With the Wahoos officially having wrapped things up, we are now moving deeper into our annual Season in Review, which began with a look at how preseason expectations compared to the end result.
Our next feature in the series will take a look at UVa’s offense through the lens of PFF College.
Below you will find the top 15 contributors on that side of the ball this season, using a cutoff of 150 total snaps.
Looking at the data above, here are are four key takeaways from the grades on offense and how UVa fared in 2020.
1. Armstrong had a really solid season.
Though his finale didn’t go the way he or fans might have liked, No. 5 still had a really good year in his first season as the starter. He’s credited with playing in nine games but realistically the 26 snaps and subsequent grade against NC State is incomplete at best. But his overall grade in spite of those plays being included says a lot about how good he was in his redshirt sophomore season. In addition to that he finished with an 85.2 grade in passing and a 78.8 in running, which speaks to his execution in both facets over the course of the season.
2. Davis got the buzz but Kemp certainly showed out.
It makes sense that Davis would garner so much attention after a five-TD, 500+ yard season in eight games while finishing second nationally in yards per catch. But Kemp, who had a 75.8 grade in the passing game (second only to Armstrong), across 363 of his snaps, was really solid as well. Davis was no slouch, of course. He had really solid grades across the board, including in run blocking. But ultimately, without Kemp's consistency the Cavalier offense would likely not have been what it was in 2020.
3. UVa got a lot of consistency on its offensive line.
Speaking of consistency, if you look at the players who played the most snaps the top four were offensive linemen (Glaser, Oluwatimi, Nelson, and Swoboda) and all made the top 10 in terms of overall grade. That’s not only really good news for the consistency up front but also for the program as a whole, as all four are returning next season. In addition to durability, Grant Misch ended up with the highest pass pro grade (83.2) across 46 snaps, ahead of Nelson’s 80.7 grade across 420 and Glaser’s 78.0 across 461. They were followed in that category by Bissinger at 76.8 (230 snaps) and then Haskins (110 snaps) and Reinkensmeyer (240) each at 74.0. And lastly in run blocking, Oluwatimi finished with a team-high 77.2 grade across 264 snaps followed by WR Ra’Shaun Henry at 75.0 across 95. Among the O-line, Reinkensmeyer was the only guy to grade out over north of 65 with a 69.2 across 136 snaps.
4. UVa's running game needs more work.
One thing that was apparent in UVa’s season finale at Virginia Tech was the lack of a running game, specifically from the running backs. While Armstrong, Thompson, and Ira Armstead (who only played 33 snaps across four games before his injury and therefore wasn’t included here) were good with the ball in their hands, the Hoos needs more than just the QBs. Outside of them, the Cavaliers didn’t do enough to get more on the ground and that shows in the grades. While Taulapapa and Simpson each made the Top 15 for this piece and had solid grades in the run game (a team-high 80.1 and 72.7, respectively), the place where the solid grading for the O-line slips dramatically is in run blocking. Outside of Oluwatimi, no lineman graded out north of 70 and only one above a 65.2. Teams that can take away the QB run make UVa much too one dimensional, which means the run blocking needs to improve across the board. Given the experience up front that UVa projects to return in 2021, that must change.
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