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Football Features
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.
Mired in a four-game slump, the Virginia football team has tried to stay positive and focused on small goals to turn the tide. For now, UVa coach Mike London said Monday during his weekly media meeting, the Cavaliers have dialed into this month and the two home games left on the October slate. The Hoos face Maryland this weekend and Wake Forest next weekend before their bye week on the schedule.
A rough few weeks, eh? No argument there. Breaking down another loss might not be the most fun task, but it is the task before us nonetheless. So let's look a few things that I learned from the Duke game this past weekend.
Fans are frustrated. Losing to Duke, improved and 5-1 or not, does that to people. Ultimately, however, the single loss isn't what has ruffled feathers so far in 2012. No, the perceived lack of improvement and margin of defeat along with some disturbing patterns six games into this season are what's truly bugging fans thirsty for sustained football success.
For the fourth straight week, the Virginia football team fell behind by at least three scores in the second half and lost in disappointing fashion. The Cavaliers continued struggling to score and lost the turnover battle again as they got beat in all phases of the game in a 42-17 loss to Duke on Saturday. The Blue Devils have three straight victories in Durham against Hoos.
Virginia has lost to Duke in its previous two trips to Durham, but this week's game is a big one for both teams' hopes of chasing down bowl eligibility. What can the Cavaliers do to snap a three-game losing streak and get back to .500 on the season? The Watch List takes a look at some of the match-up areas in Saturday's game between UVa and Duke.
We may look back Virginia's 44-38 loss to Louisiana Tech as the defining game of the 2012 season. Not so much from a won-loss perspective, but from a wake-up call perspective. Even after posting 625 yards and a 7.81 yards per play average against the 122nd ranked defense in the nation, Virginia still could not win a game on its home turf. Why not? Missed tackles, no power running game, poor pass coverage, and coaching blunders. If Saturday's game showed us anything, it shows that there is a drastic need for Virginia's rah-rah head coach to get in the faces of coaches and personnel and make some changes in who and how his team plays the game.
The Cavaliers have lost three straight games and sit below .500 on the season at 2-3 so the theme of the week appears to be "get back on track" for the Virginia football program as it searches for back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004-2005. The recent losing skid combined with offensive struggles and turnovers has led to a week of change for the Hoos as well. Michael Rocco, who has started 18 straight games at quarterback for UVa, has been replaced by Phillip Sims, assuming a leg injury doesn't keep him out of action in Durham.
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