Players and coaches had been saying for weeks that Virginia’s defense was improving and becoming more consistent. But the unit’s PFF College season grades, which had consistently been hovering near the bottom of the country since the loss at North Carolina, told a different story.

Then the Hoos shut out Duke 48-0 last Saturday at Scott Stadium. They forced a season-high three turnovers and limited the Blue Devils to 325 yards of total offense (215 passing and 110 on the ground, both lows for an ACC opponent against UVa this season) in the process.

“We're just playing more physical; we’re playing with more passion. We’re having fun out there,” UVa linebacker Nick Jackson said afterward. “We just got back to going out there and having fun and we're celebrating, having fun. Doing our little things. It was just fun out there.”

That performance was reflected in the defense’s report card from PFF coming off the program’s first shutout in ACC play in 13 years.

The unit’s 76.3 overall grade against Duke was the best for a UVa defense since last year’s season opener against the Blue Devils, when the Wahoos earned a 79.2. The Hoos also had their best games of the season in both coverage (76.8) and rushing the passer (66.0). Virginia’s 87.7 tackling grade and 73.4 in run defense were both second-best this season, behind only a 90.4 and a 76.5 respectively against Wake Forest.

Thanks to those improved single-game grades, Virginia’s cumulative season grades on defense (listed below) all rose to levels they hadn’t reached since before the Hoos opened ACC play by giving up 59 points and 699 total yards in Chapel Hill in Week 3.

The most notable improvement has come in the Wahoos’ tackling. UVa ranked 112th in the country with a 52.7 cumulative tackling grade following the UNC loss. Four weeks later, that grade has improved to a 79.7, good for a tie with Ball state for 15th in the country.

Jackson led the defense with 11 tackles on Saturday and also notched his first sack of the season. His 86.0 individual grade was both the best of his three-year college career and for any UVa defensive player in a game this season. Jackson’s 85.8 in run defense and 83.6 as a tackler were also the best of the year for the Cavaliers’ lone preseason All-ACC selection.

“We want to put our best on tape come out on the field,” Jackson said afterward. “We want to prove to the world that we’re back and we're playing Virginia football. Virginia defense.”

Below is a grade card showing how the top 10 offensive and defensive players fared in the loss to the Deacs and also a cumulative grade through the third week of the season for the offense and defense with comparisons to national ranking. (For more on how Pro Football Focus grades, we post an explanation at the bottom of this story).

Takeaways: Virginia had a season-high 25 players play at least 10 defensive snaps against Duke. Nine of those players graded out at 70 or better, also a season high. … For comparison, Coen King’s 70.8 was the best defensive grade last week at Louisville. At UNC, corner Fentrell Cypress and outside linebacker Elliott Brown each graded out at a defense-best 64.7. … First-year LB West Weeks played a season-high 39 snaps on Saturday. His 78.5 overall grade was his best in six game appearances, as were his performances as a tackler (80.8), rushing the passer (78.7) and in coverage (75.4). That pass-rushing grade was tops on the defense. … According to PFF, Noah Taylor had his best game (78.2) since last year’s win against Louisville and the second-best performance of his career. Taylor’s 85.1 was his best-ever grade against the run; he also graded out as an 80 tackler (80.0) for the sixth straight game. Taylor’s 90.6 tackling grade on the season is tops on the defense. … Led by Jackson (83.6), safety Nick Grant (82.9) and linebacker Hunter Stewart (81.1), UVa had seven players grade out as 80-plus tacklers. … Grant (78.3) was also the Wahoos’ best player in coverage against Duke. ... Saturday’s overall grades were also season highs for defensive linemen Aaron Faumui (75.9) and Olasunkonmi Agunloye (71.2), and corner Darrius Bratton (73.4).

