Virginia Tech 38, Virginia 0
Well, that did not go as planned. Plain and simple, Virginia Tech beat us handily and the Cavs have some work to do to think about competing with the Hokies. They always seem prepared for this game and smack us in the mouth, and for some reason, it just hasn't been there for us.
We had our chances in the first half to make it a close game and just couldn't make it happen. Most notably, on 4th-and-3 inside Virginia Tech's 10-yard line, Mike London elected to go for it instead of kick a field goal and make it 7-3. HoosVision at the game said it was 4th-and-1 but apparently it was more like 2 or 3. Virginia did not get the needed yardage and turned over the ball on downs. You would have to think if we had converted that, we would have scored and tied the game at 7. Different ball game then. The Hokies dominated the Cavs in the second half but I don't think that necessarily means they would've blown us out if we had tied it at 7. A score like that can change the whole dynamic of the game. Also, late in the first half, when it was 14-0 VT, Virginia was driving and on Tech's 20 when QB Michael Rocco was sacked and fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Hokies. If we had scored there to make it 14-7, or even 14-3 (or 14-10 if we had scored a TD on that earlier drive) the game is changed and you just never know what could happen.
It really has been a great year, though, overall. I don't think anyone thought back in October that this team was going to have a chance to win the ACC on Nov. 26. London was named ACC Coach of the Year today, a recognition of the improvement this team made during this year and from 2010 to now. Hopefully, this bad loss to the Hokies won't hurt recruiting too much. I was thinking that even if we had lost the Hokies, it would be a tight game and recruits would've seen tangible evidence that the Hoos were gaining on the Hokies. We got blown out, however, and I could see that hurting recruiting over the next couple seasons. As long as UVa can keep getting to bowls. London should be able to get good recruits, but as long as Virginia Tech keeps owning the ACC and winning 10 games per year, they will always have the slight edge in recruiting on UVa.
Now, UVa awaits a bowl invitation, which will come Sunday or maybe sooner. Lots of speculation has the Cavaliers playing in the Music City Bowl in Nashville against an SEC team. The Hoos' last bowl game was the 2007 Gator Bowl when they lost to Texas Tech 31-28. The Hoos' last bowl victory was actually the Music City Bowl in 2005. The Hoos beat Minnesota, 34-31.
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VIRGINIA BASKETBALL UPDATE
No. 14 Michigan at Virginia, tonight 7, ESPN2
With all the excitement of Virginia football over the past several days, the boys on the hardwood have gotten left out of the discussion. The Virginia men's basketball team had a semi-successful trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands to play in the Paradise Jam. I say semi-successful because the Cavs went 2-1 at the tourney, which what I expected, but lost their first game to TCU, which was a bad loss. They didn't get a chance to play Marquette, the highest-ranked team in the tournament as a result. However, they did bounce back with wins over Drexel and Drake. Virginia's offense was not clicking during the whole Jam, as it only managed scores of 55, 49, and 60 points. But the defense was very good, as it allowed scores of just 57, 35, and 52.
Most recently, Virginia defeated Green Bay on Friday 68-42 as it got the offense going a little more. Green Bay is where UVa coach Tony Bennett played his college ball so that added an interesting dynamic to the game. The Cavaliers have been very stout on defense so far this season, not allowing over 57 points in any one game and allowing an average of just 45.3 points per game, second best in the country.
That defense will be greatly tested tonight against its first top 25 opponent of the season, Michigan. The Wolverines are a very good team that is 5-1 like Virginia, but has done it against better competition and does not have a bad loss like UVa does. Michigan played in the Maui Invitational and beat No. 8 Memphis and UCLA and played No. 6 Duke tough in a 82-75 loss.
Michigan does not score a ton of points and has a solid defense like UVa. It will be a tough, grind-it-out type game tonight and I would be surprised if this one gets into the 70s and Virginia might have to hold Michigan to under 60 points to win it. It won't be a fun game to watch if you like offense.
I expect UVa to lose. Michigan is a year ahead of UVa in its rebuilding effort under coach John Beilein. If the Cavaliers could pull one out tonight, though, that would be a huge lift for their March resume.
VIRGINIA WOMEN
I should mention that the UVa women's team got a huge upset victory over No. 3 Tennessee at John Paul Jones Arena on Nov. 20, 69-64, in overtime. The win a really significant one for first-year coach Joanne Boyle, who is trying to build the Cavaliers back into a team that can win in the NCAA tournament. It was the first time since 2008 that UVa beat Tennessee. That year, the Cavs won, 83-82, in Tennessee. I think this win is bigger though since this UVa team is not as heralded as that team was (which had Monica Wright as its best player, one of the best players in school history) and it is Boyle' first year at UVa. It was definitely an important and foundation-laying win.
The Cavaliers have a lot of work to do still, though. The victory launched UVa into the top 25 but it lost to No. 24 Texas, 79-53, in its next game and also lost to unranked Cal (Boyle's old team), 59-50. Virginia is now 6-2 on the season.
