I wrote two weeks ago that UVA Football, on the eve of the game down at Coastal Carolina, that it was must-win mode for coach Tony Elliott.
Virginia responded to the stakes with a too-easy 43-24 win in a game that was not that close.
No disrespect to the kids and coaches at Coastal, but that one was varsity vs. the JV.
The Cavaliers ran for 384 yards, most of that behind the left side of the line, which had a converted tight end at left tackle.
Too easy.
ICYMI: UVA Football
- Castellanos back for Boston College for weekend game at Virginia
- Podcast: Virginia faces Boston College with potential 4-1 start on the line
- UVA Athletics updates policies for access to The Hill on football gamedays
- Notebook: UVA Football gets healthy with bye week, eyes Boston College
- UVA Football about to make a big move to better utilize its NIL resources
- Report Card: UVA Football strengths, weaknesses heading into tough stretch
Going into this weekend, then, with Boston College (4-1, 1-0 ACC) in town, is this one also a must-win?
The short answer is, no, because Virginia’s 3-1 start has given Elliott and Co. some breathing room toward the modest goal going into the season of getting to bowl eligibility.
Now, that’s the modest goal, just getting to six wins.
A win this weekend, and we could start to think bigger.
Get to 4-1, 2-0 in the ACC, and you can start thinking about … seven, maybe even eight wins?
That optimism would include factoring in the favorable game at home with extremely vulnerable North Carolina coming up at the end of the month, games with Pitt and SMU that had already felt like toss-ups, and who knows, you could sneak one out from among Louisville at home, at Clemson, at Notre Dame, at Virginia Tech.
I’m not drinking the kool-aid, I’m the guy mixing it here, so, keep that in mind.
Perspective: This is still a rebuild
I’ve been writing a lot the past couple of weeks about the local MLB teams, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, which are both in different stages of their rebuilds, and some of the perspective from analyzing where each are right now in their rebuilds is the cold water to my dreamy aspirations.
The O’s are in Year 6 of their rebuild, and they’ve made the playoffs the past two years, but been swept out both times, so, where they’re at right now is, three awful seasons, one .500 season, two playoff seasons, still work to do.
The Nats are just at the end of Year 3 of their rebuild, where Elliott is now with his, and though the pieces are starting to fall into place – there’s a lot to like about the core of James Wood, Dylan Crews, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. – they’re still looking up at getting to even playing .500 baseball.
In that context, we still need to be thinking, with respect to UVA Football, baby steps.
A win over a good BC team that has wins over Florida State and Michigan State, and a one-score loss at #9 Missouri, would seem to be, in itself, a big step in the right direction, but we need to tamp down our (my!) expectations either way.
Progress is the goal.
We’re still where the Nationals are. Getting to .500 and bowl eligibility would be an accomplishment, akin to the breakthrough 2022 for Baltimore, just one year early in our case.
Share
Chris Graham
