Amidst all the talk of the new offense, the fact that the defense has uncharacteristically struggled has been lost in the conversation. Not Saturday. They could have played eight quarters, and the Heels still wouldn't have crossed the goal line. Some thoughts on Virginia's first win of the season:
- LB Steve Greer set the tone on the opening drive with two tackles for loss. Matt Conrath (3 batted balls) continued the momentum. Nate Collins finished the job with a hit on T.J. Yates that led to a Chase Minnifield interception, setting up the game-clinching TD.
- If he's going down, Al Groh is going to go down his way. From his offensive adjustments two weeks ago to his defensive game plan against UNC, Al Groh is putting his stamp on this team. Even on offense, the game was called to avoid mistakes under the assumption that UNC couldn't score without help. They couldn't.
- I'll admit I was a little nervous about how Virignia would respond after literally getting run over in back to back weeks against TCU and S. Miss. Then I saw John Shoop in the coach's box calling UNC's plays and immediately felt better.
- As we've said in this space before, Mikell Simpson is the best offensive player on the team, and UVA should be getting him the ball more. Inspired by watching 2007 game film Friday night, Simpson WAS the offense on Saturday, with 20 carries for 102 yards and a TD, and a team-leading four catches for 45 yards. That wasn't so hard, was it?
- Less than a month after Virginia played three QBs in the season opener, its now exclusively Jameel Sewell's show. Marc Verica made a brief appearance, but only because Sewell was nursing a hand injury at the time. And Vic Hall took himself out of the QB picture with an act of selflessness. Sewell is flawed - he makes bad decisions from time to time, sails throws on an almost regular basis, and doesn't always seem to see the field particularly well - but he gives Virginia its best chance to win. If Sewell can stick to the script - only 169 total yards but ZERO turnovers on Saturday - Virginia will at least be competitive the rest of the way.
- Jared Green isn't a star but he's developing a nice little niche as 3rd down receiver. Only two catches, but both moved the sticks on 3rd down.
- Tip of the cap to K Robert Randolph. Teams often don't notice the kicker unless he's missing kicks, so we should recogize them when they do the job. Randoph went 3-for-3 to stake Virginia to a lead before Simpson's TD sealed the deal.
Virginia is now 7-2 against North Carolina under Groh and 10-1 in October under Groh since 2007. Perfect storm? Maybe. But the calendar doesn't turn from October until four more games are played. November largely has been a different story (13-17, including 0-4 last year, under Groh), so UVA better get fat while it can.
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It wasn't unwatchable this week (well, unless you don't get College Sports TV, one of the only networks to be offered in less households than ESPN U Don't Get It). For those of you who could watch, you were treated to non-stop cliches from Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's younger brother Akbar, who was "analyzing" the game for CSTV. O where, o where have you gone, Mac McDonald.
Some thoughts on the game:
- Al Groh attempted to take control of his own fate this week, ditching parts of the spread while reinstalling more traditional pro sets. The result was 268 first half yards, an offense that outgained USM for the game, and 25 first downs, six more than the Hoos had in their first two games combined.
- But Virginia did appear to return to more spread-like playcalling in the 2nd half, particularly in the way they ran the football, to their detriment. Notably, Cavalier RBs had 13 carries to Sewell's nine in the first half. Relying more on RB runs also set up play action, including a 69-yard TD bomb to Tim Smith in the first half. But after a handful of Sewell draws led to a late touchdown in the first half, the Hoos seemed to fall in love with the QB run, to the tune of 14 second half carries for Sewell against only seven RB carries. It was effective at times (Sewell did finish with 79 rushing yards), but the proof is in the pudding - 27 first-half points to 7 in the second.
- Hootie aptly noted last week that the Hoos' offensive problems start in the trenches. The o-line was better against USM, which Hootie attributed to ditching the wider splits usually associated with the spread.
- The D-line was not. When Damion Fletcher decided to serve notice that he was the best player on the field, the Cavs' D did little to stop him. The senior back, who will play on Sundays, finished with 26 carries for 132 yards, but it was his counterpart in the wildcat formation, Tory Harrison, who broke the Cavs' back with a 57-yard touchdown run that proved to be the decisive score.
- The Hoos were helped by some sloppy play by the Golden Eagles early in the game. A pair of fumbles in their own end, which were more given away than forced, led to a pair of UVA FGs. Unfortunately, the final result would probably have been different if Virginia finished those drives off turnovers with TDs instead of stalling inside the USM 20 and settling for FGs.
- Welcome back to relevance Jared Green. Darrell's son had 5 catches for 30 yards. Four of those catches resulted in first downs.
- Chris Cook missed the contest with a groin injury. And in what is becoming a familar refrain, Mikell Simpson also missed the game with an injury, this time with a bruised shin.
- Finally, the last two times Virginia had gone 0-2 to start a season, the Cavs won their third game en route to a bowl game berth. In Groh's second season in 2002, the Cavs lost their first two to Colorado State and Florida State, but rebounded to finish 9-5. The last time before that Virginia lost its first two was 1987, when George Welsh led the Hoos to an 8-4 mark after dropping a pair to Georgia and Maryland. Now that the Cavs have broken that trend, its probably time to settle in for a long season ... and ask when basketball season starts.
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