Film Room: UVa's struggles in run defense on full display

Virginia’s 59-39 loss in Chapel Hill was a historic game. For UVa’s passing game, it was a record-setting night that won’t soon be forgotten. But for UVa’s defense, it was a game that Cavalier fans can’t wait to forget.

UVa was gashed by the Tar Heels throughout the contest, and despite leading briefly to end the first half, the Wahoos were second best for most of the game. UVa fans probably worried about Carolina quarterback Sam Howell torching the secondary for the third straight year, and to some extent he did end up doing that. But UNC’s ground game was a much bigger problem. UVa’s defense had trouble stopping Carolina’s read option attack, and couldn’t get off the field when they needed to.

In this week’s film room, we take a look at how and why UVa struggled to defend North Carolina’s ground game, and what the Hoos need to do to put those issues behind them and get back on track, as they head into the first of two consecutive short weeks.

Statistically speaking, Saturday’s loss was a bloodbath for UVa’s run defense. Virginia allowed 392 yards on the ground, and 8.3 yards per carry. UNC found the end zone three times on the ground, and allowed three rushers to gain 66 yards or more. Ty Chandler led the way with 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns (9.9 ypc) on 20 attempts. UNC quarterback Sam Howell gashed the Hoos as well, for 112 yards on 15 rushes.

UNC didn’t punt once in the entire game. In the second half, Carolina leaned on the ground game, with 30 rush attempts despite trailing at the break. As a result the Tar Heels scored touchdowns on all five of their second-half drives. UNC hit a ton of big plays on the ground, with 266 of their rushing yards on 13 carries of 10 yards or more. UNC had five plays of 20 yards or more, and their longest run of the day was 60 yards.

Carolina did a lot of their damage on the ground right up the middle. Off the left guard, UNC rushed 6 times for 90 yards, averaging 15 yards per carry. On plays between the guards, Carolina rushed 13 times for 125 yards and five plays of 10+ yards. UNC also gained 58 yards on seven QB scrambles.

The PFF College numbers don’t flatter the Cavaliers, either. UVa hadn’t had a run defense grade lower than 50 since 2016, Bronco Mendenhall’s first year in charge (45.9 vs UNC). In Saturday’s loss, the Hoos finished with a run grade of 28.8. UVa missed a ton of tackles in the loss, and were credited with 21 in PFF’s game review. The team’s tackling grade was the second-lowest of the Mendenhall era, barely edged out by their performance against Clemson in the 2019 ACC Championship Game.

Play No. 1: Howell runs for a gain of 12 (Read Option)

Primary Issue(s): Lack of contain

This was Carolina’s first offensive play of the game, and it set the tone for how the rest of the contest would play out. This is just a typical read option look, with the ball set on the left hash. On the picture below, Howell is reading the defense, and ultimately decides to keep the ball. In this moment, UVa looks to have the play pretty well defended, given the circumstances. Ben Smiley is playing defensive end, and is unblocked. Noah Taylor is at the second level, and it looks like UVa has two defenders taking on one lead blocker from UNC.