Reading through the postgame quotes from UVa. football coach Mike London on VirginiaSports.com, you’d think it was Marc Verica and not the porous Virginia defense that gave up 55 points to Duke on Saturday.
“It is great that he sets the school record for passing, but the scoreboard reads what it does. If I was sitting in that position, you have to play better and cannot make those mistakes,” London said after the 55-48 loss in which Verica threw for a school-record 419 yards and also had four touchdown passes, but also threw three interceptions, which Duke converted into 16 points.
Virginia was playing from behind all day, down 14-0 less than five minutes in, 21-7 at the end of one quarter, then after taking a 28-24 lead in the third quarter on a Verica-to-Kris Burd 19-yard touchdown pass had to rally from two 12-point fourth-quarter deficits, finally taking the lead at 48-47 on a six-yard TD run by Keith Payne with 2:26 left.
Enter that porous Virginia D, which had Duke pinned back at its 9 on the ensuing possession, and had the Blue Devils at fourth-and-18 at their own 21 before quarterback Sean Renfree hit Donovan Varner down the seam for 32 yards and a first down to extend the game. Three plays later, Desmond Scott ran virtually untouched down the left sideline 35 yards into the Virginia end zone to give Duke the lead and ultimately the ballgame. A television replay of London during the play showed the coach yelling the words “What are we doing?” as Scott ran toward paydirt.
Indeed, what is Virginia doing on defense – nine games in and still suffering the basic defensive breakdowns that have been plaguing the team all year long? Verica’s three interceptions didn’t help, but Verica didn’t commit the mindless penalties on two third downs that extended Duke drives that later resulted in Blue Devils touchdowns, and it wasn’t Verica who had trouble figuring out the packages that allowed Duke backup quarterback Brandon Connette to run for 78 yards and two touchdowns running the Blue Devils’ version of the Wildcat.
That would be UVa. defensive coordinator Jim Reid, a helluva guy whose schemes haven’t fooled anybody.
It’s easy for London to beat up on Verica. UVa. fans have been doing that to the fifth-year senior for years now. Verica won’t be around next year for anybody to beat up on. The way Jim Reid’s D has played this year, you have to wonder if he’ll be around next fall himself.
Column by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].
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Chris Graham
