondary didn’t do a good job in coverage.
Corey Thomas (PFF grade: 48.8) had the hardest time, allowing five catches on six targets on 24 coverage snaps for 116 yards, 88 yards after catch, and an NFL passer rating against of 118.8.
Kempton Shine (PFF grade: 54.0) allowed two catches on four targets on 29 coverage snaps for 60 yards, a TD and a 135.4 NFL passer rating against.
Malcolm Greene (PFF grade: 45.3) was only on the field for 11 coverage snaps, but he was dinged for two catches on three targets for 17 yards, a TD pass, and a 120.8 NFL passer rating against.
The good games on the backside:
- Jonas Sanker (PFF grade: 83.2) allowed one catch, which lost four yards, on four targets on 35 coverage snaps.
- Antonio Clary (PFF grade: 63.6) allowed one catch, a 58-yard pitch, catch and run for a while, on two targets, but did have an INT and a PBU.
- Jam Jackson (PFF grade: 61.2) allowed two catches on six targets for 16 yards, but he was flagged for two penalties, including a pass interference that extended a Coastal drive that eventually ended in a TD.
Video: UVA Football report card
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Chris Graham
