The Result: Virginia fell 19-14 at No. 11 Miami on Saturday night in a defense-heavy contest. The loss is UVa’s fourth straight, dropping the Cavaliers to 1-4 on the season and in ACC play.
The Turning Point: It came in the second quarter, when UVa failed to score despite having a 1st and Goal at the Miami 10 and 2nd and Goal at the Miami 7-yard line. Penalties set the Wahoos back and then wiped out a touchdown before Brian Delaney missed a 36-yard field goal. The Hurricanes took advantage, drove down and got a field goal to take a 10-7 lead into half.
The Stat That Tells the Story: UVa had just two red zone trips Saturday evening and scored on just one of those two tries.
Wahoo of the Week: It’s Brennan Armstrong, who returned from a concussion and was UVa’s top player on offense against the Canes. He finished with 181 passing yards and two touchdowns and led the Cavaliers in rushing with 91 yards on 15 carries. And for the first time this year, he didn’t throw an interception.
Bronco’s Winning Formula:
24+ Points?: No (14)
+1 Turnover Margin?: No (-1)
+5 Average Starting Field Position?: No (-1)
Keys to Victory
1) Contain King
D’Eriq King had a very good game on Saturday but UVa’s defense actually did a fair job keeping him in check. Given the Wahoos were missing some key contributors on defense, they were in a tough spot when the game began. But they still sacked King five times after struggling to rush much less mobile quarterbacks earlier in the season. Unfortunately, the defense eventually got winded and gave up a few back-breaking plays to King and his receivers in the second half, once Miami’s tempo became a real problem. King finished with 322 passing yards but had just 28 yards on 14 attempts.
Grade: B
2) Protect the QB
Virginia got Armstrong back and the offensive line did a good job protecting him from Miami’s rushers in the loss. The Canes had just one sack and two TFL’s in the win and Armstrong had time to throw throughout the game. He also did a good job himself avoiding pressure and escaping out of the pocket for some nice gains on the ground. The offense had plenty of problems at Hard Rock Stadium but protection wasn’t one of them.
Grade: A
