UVA Football: What a win over Maryland tonight means for the bigger goals ahead

UVA Football looks to get out to its first 3-0 start in five years with Maryland and the ACC Network in town for a prime-time Saturday night.

We’re still in the part of the schedule where we’d better be seeing some wins.

I was more than a little surprised to see Maryland at 33 in the ESPN Football Power Index and 42 in SP+, considering that the Terps lost at home last week to Michigan State (FPI: 66, SP+: 76).

I think the computers are being too kind, but even so, this one is a must-have, with the game being in Charlottesville.

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ICYMI: UVA Football

• Game Preview: UVA, Maryland set to meet in prime time on Saturday night
• UVA Football: The offense needs Chris Tyree to get things going in the slot
• UVA Football: Seriously gotta fix that issue with getting punts blocked
• UVA Football: Tony Elliott updates on Kam Robinson, McKale Boley, Corey Thomas

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Next week, it’s at Coastal Carolina (FPI: 73, SP+: 70), then it’s a bye week, then after the bye, Boston College (FPI: 24, SP+: 55) visits Scott Stadium.

That’s when things start to ratchet up.

The BC game starts an eight-game stretch that includes home games with North Carolina (FPI: 43, SP+: 46), Louisville (FPI: 11, SP+: 14) and SMU (FPI: 41, SP+: 37), and road games at Clemson (FPI: 14, SP+: 18), Notre Dame (FPI: 10, SP+: 15), Pitt (FPI: 52, SP+: 63) and Virginia Tech (FPI: 49, SP+: 45).

The goal, and it’s a low bar, but it’s six, to get into a bowl outside up north on a weekday between Christmas and New Year’s, preferably, for me, the one in Boston, since I was up there this spring for the UVA-BC game in Fenway Park, and I’m familiar with the neighborhood.

Are there four more wins out there? Oh, yeah, no doubt.

It doesn’t have to be Maryland, but getting Maryland brings the magic number down to three.

Eek out a win tonight, win down in Myrtle Beach, steal one between BC, UNC and Louisville, then beat Pitt at Pitt or SMU in Charlottesville, and you’re at six.

Six ain’t changing the state of college football, but it’s progress, considering how the first two years of the Tony Elliott era went on the field.

Plus, hey, you get the win tonight, you can actually move the goalpost, as it were.

Win tonight, against a decent Maryland team, and you can start thinking, seven, maybe eight?

I’m getting ahead of myself.