Virginia Steamrolled ... Again.

It took a while for 16th-ranked Miami to find Virginia's soft underbelly -- its run defense -- but once it did, Miami didn't go away from it.  268 rushing yards later, the Canes broke open a close game at the half, and won going away, 52-17, over the Cavs. 

Some observations with the Hoos one loss away from bowl ineligibility:

• Tip of the cap to the Cavs' secondary.  When Miami characteristically opened the game pass-happy, Virginia's secondary of Dowling, Cook, Woods, and McLeod made a very good pass offense pay.  Dowling's int set up the Hoos' first score, and Heisman-hopeful Jacory Harris looked thoroughly frustrated at halftime. 
• Another tip of the cap to LB Cam Johnson, the most exciting young player in Virginia's stable.  The second year backer had two sacks, unfortunately the second of which changed the momentum of the game.  The call may have been technically correct -- the face mask penalty does include the "helmet opening," and an official can use replay to correct an "egregious" error.  I'm not sure the official's interpretation of either of those terms is correct, but even if they were, I'm not sure what Johnson is supposed to do when he comes clean, and the quarterback ducks into him, causing Johnson to grab what he could to bring an extraordinary athlete to the ground.  Keep going after 'em Cam. 
• While Miami was figuring out how to attack the Hoos' defense (apparently they don't review film or stats from previous games at the U untiul halftime), their talent still staked them to a first half lead.  That top-flight talent was on display first with TE Leonard Hankerson's 35-yard catch and run TD, and then PR Thearon Collier's 60-yard punt return.  Virignia looked like they had both plays hemmed in before that talent took over. 
• Virginia couldn't kick or cover kicks in the first half, but special teams coach Ron Prince clearly saw a hole to exploit in the Canes' punt-blocking scheme.  Terrence Fells-Danzer's block set up Virginia's first touchdown, and then Trey Womack's block led directly to Billy Schautz's return TD.   
• Virginia needed both, as their offense went back to its conservative roots with Marc Verica running the offense.  The Hoos ran the ball effectively, but were awful on third down (2-for-12 for the game) and thus unable to sustain drives. 
• Verica was a brutal 11-29 for 75 yards passing.  If Sewell wasn't healthy, which wasn't reported late in the week but was apparently known by the coaching staff since the Duke game, someone needs to explain to me why Vic Hall too ZERO snaps at QB, as was reported by the TV crew doing the game.  They could have used some of his escapability against that speedy Miami defense.
• Finally, Al Groh produced his second quote in the last week to explain away his team's performace with a lack of talent.  Earlier in the week, Groh was quoted as saying that you can't force an identity without the skills to match it.  After the Miami game, explaining why Wake Forest racked up 515 yards of offense against Miami's porous D while Virginia mustered little, Groh said, "They've got Riley Skinner," referring to the Deacs' QB.  Unfortunately for Groh, he's ultimately responsible for the lack of talent he now sees in Charlottesville.  Fortunately for the rest of us, its inconceivable that he'll be responsible for it much longer.