Takeaways: Not listed is running back Devin Darrington, who finished the game with an offense-best 87.3 overall grade but only played six snaps. … Jelani Woods raised his cumulative season grade to 74.9, which is best in the ACC and 25th nationally among tight ends. His 80.5 was the best receiving on the offense against Duke and the second-best grade for Woods as a receiver this season. … For the second straight game and third time this season, Olu Oluwatimi (86.3) graded as the Hoos’ best run blocker. Oluwatimi’s 76.7 season grade ranks 15th in the country and third in the ACC among centers. … Left tackle Bobby Haskins (81.7) was second behind Oluwatimi as a run blocker. At 74.6 overall, Haskins broke 70 for the third time in five games this season. … Running back Wayne Taulapapa (79.1) graded as the Hoos’ best player in pass protecion. … First-year offensive lineman Noah Josey played 14 snaps in his UVa debut. Josey’s 74.4 in pass pro was tied with Jonathan Leech for best among O-linemen; his 65.2 as a run blocker ranked fourth on the O-line. … Saturday marked just the second time this season that quarterback Brennan Armstrong’s overall grade (68.0) failed to break 80, though his 82.4 as a runner was both a season-high and best on the team against Duke. … Freshman quarterback Jay Woolfolk finished with a 62.4 overall grade on 10 fourth-quarter snaps. Woolfolk was one of 22 players to play at least 10 offensive snaps for the Wahoos, a season high for the unit.

Through seven games, UVa continues to grade out as one of the best offensive teams in the country. The unit’s 83.4 overall grade ranks 18th nationally (up two spots from a week ago) and fourth in the ACC this week. The Hoos are also top four in the conference in each facet of the offense except run blocking, which ranks sixth. Entering this weekend, each facet of the offense is currently graded as such:

Passing— 87.8 (last week 90.4)

Running—85.8 (last week 83.7)

Pass blocking—74.1 (last week 74.4)

Receiving—74.6 (last week 75.2)

Run blocking—68.8 (last week 66.2)

As mentioned above, the defense improved its season stock with last week’s shutout against Duke. That 61.1 overall grade ranks 108th nationally, a jump of 16 spots from a last week’s season low of 124th. It also ranks ahead of Miami, making this the first week since prior to the UNC loss that the Hoos don’t have the lowest-graded defense in the ACC. Through seven games, each facet of the defense is currently graded as such:

Coverage—60.1 (last week 60.5)

Tackling—72.1 (last week 69.1)

Pressure—63.1 (last week 63.3)

Run defense—50.7 (last week 51.1)

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An explanation from PFF on how the grading scale works:

On every play, a PFF analyst will grade each player on a scale of -2 to +2 according to what he did on the play.

At one end of the scale you have a catastrophic game-ending interception or pick-six from a quarterback, and at the other a perfect deep bomb into a tight window in a critical game situation, with the middle of that scale being 0-graded, or ‘expected’ plays that are neither positive nor negative.

Each game is also graded by a second PFF analyst independent of the first, and those grades are compared by a third, Senior Analyst, who rules on any differences between the two. These grades are verified by the Pro Coach Network, a group of former and current NFL coaches with over 700 combined years of NFL coaching experience, to get them as accurate as they can be.

From there, the grades are normalized to better account for game situation; this ranges from where a player lined up to the dropback depth of the quarterback or the length of time he had the ball in his hand and everything in between. They are finally converted to a 0-100 scale and appear in our Player Grades Tool.

Season-level grades aren’t simply an average of every game-grade a player compiles over a season, but rather factor in the duration at which a player performed at that level. Achieving a grade of 90.0 in a game once is impressive, doing it (12) times in a row is more impressive.

It is entirely possible that a player will have a season grade higher than any individual single-game grade he achieved, because playing well for an extended period of time is harder to do than for a short period, Similarly, playing badly for a long time is a greater problem than playing badly once, so the grade can also be compounded negatively.

Each week, grades are subject to change while we run through our extensive review process including All-22 tape runs and coaching audit, so you may notice discrepancies among grades published in earlier articles compared with those in the Player Grades tool until grade lock each week.