Film Room: How the Hoos got the running game going

Virginia squeaked by with a 30-28 victory at Miami last Thursday night, improving to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in ACC play with a win over the Hurricanes. It wasn’t an easy one, and there is still plenty to improve upon. But UVa’s offense again played well, getting back on track after a 17-point effort against Wake Forest.

The rushing attack had its most-impressive performance in some time, helping the Wahoos wear down the Canes and reach the 30-point plateau for the fourth time in five games. The solid ground game was a reversal for the Wahoos, who have been very pass heavy in recent weeks.

In today’s Film Room, we take a look at UVa’s effort to get the running game going, and what worked on Thursday night.

Virginia’s ground game finally caught a gear in Thursday’s win at Miami. The Cavaliers had their most-balanced offensive game since their season-opener against William & Mary, rushing for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns. That was UVa’s first 100+ yard rushing day since the win over Illinois, after gaining just 123 yards combined in their back-to-back losses to UNC and Wake Forest.

Against Miami, UVa made a concerted effort to be more balanced, after a pass-heavy start to the game. UVa finished 35 rush attempts, a season high, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, their best average since the aforementioned William & Mary win. UVa also found the end zone twice on the ground, after just two rushing touchdowns total in their previous three games.

Wayne Taulapapa had one of the best rushing performances of his career, going for 62 yards on 11 carries, with a touchdown and a successful two-point conversion attempt. Keytaon Thompson didn’t get many carries, but he made the most of them, carrying the ball three times for 47 yards. Mike Hollins wasn’t terribly efficient, but he did have a big impact on last week’s game, rushing 10 times for 38 yards and a big score in the first half to put the Hoos up 16-7.

UVa also graded out well in the win at Hard Rock Stadium. Virginia’s offensive line achieved their best run blocking performance of the season according to the PFF College grades. The Hoos finished the game with a grade of 79.2, easily surpassing their previous season high of 69 (Illinois). The overall rushing grade was the best of the year too, at 83, just higher than their grade in the William & Mary game.

Virginia did most of their damage between the tackles, but also had some explosive runs to the outside. Virginia rushed 12 times for 89 yards right up the middle, but had two rushes outside the right tackle that gained 52 yards. Brennan Armstrong also moved the chains with some timely scrambles. The UVa QB rushed three times for 34 yards in the win over the Hurricanes.