Virginia defense: Progress was obvious, definitely, but still a lot to work on

The big numbers – 17 points, 330 yards of offense – look OK. But inside the numbers, there’s a lot for the Virginia defense to work on.

The biggest thing: run defense. Richmond, in its 34-17 loss to the ‘Hoos on Saturday, gained 170 yards on the ground, with Savon Smith going for 88 yards on 13 carries, and Aaron Dykes gaining 76 yards on 17 totes.

The most troubling stat is first-down rushing. The Spiders ran the ball on first-down plays 19 times, and gained 128 yards on those runs – 6.7 yards per carry on first down.

There were five chunk plays on the ground on first-down plays – Dykes for 20, Smith for 17, Smith for 15, Smith for 14, Dykes for 10.

“Their running backs are good, and we knew all of this going in,” middle linebacker Nick Jackson said. “We had some mistakes and misfits, myself included. We just have to be better on the block. That’s the kind of stuff that we can clean up after the first-game jitters.”

Richmond converted two third-and-fives with runs, which is, frankly, insulting, that UR offensive coordinator Billy Cosh would even call a run once on a third-and-five, much less do it twice, and get away with it.

The revamped defensive front seven also didn’t get much in the way of pressure on Richmond QB Reece Udinski, sacking him twice, and recording two QB hurries on the afternoon.

That was largely a function of the way Cosh dialed things down to have Udinski, the career leader in passing yards at VMI, which he helped lead to an FCS playoff berth in 2021, focusing on short and intermediate throws, with three-step drops that cut down on the time that pass rushers have to get to the QB.

Udinski was 23-of-34 passing on the day, but for just 160 yards – just 4.7 yards per attempt – and finished the day with a 116.9 QB rating.

So, that was a victory of sorts, that Cosh game-planned himself into maybe being overly conservative – Udinski had just one completion over 15 yards, a 17-yard pass to Jasiah Williams, who had nine catches for 67 yards, in the second quarter.

“Frankly, if they don’t throw it over your head, it’s tough to generate those chunk plays that a lot of those big offenses want,” UVA defensive coordinator John Rudzinski said.

His defense found itself backed up against the wall twice in the third quarter following turnovers – the first leading to an eight-play, 34-yard drive that cut the Virginia lead to 28-17, the second seeing the D get a stop that forced a long field-goal try that missed wide left.

The Richmond offense made an incursion into Virginia territory on its next possession in the third quarter, but linebacker Josh Ahern, who had to sit out the first half to serve out a suspension for a spearing penalty from last season’s final-game loss to Virginia Tech, made stops on Dykes’ runs on third-and-one and fourth-and-one to snuff that one out.

“There’s going to be a lot to clean up, but I think the guys having a chance to see themselves being successful in situations is just going to help us going forward,” UVA head coach Tony Elliott said.

Jackson, who led the ACC in tackles in 2021, and led Virginia with 14 tackles on Saturday, said all things considered, the defense played well.

“Anytime you hold a team to under 20 points, that’s a good job,” Jackson said. “There’s always things that you can clean up, but a win is a win. I’m happy with our win, and how we performed. Definitely some stuff to clean up, but we’ll be back next weekend ready to go.”