My cautious optimism for the 2024 UVA Football season is based on the strength of the team in the trenches – the offensive line and the defensive line.
The D line didn’t record a sack in the 34-13 win over Richmond, but that was largely the result of UR’s game plan, which emphasized quick drops.
The O line kept QB1 Anthony Colandrea largely upright, and cleared the way for 229 sack-adjusted rushing yards.
Let’s get inside the counting stats to see how the big uglies, and the rest of the guys, graded out in Saturday’s win.
Note: grades from Pro Football Focus.
O Line: A-
Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings was able to get snaps for eight guys. Six of the eight graded at 60.0 or above.
The top grade: sophomore right tackle Blake Steen, at 79.9 for his 40 snaps.
Jack Witmer, a senior who is a converted tight end, graded out at 73.8 for 45 snaps at left tackle.
Senior Ty Furnish was the other guy over 70.0, grading out at 72.9 for 46 snaps at right guard.
Grad student Brian Stevens went all 65 snaps at center, and graded out at 62.8.
Running backs: B+
They had lanes, because the line was creating them, but to the credit of the backs, they read them and used them to get downfield.
Kobe Pace (PFF: 76.0) gained 93 yards on 11 carries.
Xavier Brown (PFF: 62.6) had 44 yards on eight carries.
Jack Griese (PFF: 54.4) only gained 12 yards on his five carries, but he did turn a pass in the flat on a third-down play into a 57-yard catch-and-sprint TD in the first quarter.
Linebackers and secondary: B
I wish there was a grade between B and B+, because I’d give that to the ‘backers and D backs.
Richmond didn’t attack much in the passing game – 14 of Kyle Wickersham’s 19 pass attempts were inside of nine yards from the line of scrimmage.
The guys on the back end kept what was happening in front of them. UR only gained 50 yards after catch, so, 2.63 yards per pass attempt, and 3.84 yards per completion.
The back-end guys were only charged for two missed tackles on the night, so, sound.
The MVP of this group: sixth-year senior Jonas Sanker (PFF: 76.4, eight tackles, one 10-yard reception allowed on two pass targets).
Wideouts: B
Grad transfer Chris Tyree was billed as the guy who would account for a chunk of the production that Malik Washington (110 catches, 1,426 yards in 2023) gave the offense last year.
Tyree was targeted three times, twice on screens and once on a short pass in the flat.
All three were marked as drops, the only drops on the night for the wideouts.
Malachi Fields had himself a night – a PFF grade of 74.7, five catches on six targets, 100 yards, 118.* NFL passer rating on passes in his direction.
QBs: B
I’m grading down because Tony Muskett wasn’t good in his mop-up duty – 0-for-3 with an INT in the fourth quarter – and because Grady Brosterhous was only 1-for-2 on the tush-push play, failing to convert a fourth-and-inches in negative territory in the fourth quarter.
Anthony Colandrea was solid – his PFF grade was 80.7, after going 17-for-23 for 297 yards and two TDs, with an NFL passer rating of 144.7.
Colandrea also put up 78 sack-adjusted rushing yards on the ground – 61 yards on designed runs, 17 yards on scrambles.
The one negative check mark: the two sacks were both totally on him.
The nine-yard loss in the first quarter was the result of Colandrea waiting too long for a deep route to develop, and running into the back of one of his linemen.
The second, in the red zone in the second quarter, was Colandrea being indecisive on a play-action where none of his targets were open, and he tried to extend the play by running backwards, and was eventually taken down for a 20-yard loss.
Can’t do that.
At least he didn’t throw an INT, but can’t do that.
D Line: B
As noted above, the Richmond offensive game plan was built around getting rid of the ball fast.
That’s a key reason why Virginia didn’t record a sack, but the D line still was able to get pressure on Wickersham on seven of his pass dropbacks, and Wickersham had mid numbers through the air – 13-for-22, 110 yards.
The front also did a good job keeping the Spiders in check on the ground – limiting Richmond to 147 yards, 54 of which came in garbage time in the fourth quarter.
Game honors go to seventh-year senior Kam Butler, who graded out at 84.4 on 33 snaps on the left end.
Special teams: B
The key takeaway from the STs: no game-breaking mistakes.
Daniel Sparks (PFF: 62.8) averaged 54.5 yards on his two punts, with neither returned.
On kickoffs, Sparks (KO PFF: 73.2) averaged 69.3 yards per kick, with five touchbacks on his seven kickoffs, and an average starting field position at the 25.1 yard line.
Xavier Brown (ST PFF: 63.4) averaged 29.0 yards on two kick returns, with a 37-yard return helping set up a short field coming back from the two-hour weather delay, leading to a UVA touchdown that pushed the Cavaliers’ lead to 27-7.
Will Bettridge (PFF: 60.6) was 2-for-3 on field-goal tries, good from 21 and 33, missing badly on a line-drive shank from 36 as the first half expired.
Share
Chris Graham
