Sabre Edge Features 
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Sabre Edge Features
Friday's men's basketball meeting between George Mason and Virginia settled into a see-saw season-opening battle with 10 ties and 16 lead changes, but the Patriots came through with some clutch shooting in the final 1:30 to win 63-59. It marked Mason's first ever victory in eight tries against UVa, which entered the game on a 14-game winning streak in season openers.
The Virginia football team looks to win two straight games for the first time since September when Miami comes to town Saturday. The Hoos opened the season with back-to-back wins against Richmond and Penn State before a six-game losing streak hit the books. The Cavaliers bounced back after the bye week with a convincing victory against NC State last weekend and they hope to add another one this time around. The Watch List takes a look at a few wrinkles that could appear in the UVa-Miami matchup.
In my grade and trend report last this week I said "I believe Virginia is looking at the losing end of another game with a 31-17 loss." That's why they play the game. In winning in Raleigh for the first time since 1999, Virginia dominated with the run, was efficient with its passing game and finally found a way to force more turnovers than it gave away. Let's look at the grades and prepare for the matchup with Miami.
A season after a convincing 68-48 victory over George Mason in the friendly confines of the John Paul Jones Arena, the Virginia Cavaliers travel up U.S. 29 to open the 2012-2013 season against Paul Hewitt's squad at the Patriot Center. Will the Hoos notch another victory against their northern Virginian neighbors, or will Hewitt record his first win against Tony Bennett? Find out in the George Mason Primer.
Build on that. The goal this week simply has to be "build on that NC State win." After all, there were some positive signs against the Wolfpack. With the Coastal Division leaders coming to town, the Hoos simply want to avoid a step backward against Miami. Let's take a close look at the match-up against the Hurricanes.
Whew, we really needed a win, didn't we? Yes, we did. It always is a little nicer to break down a win compared to a loss, something that I quickly remembered the last couple of days as I dug into the NCSU win. Here are a few Things I learned from the Cavaliers' 33-6 victory against NC State.
Virginia is riding a one-game win streak into its game with Miami ... wait, UVa won an ACC game ... on the road ... against a formidable opponent with a high level quarterback? Yes, the Hoos did. And they did so in dramatic fashion by completely dominating NC State in a 33-6 rout in front of a red sea of more than 54,000 Wolfpack fans. But how can this be? Cavalier coach Mike London discussed his team's turn-around last week and the match-up with Miami at his weekly press conference Monday.
"Doubt is a thief that often makes us fear to tread where we might have won," Shakespeare wrote. Two conflicting forces - confidence and doubt - play huge roles in sports. And at no time is there greater doubt for a team than during a losing streak. So I believe one of the hardest things in coaching is to keep a team focused, working, and believing during a string of losses. The challenge grows with every setback. That was the task facing Mike London and the Virginia football program.
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.
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.
The Virginia men's basketball team lost quite a bit of experience and production from the 2012 NCAA Tournament team. Gone are Mike Scott, Sammy Zeglinski, and Assane Sene. Plus, for the start of the season at least, Jontel Evans will be coming back from fall surgery. Yes, those four players started many of the game last season. The Cavaliers hope a pair of small town shooters can help the program sustain success while a talented, though young, roster finds its way.
UVa secured a talented class of recruits in the 2012 class, but Justin Anderson, Taylor Barnette, Evan Nolte and Mike Tobey weren't the only key acquisitions for the Cavaliers this past offseason. There was also 6'8", 230-pound power forward Anthony Gill, who at this time last year was preparing for his freshman season at the University of South Carolina.
I caught up with Gill at UVa basketball's media day several weeks ago, and he addressed his transfer and many other topics.
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.
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.
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