Pro Football Focus graded the Virginia defense at 43.3 in the 66-49 loss at BYU on Saturday, which, and this is pathetic, isn’t the lowest grade of the season.
(That would be the 38.3 grade for the 59-39 loss at North Carolina.)
The defense gave up 734 yards, 385 on the ground.
More bad numbers:
- PFF itemized 19 missed tackles by the UVA D. Season average coming in: 9.4.
- Zach Hall was pressured on just seven of his 38 dropbacks. On those snaps, he was 2-of-7 passing for 30 yards. On the other 31, he was 20-of-30 for 319 yards and three TDs.
- More on the seven pressures. Season average coming in: 13.4.
- The D line had three tackles. Three. Season average coming in: nine.
- The secondary had 39 tackles. Season average coming in: 29.9.
- BYU had 349 yards after contact. Season average coming in: 207.1.
Bad individual numbers:
- Defensive linemen Ben Smiley and Jordan Redmond played a combined 57 snaps, and the other thing that either contributed in the score sheet was a penalty on Smiley. PFF graded Smiley at 29.0, and Redmond at 34.3.
- Safety Joey Blount graded out at 46.9. Blount played 61 snaps, had eight tackles, and a team-high five missed tackles.
- Cornerback Darrius Bratton somehow graded out at 61.5. He was targeted 10 times, gave up five completions, for 150 yards and a TD, and an NFL passer rating against at 129.2.
Assessment
No pressure on the QB, little in terms of contribution at all from the D line.
Too many tackles by the secondary.
Way too many yards after contact.
The season averages coming in weren’t good, but if the D had played even to that low bar, this was a W.
Story by Chris Graham