VIRGINIA 17, PENN STATE 16
The Cavaliers prevailed over the Nittany Lions 17-16 on Saturday -- yep, check the final score -- even though it didn't really look like that on the field. Penn State beat Virginia in just about every category except for points: 330 yards to 295 yards, three penalties to 10 penalties, zero turnovers to four turnovers. So how did Virginia win? Clutch performances by Michael Rocco and Jake McGee, a sturdy defense, and by winning the special teams battle.
Rush offense: D
This part of Virginia's offense needs to get figured out and fast. It wasn't like this was an unexpected result, however, given the Cavaliers' difficulty in moving the Richmond defensive front seven. Penn State has lost some players because of transfer, but the defensive line and linebacking corps are still very strong and got penetration all day on UVa and Perry Jones and Kevin Parks got hit for several yardage losses. Parks ended up with 26 yards and Jones had 14. The disappointment in this unit comes in when thinking about the preseason expectations. This was supposed to be the best part of the team, and it has actually been the worst. Maybe the line needs to be reshuffled or something. But hopefully the problem gets solved quickly. Rocco has developed into a nice quarterback, but it will get more and more difficult for him to move the offense if the running game continues to falter. Defenses will always be looking pass and not respect play action fakes.
Pass offense: B
This part of the offense functioned pretty well, especially considering it didn't get any help from the running game. Rocco played a pretty good game, though he was off on a few throws here and there like he was against Richmond. And he made one bad throw that ended up being an interception, but that play was also a very athletic move by the Penn State defensive lineman. Also, his receivers did him no favors by dropping a few balls and his first completion of the game to Paul Freedman was fumbled away, setting a tone for the day, apparently. The offensive line protection was spotty at best, as the Nittany Lions totaled three sacks. Phillip Sims was put in the game for two series at the end of the third quarter and at the beginning of the fourth quarter but was ineffective and was sacked and fumbled the ball on his final possession. In the end, though, Rocco led an incredible winning drive that went 86 yards on 12 plays (Rocco actually threw for 97 yards because of penalties) that took 6:36 off the clock. The centerpiece of the drive was a desperation heave on third-and-16 from the Virginia 22-yard line by Rocco to McGee, who, with two defenders draped on him, made a spectacular one-handed leaping catch for 44 yards down to the Penn State 34-yard line. It was even better than his one-handed catch against Richmond. A couple players later, Rocco hit Darius Jennings on a screen and the speedy sophomore turned it into a 24-yard gain to the Penn State seven-yard line. On third-and-goal, Rocco hit McGee again for a touchdown over the middle. McGee has developed into quite the security blanket for Rocco already this season. McGee recorded four catches for 99 yards Saturday. The two actually competed in high school against each other. McGee, who was a quarterback for Collegiate in Richmond, beat Rocco's Liberty Christian Academy one year in the state championship. On the day, Rocco completed 21 of 33 passes for 258 yards, a pair of touchdowns, and a pick.
Rush defense: B+
The unit gave up 121 yards to Penn State, allowing less than three yards per carry. The Nittany Lions did not have their best running backs on the field because Silas Redd transferred to USC and the starter against Ohio on Sept. 1, Bill Belton, was injured. Still, an admirable performance, given how long the defense was on the field because of the offense's mistakes. The Virginia offense had four turnovers and I think the crazy statistic is that the defense gave up just a few yards and three points off these turnovers, all of which occurred in the Cavaliers' territory.
Pass defense: B+
Again, I give this unit a solid grade like I gave the rush defense. Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, who was the victim of some dropped passes as well, still only completed 19 of 35 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Defenders were blanketing receivers all day or at least in the vicinity of the receivers. There was at least one blown coverage, however, in the fourth quarter on Penn State's 30-yard touchdown pass from McGloin to Allen Robinson. And the weakest part of the pass defense is shallow to intermediate in the middle of the defense because the Virginia linebackers have a tough time covering this space. That was how Penn State scored on its first drive and I thought the Nittany Lions were going to attack that part of the field more.
Special teams: A-
It was certainly better than Penn State's. Just the Nittany Lions' kicking game was enough to give them a failing grade in this area. Virginia kicker Drew Jarrett, who is actually not on scholarship right now, fared much better, making both extra points and his only field goal attempt, a 46-yarder. He is now 3 for 3 on the year. Alec Vozenilek has done a great job punting so far. He only had one bad punt from what I remember Saturday. His seven punts in the two games have averaged 42 yards and he's put three of them inside the 20. Virginia's Brent Urban got up and blocked Penn State kicker Sam Ficken's second extra point of the game, stranding the Nittany Lions with 13 points instead of 14. Urban is 6-foot-7 and split the field goal protection well, but Penn State kicker Sam Ficken, who obviously had a bad day, might have had a hard time getting the ball in the air. The punt return coverage has been pretty solid, as has the kick return coverage. Punt returns and kick returns have left something to be desired.
