Report Card: Marked improvement for UVA D in win at Miami

Yes, in the end, Miami was a doink away from completing a second-half comeback, and it was against a Virginia defense that was clearly gassed.

But after giving up 96 points and 1,172 yards in back-to-back defeats to North Carolina and Wake Forest, we’ll take what we got.

The UVA D held the ‘Canes to 94 yards in the first half, and 207 yards through three quarters, before bending a bit too much in the final 15 minutes.

In the end, Miami ended up running for 169 yards on 39 rushing attempts, and third-string QB Tyler Van Dyke, starting for the injured starter, D’Eriq King, threw for 203 yards and a TD, completing 10 of his final 12 attempts after a 5-of-17 start.

Pass defense

The front registered four sacks, which is great, considering that it had been averaging 1.8 sacks per game in 2021 coming in.

But we still only saw 12 QB pressures on the night, right at the average (12.8 per game) coming in.

Safeties Nick Grant (81.6 PFF grade) and Joey Blount (80.6) led the secondary in pass coverage. Grant had two pass breakups, Blount one, and Blount led the D with 11 sacks, without a missed tackle.

Need to note here the solid night from cornerback Anthony Johnson (66.5 PFF grade), who didn’t give up a completion in five targets.

Van Dyke, under pressure, was just 1-of-3 passing the ball, and he was 3-of-6 for 52 yards on the 11 snaps on which he was blitzed.

More pressure, please.

He did a fair amount of damage throwing downfield: he was 6-of-13 for 146 yards and a TD on throws that traveled 10+ yards through the air.

Run defense

The control of the A and B gaps was a priority coming in, and the front did a good job here, aside from one snap – the 57-yard TD run by Cam’Ron Jones late in the third quarter.

The ‘Canes had 13 rushing attempts between the tackles for 99 yards.

Miami gained 46 yards on nine rushing attempts on the final drive, but the front held UM to no gains on first and second down in the red zone, ahead of the missed field goal on the final play.

‘Canes coach Manny Diaz claimed after the game that he was still thinking TD on the first- and second-down plays there, and if he’s not just covering his ass, the front did what it needed to do when it needed to do it.

Story by Chris Graham