It’s hard, at first glance, to be too critical of the UVA offense in the 35-31 loss to NC State in Week 2, given the top-line productivity – 514 yards of total offense, 257 yards on the ground, no sacks, 13-of-19 on third downs.
But then: the offense was in the red zone five times, and came away with just three scores – two TDs and a field goal – with a turnover on downs, and an INT into the end zone.
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The INT was a bad read by QB Chandler Morris.
The turnover on downs was a bad decision by the head coach, Tony Elliott, and then a questionable play call by offensive coordinator Des Kitchings.
The field goal was the result of conservative play-calling from Kitchings, who ran the ball into the line on two straight plays after getting to a second-and-3 at the State 9.
Kitchings otherwise had a solid game plan and was pitch-perfect on most of the rest of the 75 offensive snaps.
Let’s grade it out.
Quarterback: B
Morris had good counting numbers – 30-of-43, 257 yards, one TD, the INT.
Morris also ran the ball three times, all designed runs, gaining 56 yards.
Depth:
- Behind the line of scrimmage: 8-of-10, 40 yards, 83.3 NFL rating
- Short (0-9 yards in the air): 13-of-18, 83 yards, one TD, 100.0 NFL rating
- Medium (10-19 yards in the air): 9-of-13, 134 yards, one INT, 70.7 NFL rating
- Deep (20+ yards in the air): 0-of-2, 39.6 NFL rating
Pressure:
- Clean pocket: 23-of-32, 207 yards, 88.9 NFL rating
- Under pressure: 7-of-11, 50 yards, one TD, one INT, 66.5 NFL rating
- Not blitzed: 22-of-29, 186 yards, 92.0 NFL rating
- Blitzed: 8-of-14, 71 yards, one TD, one INT, 64.9 NFL rating
Analysis: Morris did what he was asked to do, largely – get rid of the ball quickly, don’t do anything stupid.
The B grade comes because of the one play where he did something unbelievably stupid – missing an open receiver dragging across the middle, in favor of his first read, a running back out of the backfield who was well-covered, then throwing the ball to the inside, basically right into the wheelhouse of the defender, instead of leading the receiver or just throwing the ball away.
I’m talking myself into a B- here, so, I’ll stop.
O line: A+
Seriously, 257 yards rushing, no sacks, pressures on 11 of the 43 QB dropbacks – and none of those pressures were registered as “hits.”
Snap counts:
- LT McKale Boley: 76
- LG Noah Josey: 76
- C Brady Wilson: 76
- RG Drake Metcalf: 76
- RT Jack Whitmer: 52
- RT Ethan Sipe: 24
Tailbacks: A
J’Mari Taylor had 150 yards and three TDs on 17 carries.
Backups Xavier Brown (27 yards on eight carries) and Noah Vaughn (24 yards on four carries) were also productive.
Taylor and Brown each had two catches on three targets.
Brown got dinged with a dropped pass.
Taylor was on the field for four pass-block snaps and one run block, and Vaughn was in for two run blocks, and both had clean sheets.
I should go A+ here.
Receivers: B
The game plan was designed to have Morris get rid of the ball quickly – his average dropback was 2.53 seconds, per Pro Football Focus.
The two deep targets (20+ yards in the air) were to slot receiver Cam Ross and tight end Sage Ennis.
I want to highlight Jahmal Edrine here – the 6’3” wideout had four catches on four targets in the 10-19 yard range, gaining 60 yards on those catches.
The yards after catch were a little disappointing – after averaging 6.0 YACs per reception in Week 1, the unit averaged just 3.6 YACs per reception this week.
The 2024 unit averaged 5.7 YACs for that season; the 2023 group averaged 5.8 YACs; the 2022 group averaged 5.5.
Gotta do better, a lot better, than 3.6.
B is probably being nice, in terms of grades.
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Chris Graham
