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Penalties, turnovers, inconsistent offensive line play, and dropped passes. All of the issues that have plagued the Virginia football team this season showed up again in Saturday's game, but this time the majority of the miscues belonged to the opponent as NC State committed 5 turnovers and struggled throughout the day. As a result, the Cavaliers led wire to wire in a 33-6 demolition of the Wolfpack.
The Virginia football team resumes play this week with a trip to Raleigh, a location where UVa is 8-16 all-time against NC State. Can the Hoos find a way to win against the Wolfpack and snap a six-game losing streak? The weekly Watch List article takes a look at some in-game details that could impact the outcome from both sides of the ball.
Tyrone Lewis played in two different schemes for two different coordinators at Virginia, manning a defensive back position in both a 5-2 and 4-3 defense. The scheme didn't matter much, though. Lewis and his fellow teammates in the secondary were a fierce group of competitors that proved to be a force to be reckoned with while wearing the orange and blue. Lewis answered some questions about playing safety for TheSabre.com's "Ask the Experts" series.
The Virginia football team is looking for a bye week boost. And there's a lot at stake for the Cavaliers as they prepare for NC State after an open date on the calendar. UVa has lost six straight games to stand at 2-6 on the season and another loss mathematically eliminates the team from postseason play. Further, this group is trying to avoid becoming the first Cavalier team since 1981 to lose seven straight games. UVa coach Mike London said that the Wahoos "desperately" want to win a game and that they used the bye week to focus on improving things that can help get them back in the win column.
The Virginia football team had its bye last week, a time to reflect on many things: improvement, preparation and discipline. The latter was addressed with coach Mike London's opening statement at Monday's weekly press conference. "Three players will be suspended for this game - Jeremiah Mathis, Henry Coley, and LoVante Battle - for violation of team rules," London said. Each player has been suspended indefinitely. Read about that and more in this weekly notes article.
A superb effort by the Virginia defense was not enough to overcome bad specials teams play, turnovers, penalties, dropped passes, and stalled drives. Yep, we've seen this movie before. For grading purposes, I held Virginia's offense and special teams responsible for 13 of Wake's 16 points. Sorry defense. Let's break down the grades against the Deacons, compare this season's grades to last season, and look at some trends that could be a factor against NC State.
Virginia lost its sixth straight game this past weekend, falling to Wake Forest on Saturday 16-10. This was a tough one, no question. Tough for the team, tough for the coaches, tough for the fans. Even worse, it was a tough loss - in a very winnable game - going into a bye week. So everything that we break down, just like everything the team breaks down, is going to linger.
From the opening kickoff of Virginia's 16-10 loss to Wake Forest on Sunday, changes were evident on special teams as the Hoos unveiled a different alignment to receive that kick. Unfortunately, the scheme shift was more sanguine than successful as a multitude of errors proved costly again on special teams. The Sunday Sampler takes a closer look at that and the game against the Demon Deacons.
Virginia's 2012 season has become a broken record and that is heart-breaking for Wahoos everywhere. Turnovers, penalties, special teams miscues, and a points-averse offense wiped out UVa's chances of a win against Wake Forest on Saturday as the Demon Deacons grabbed a 16-10 victory. Those same issues have reigned supreme for much of the season and the Hoos have six straight losses to show for it.
Another week, another read option team. The Virginia football team welcomes Wake Forest to Charlottesville this weekend and the Demon Deacons will bring variations of the popular spread offense and read option schemes to town. What are some other wrinkles this week with Wake? The Watch List takes a peek at some items to keep an eye on this week as UVa tries to snap a five-game losing streak.
This edition of Sabre Scoop (formerly Recruiting News, Notes, and Links) provides the latest on uncommitted 7'0" senior Joel Embiid, who will be in Charlottesville on an official visit this weekend. On the football front, a Richmond (VA) area prospect is performing at a high level and looking like a possible diamond in the rough for the Cavaliers.
Offensive line prospect Coleman Thomas was offered a scholarship by West Virginia University one day after attending a Mountaineers camp this past summer. In-state ACC schools Virginia and Virginia Tech offered more recently, and the Fort Chiswell (VA) junior believes two others could be on the verge as well.
In high school, Eli Harold admits, it was easy to rush the quarterback. He often was just faster or stronger than the opponent so he could get into the backfield and make plays regularly for Ocean Lakes High School. Now a college freshman at Virginia, things aren't as simple, but the elite recruiting prospect is starting to catch on now.
In what seems to be a habitual issue, the Cavaliers can't seem to put all three elements of special teams, offense and defense together in one game. UVa has had one game this season where all three units received an above average grade, but Maryland was not it. At some point in time, the coaches need to be held accountable for the performance. That time is now. Let's take a closer look at the Maryland grades and prepare for Wake Forest with a look at some trends.
Rinse and repeat. For the fifth straight week, the Virginia football team must try to bounce back from a loss. Mired in a five-game losing streak, the next opportunity to snap out of the slump comes against a Wake Forest team with its own issues. The Game Preview takes a closer look with Editor Kris Wright's Keys to the Game and his pick for the week.
Virginia is in the midst of a five-game losing streak headed into this Saturday's matchup against Wake Forest. With just five games remaining on the schedule and a 2-5 record, the Cavaliers' bowl hopes are dwindling fast. While not yet mathematically eliminated from postseason play, the team has to improve greatly to avoid a losing record this season. The Hoos talked about dealing with adversity and more during Monday's weekly press conference.
In this "Strategy Session," I take a look at the few primary remaining targets the Virginia coaches are eyeing and take a look ahead to the class of 2014, which features some prominent in-state targets that are already on the national recruiting radar.
That. Was. No. Fun. Am I referring to the end of the season for my beloved Cincinnati Reds or Virginia's game against Maryland? Is there any way you possibly can tell? Since I have neither the inclination nor the ability to break down why the Reds couldn't win one stinkin' game at home against the Giants, I suppose I will break down Virginia's effort against Maryland instead.
The Virginia football team continues to struggle on the scoreboard, posting just 20 points in a 27-20 loss to Maryland on Saturday. There are plenty of areas to analyze - offensive line inconsistency, dropped passes, penalties - that contribute to the scoring woes, but the bottom line is that UVa doesn't put up enough points on a regular basis. The Sunday Sampler takes a close look at the offense's issues.
The losses and frustration are starting to mount for the Virginia football team. That's what happens when each week features games plagued by turnovers, critical penalties, poor blocking, dropped passes, red zone inefficiency, big plays allowed, and overall inconsistent play. All of that reappeared once again this Saturday as UVa dropped its fifth straight game, trailing from wire to wire in a 27-20 loss to Maryland.
The rest of the October schedule features home games for the Virginia football team. The Cavaliers hope some hometown magic can help stop a four-game losing streak after another road loss at Duke last week. In order to get a win, the Hoos must deal with a stout Maryland defense and an offense with a lot of variations. The "Watch List" breaks down some wrinkles to keep an eye on during this week's game.
The Hoos netted their worst combined grade average of the season as the defense, offense and special teams averaged a dismal 68.5 average. There were some bright spots with the offensive line play and Phillip Sims did some nice things in his debut, but for the most part the issues that have kept the Hoos in the loss column for four consecutive weeks simply have not gone away as we will see in this week's report.
Stop the slide. For Virginia, this week's mission is really simple. Stop a four-game losing streak. While the last three opponents during the Cavaliers' skid own a combined 14-2 record, any hopes of salvaging the 2012 season rest on finishing October with two wins in two home games. The next comes against Maryland on Saturday.
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