Home Report Card: How Virginia graded out in the loss to Virginia Tech
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Report Card: How Virginia graded out in the loss to Virginia Tech

Chris Graham

uva footballSorry for the delay here. There was so much postgame to write about with the bonehead coaching moves that it almost escaped my mind to break down the game from an analytics perspective.

Offense

Brennan Armstrong, as usual, had nice counting numbers – 29-of-45, 405 yards, 141.1 pass efficiency rating.

Tech blitzed him on 22 dropbacks. On those, BA was 13-of-19 for 158 yards and a 93.8 NFL passer rating.

One thing I noticed in the numbers: there were fewer throws of 10+ yards. Armstrong was 7-of-16 for 130 yards on those throws, which comprised 35.6 percent of his throws on the night. On the season, 46.6 percent of BA’s pass attempts traveled 10+ yards through the air.

The O line did its job. With all the blitzing, the Tech D got pressure on Armstrong on just 10 dropbacks, and two sacks.

The starting line played all 74 snaps on the night.

Bobby Haskins, of third-down lateral fame, allowed six pressures.

First-team All-ACC wideout Dontayvion Wicks had his lowest Pro Football Focus grade of the season (55.3) – with three catches on eight targets, with two drops, for 55 yards.

Billy Kemp IV had the best numbers among the wideouts – eight catches on nine targets, 101 yards, 84.5 PFF grade.

The run game was as usual almost nonexistent – 60 yards on 22 attempts.

Defense

Tech only threw the ball 16 times. The D blitzed on 11 of those dropbacks, and had five sacks.

Braxton Burmeister had 141 yards passing and completed seven passes. Two of the completions were targets at Coen King, for 87 yards and a TD.

King had a 158.3 NFL passer rating against. That’s the perfect passer rating on the NFL scale.

The Hokies ran at will – 320 yards on 47 attempts.

The damage:

  • A gap: 5 attempts, 52 yards
  • B gap: 7 attempts, 85 yards
  • C gap: 10 attempts., 41 yards
  • D gap (ends): 14 attempts, 152 yards

Snap counts

D line: Mandy Alonso 54, Jahmeer Carter 46, Aaron Faumui 36, Olasunkonmi Agunloye 24, Nusi Mulani 7, Mike Diatta 2

Linebackers: Nick Jackson 64, Noah Taylor 61, West Weeks 35, Elliott Brown 33, Josh Ahern 22, Mike Green 7, D’Sean Perry 1

Secondary: Anthony Johnson 64, Darrius Bratton 64, Joey Blount 62, Nick Grant 61, Coen King 48, Jonas Sanker 8, Antonio Clary 5

Story by Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].