Take Two: Revisiting the keys and grading UVa's win over Louisville

The Result: UVa defeated Louisville 27-3 to improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in ACC play. The Cavaliers are 3-0 in ACC openers under Bronco Mendenhall.

The Turning Point: When UVa’s defense stopped Louisville on the goal line after a Bryce Perkins interception set the Cardinals up with a chance to take the lead. Virginia stopped three straight running plays and held the Cards to a field goal, retaining the lead. The Wahoos scored on the ensuing drive and never looked back.

The Stat That Tells the Story: UVa scored 17 of its 27 points off three Louisville turnovers. Virginia forced three turnovers on the day and cashed in on all of them.

Wahoo of the Week: Charles Snowden, who had the best game of his career. The second-year linebacker played a part in two turnovers, intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble, and did a great job in pass rush. Snowden finished the game with eight tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and had two pass break-ups as well.

Force Cunningham into mistakes through the air:

Malik Cunningham wasn’t afforded the opportunity to make mistakes throwing the ball in the second half, as he was benched at the intermission in favor of Jawon Pass. But in the first half, UVa’s defense got off to a great start against the dynamic Louisville quarterback, keeping him in check both on the ground and through the air. Cunningham finished the game with just 26 rushing yards on 10 attempts after going for more than 100 last week in just over a half of football. He was just 6-for-9 passing with 35 yards in the first half and the Cavalier defense did force him into one critical mistake, with Snowden intercepting the freshman quarterback and setting up the Hoos with an opportunity to score points. Virginia’s defense kept Louisville from getting into any sort of a rhythm in the first half, which is what led to the change at quarterback for the third consecutive week. Bottling up Cunningham as a runner didn’t allow the Cardinals to open up the Cavalier defense and kept Louisville from having any truly threatening drives in the first half. The result was that the Cardinals played a quarterback that is less dynamic and easier to defend in the second half.

Grade: A

Play a clean game on special teams:

It wasn’t a totally clean game, but a better performance from the Cavaliers special teams on Saturday. Chuck Davis supplanted Tavares Kelly at the punt returner spot and didn’t make any mistakes. Louisville kicked off to Joe Reed on both of its kickoffs but UVa wasn’t able to do much with those opportunities. Lester Coleman averaged 39 yards per punt, which is fine but not quite spectacular. And that brings us to the field-goal kicking game, which was once again an issue. A.J. Mejia missed another short attempt on UVa’s first drive and kept the Hoos from jumping on the Cardinals early. In fairness, it looked like there may have been some issues with the snap or the hold, but Mejia’s effort wasn’t close. Virginia turned to freshman Hunter Pearson, who had a perfect debut. He was 3-for-3 on extra points and made both of his short field-goal attempts. Pearson wasn’t tested from outside of 30 yards but it seems likely that he’ll get the nod going forward.

Grade: B