After taking a lead into the locker room Saturday afternoon in South Bend, the Cavaliers failed to get their second 1st down until their seventh possession of the second half when there was just 9:50 left. It came on Virginia’s longest drive of the season both in terms of the number of plays (16) and the time (7:11). But it ended with a field goal.
And it was much too little much too late on a day when the Wahoos seemed poised for so, so much more.
That’s the reality UVa (4-1 2-0 ACC) faces heading into the first of its two idle weeks, following a disappointing 35-20 loss to then-No. 10 Notre Dame.
Eight sacks by the Irish (a group that had four all season coming in) and 13 tackles for loss on the day led directly to UVa’s offensive woes. In the second half the Hoos couldn’t—to borrow from ‘Remember the Titans’—block worth a plug nickel and everybody knows it.
That havoc, borne from simple four-man pressures, ruined what was at the half an incredible effort from UVa. The upset-minded Cavaliers were leading 17-14 and even got the ball back right away thanks to a beautifully-executed onside kick.
But two strip sacks (the second a scoop-and-score) negated so much of the gains. And the offense couldn’t keep Bryce Perkins clean long enough for him to rekindle that first-half production.
“Turnovers,” Bronco Mendenhall said later, “change games.”
It’s hard to properly assess the offense without discussing the protection issues, which were the leading factors in the five turnovers. And as discussed in this space a week ago, the concerns from the ODU win translated pretty clearly to the Notre Dame loss, particularly to a second half where UVa gained roughly 100 yards and watched as its upset bid slipped away rapidly.
In all, the Hoos netted just four yards rushing. The fact that sack yardage impacted that so negatively underscores just how bad the offense was in that second half.
“Our ball security is tied directly to pass rush in four-man rush situations, which is what the defense would love,” Mendenhall explained. “If you can pressure the quarterback and still play coverage, there’s relatively no risk.”
The reality of Virginia’s situation is twofold. On the one hand, there’s no doubt that several members of its offensive line are playing hurt. That is certainly admirable. But it doesn’t help solve what appears to be the defining issue for this team this season.
What Perkins, Joe Reed, and Hasise Dubois put on the field in that first half was not only “Coastal Division title” good but firmly in the discussion for “win the whole dang conference” good. What the Hoos put out there after intermission, though, is of major concern.
Never has an idle week arrived more on schedule.
“There’s no needing to change tones,” Mendenhall said. “We have some weaknesses…If we had executed better in those areas, we would have had a chance to win the game. I still think that.
“However eight sacks, five turnovers, those numbers are substantial,” he added.
Mendenhall wasn’t wrong as he made the point that essentially if UVa was able to sustain the way it played in the first half, against a really good team on the road, things may well have been very different.
Unfortunately, the situation is much more serious.
This is the difference between the Wahoos merely getting back to the postseason and being able to have a truly special campaign. Perkins, Reed, Dubois, and a defense that kept getting stops only to watch the Irish score when their offense wasn’t even on the field, they all deserve a chance to have that.
Some reactions since Saturday night have been far too hyperbolic, it’s true. But trying to gauge whether UVa can turn things around on the offensive line is a legit consideration. With so many guys dealing with injuries, how much better off will the group be by next Friday when UVa travels to Miami Gardens?
That’s a question that can’t be answered yet but the program must figure out something between now and the second of these four road games amid a five-game swing. The silver lining of Saturday is that, while it was a missed opportunity of epic proportions on a national stage, it wasn’t a true ACC game.
The next five will be.
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