It’s hard to find things to complain about in Virginia’s 48-20 win over Stanford Saturday evening in Scott Stadium, the ACC opener for the UVA Football program.
I’m going to proceed anyway: the Virginia secondary has some issues to address. I’ll be kind and say the unit is a work in progress.
Stanford has a solid passing game, but John Elway is not taking snaps for the Cardinal.
In the first quarter, quarterback Ben Gulbranson was able to find Bryce Farrell for a 60-yard completion, and followed that with a 5-yard TD pass to Benji Blackburn to knot the game early at 7-all.
Fast forward to the second half when Gulbranson threw a 68-yard scoring strike, again connecting with Farrell.
Explosive plays continue to plague the UVA defense.
Virginia needs to correct these problems quickly, as Florida State comes to town next.
Other than a disappearing crowd at half, I’ll stop the complaining and focus on the many positives.
The UVA offense is on fire
Virginia’s offense continued to thrive Saturday under the lights, rolling up 590 yards of total offense.
Chandler Morris completed 23 of his 31 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns, with no turnovers.
It was Morris’s best performance in a Cavalier uniform.
Virginia wide receiver Trell Harris had four catches for 145 yards and three scores. Now that’s efficiency.
UVA (3-1, 1-0 ACC) surpassed 500 yards for the third consecutive game.
Morris didn’t miss the opportunity to heap praise on Harris: “He can bust the top of any coverage; he makes me look good.”
Ditto for Harris, saying, “He (Morris) just has such calmness about him, I think everybody knows what kind of player Chandler is, for us it’s not a surprise.”
For a team that consists of so many new faces, give Tony Elliott some credit for creating what appears to be a cohesive group.
Let’s give the O line its credit
No doubt Morris has been sparkling this season, but he is the first quarterback of Elliott’s time in Charlottesville who has played behind an experienced, deep and effective offensive line.
The offensive line is anchored with center Brady Wilson, who arrived from Alabama-Birmingham with 31 career starts.
When Wilson exited the game midway through the third quarter with what was described as a calf strain, the game was all but decided.
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The offensive line has made the Virginia running game an effective part of the offense and made the Cavalier passing game more explosive.
Saturday, Xavier Brown was the only back with a run of at least 20 yards, but UVA still churned out 206 total yards rushing.
Elliott knows that running the football wins games: “You want to start with the run, even though I’m a wideout by trade,” noted Elliott, who was a walk-on receiver at Clemson.
No comebacks, no excuses for Stanford’s Frank Reich
Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich was at the helm of possibly the two most remarkable comeback wins in both the college and pro ranks.
In 1984, Reich, a backup quarterback, led Maryland to a 42-40 win over Miami after trailing 31-0 at halftime.
In 1993, Reich, again as a backup, led one of the most remarkable comebacks in NFL history. Reich led Buffalo from a staggering 35-3 deficit against the Houston Oilers to a 41-38 overtime win in the AFC Wild Card game.
Saturday, no such heroics happened.
I was able to speak with Reich after the game and asked if the trip across the country may have taken a toll on the Cardinal.
This was the fourth time zone Stanford has played in this season in four games.
“You know, it’s not perfect, but I like the way we had our travel plans scheduled,” said Reich, noting that Stanford arrived on the East Coast Thursday afternoon.
“We got our rest, and I knew the guys were ready to play,” Reich said. “I’m not going to use travel as an excuse, OK. Virginia has a dynamic team; they have speed, and their experience really shows. They are going to be a factor in the conference,” said Reich.
About the FSU game
Next week’s game marks the 30th anniversary of the Cavaliers’ 1995 Thursday night home upset of the undefeated and second-ranked Seminoles.
It was Florida State’s first ACC loss since joining the conference in 1992, a streak of 29 games.
The Cavaliers won 33-28 after a frantic goal-line stand on the final play of the game, as FSU’s Warrick Dunn was stopped just inches from the goal line.
UVA All-American Anthony Poindexter and linebacker Adrian Burnim spearheaded the stop.
The win clinched a share of the ACC title for Virginia, which tied FSU with a 7-1 conference record.
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