Well, that did not go as planned. Plain and simple, Virginia Tech beat us handily and the Cavs have some work to do to think about competing with the Hokies. They always seem prepared for this game and smack us in the mouth, and for some reason, it just hasn't been there for us.
We had our chances in the first half to make it a close game and just couldn't make it happen. Most notably, on 4th-and-3 inside Virginia Tech's 10-yard line, Mike London elected to go for it instead of kick a field goal and make it 7-3. HoosVision at the game said it was 4th-and-1 but apparently it was more like 2 or 3. Virginia did not get the needed yardage and turned over the ball on downs. You would have to think if we had converted that, we would have scored and tied the game at 7. Different ball game then. The Hokies dominated the Cavs in the second half but I don't think that necessarily means they would've blown us out if we had tied it at 7. A score like that can change the whole dynamic of the game. Also, late in the first half, when it was 14-0 VT, Virginia was driving and on Tech's 20 when QB Michael Rocco was sacked and fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Hokies. If we had scored there to make it 14-7, or even 14-3 (or 14-10 if we had scored a TD on that earlier drive) the game is changed and you just never know what could happen.
It really has been a great year, though, overall. I don't think anyone thought back in October that this team was going to have a chance to win the ACC on Nov. 26. London was named ACC Coach of the Year today, a recognition of the improvement this team made during this year and from 2010 to now. Hopefully, this bad loss to the Hokies won't hurt recruiting too much. I was thinking that even if we had lost the Hokies, it would be a tight game and recruits would've seen tangible evidence that the Hoos were gaining on the Hokies. We got blown out, however, and I could see that hurting recruiting over the next couple seasons. As long as UVa can keep getting to bowls. London should be able to get good recruits, but as long as Virginia Tech keeps owning the ACC and winning 10 games per year, they will always have the slight edge in recruiting on UVa.
Now, UVa awaits a bowl invitation, which will come Sunday or maybe sooner. Lots of speculation has the Cavaliers playing in the Music City Bowl in Nashville against an SEC team. The Hoos' last bowl game was the 2007 Gator Bowl when they lost to Texas Tech 31-28. The Hoos' last bowl victory was actually the Music City Bowl in 2005. The Hoos beat Minnesota, 34-31.
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VIRGINIA BASKETBALL UPDATE
No. 14 Michigan at Virginia, tonight 7, ESPN2
With all the excitement of Virginia football over the past several days, the boys on the hardwood have gotten left out of the discussion. The Virginia men's basketball team had a semi-successful trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands to play in the Paradise Jam. I say semi-successful because the Cavs went 2-1 at the tourney, which what I expected, but lost their first game to TCU, which was a bad loss. They didn't get a chance to play Marquette, the highest-ranked team in the tournament as a result. However, they did bounce back with wins over Drexel and Drake. Virginia's offense was not clicking during the whole Jam, as it only managed scores of 55, 49, and 60 points. But the defense was very good, as it allowed scores of just 57, 35, and 52.
Most recently, Virginia defeated Green Bay on Friday 68-42 as it got the offense going a little more. Green Bay is where UVa coach Tony Bennett played his college ball so that added an interesting dynamic to the game. The Cavaliers have been very stout on defense so far this season, not allowing over 57 points in any one game and allowing an average of just 45.3 points per game, second best in the country.
That defense will be greatly tested tonight against its first top 25 opponent of the season, Michigan. The Wolverines are a very good team that is 5-1 like Virginia, but has done it against better competition and does not have a bad loss like UVa does. Michigan played in the Maui Invitational and beat No. 8 Memphis and UCLA and played No. 6 Duke tough in a 82-75 loss.
Michigan does not score a ton of points and has a solid defense like UVa. It will be a tough, grind-it-out type game tonight and I would be surprised if this one gets into the 70s and Virginia might have to hold Michigan to under 60 points to win it. It won't be a fun game to watch if you like offense.
I expect UVa to lose. Michigan is a year ahead of UVa in its rebuilding effort under coach John Beilein. If the Cavaliers could pull one out tonight, though, that would be a huge lift for their March resume.
VIRGINIA WOMEN
I should mention that the UVa women's team got a huge upset victory over No. 3 Tennessee at John Paul Jones Arena on Nov. 20, 69-64, in overtime. The win a really significant one for first-year coach Joanne Boyle, who is trying to build the Cavaliers back into a team that can win in the NCAA tournament. It was the first time since 2008 that UVa beat Tennessee. That year, the Cavs won, 83-82, in Tennessee. I think this win is bigger though since this UVa team is not as heralded as that team was (which had Monica Wright as its best player, one of the best players in school history) and it is Boyle' first year at UVa. It was definitely an important and foundation-laying win.
The Cavaliers have a lot of work to do still, though. The victory launched UVa into the top 25 but it lost to No. 24 Texas, 79-53, in its next game and also lost to unranked Cal (Boyle's old team), 59-50. Virginia is now 6-2 on the season.
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