Coaching: C-
Most of this grade comes from Mike London deciding to put Sims in the game late in the third quarter for two series. I don't understand his rationale behind the move. After the game, he said he wanted Rocco to see the game from the sideline. Hey, maybe it helped. Rocco came back in and drove the Cavaliers' down the field for the winning score. Or maybe Rocco just wanted to stick it to London. On one scramble play, Rocco ran out of bounds and ended up hitting London! Of course it had to be a coincidence, but it was funny to see given what had just transpired. London was lucky his move didn't cost the Wahoos the game. The two drives that Sims participated in were basically wasted opportunities for Virginia to try to pad its lead. And the second Sims drive was actually when Virginia was down 13-10 for the first time. I didn't think Rocco was going to be able to lead the team down for the winning touchdown once he re-entered the game because last year, when Rocco would come back into games after David Watford's multiple series under center, Rocco would play his worst, like his rhythm and/or confidence had been shot. So the ability of Rocco to do that was very impressive. Rocco showed lots of guts and courage. I guess London didn't learn anything from last year, when the Cavaliers went on a run once Rocco was allowed to play the entirety of games. It just didn't make sense to take him out. Besides the interception -- which was also a pretty good play by the Penn State player like I said -- Rocco was playing pretty well and had marched the 'Hoos down the field for a touchdown not long before he was yanked. There was a fumble on a snap between Rocco and center Luke Bowanko -- the third of the season so far -- but I don't think taking Rocco out fixes that problem. That is just something the two of them will have to work on in practice. I'll be interested to see what London does with this situation the rest of the year. It looks like he wants to play a second quarterback again. I just hope he saw against Penn State that Sims isn't ready for the spotlight yet. And I wonder how offensive coordinator Bill Lazor feels about the situation? I think last year he said something to the effect of it was hard to call plays for two different quarterbacks. Is this situation going to be a point of contention for the two of them?
Speaking of Lazor, his offensive game plan did not look great either. The Penn State defense is good, but the offense just looked pretty bad for much of the game. He, running backs coach Mike Faragalli, and offensive line coach Scott Wachenheim need to figure out a way to get Virginia's running game on track. The only part of the coaching staff that seemed to have it together against the Nittany Lions was on the defensive side of the ball.
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NFL
Bears at Packers, 8:20 p.m. NFL Network
It is hard to know how the Bears will do in this game. They have gotten destroyed by the Packers in recent meetings but they looked very impressive in beating the Colts 41-21 on Sunday. That was in Chicago, though, and the Colts, despite having new quarterback Andrew Luck, could be bad this year. Meanwhile, the Packers lost at home to an impressive 49ers team that played in the NFC championship last season. The Packers struggled to get their vaunted offense going and were down 23-7 at one point before losing 30-22. I just don't think I can see Green Bay going 0-2, much less with both games at home. It will be a close game, however.
Packers 28, Bears 27
The Cavaliers prevailed over the Nittany Lions 17-16 on Saturday -- yep, check the final score -- even though it didn't really look like that on the field. Penn State beat Virginia in just about every category except for points: 330 yards to 295 yards, three penalties to 10 penalties, zero turnovers to four turnovers. So how did Virginia win? Clutch performances by Michael Rocco and Jake McGee, a sturdy defense, and by winning the special teams battle.
Rush offense: D
This part of Virginia's offense needs to get figured out and fast. It wasn't like this was an unexpected result, however, given the Cavaliers' difficulty in moving the Richmond defensive front seven. Penn State has lost some players because of transfer, but the defensive line and linebacking corps are still very strong and got penetration all day on UVa and Perry Jones and Kevin Parks got hit for several yardage losses. Parks ended up with 26 yards and Jones had 14. The disappointment in this unit comes in when thinking about the preseason expectations. This was supposed to be the best part of the team, and it has actually been the worst. Maybe the line needs to be reshuffled or something. But hopefully the problem gets solved quickly. Rocco has developed into a nice quarterback, but it will get more and more difficult for him to move the offense if the running game continues to falter. Defenses will always be looking pass and not respect play action fakes.
Pass offense: B
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| UVa TE Jake McGee |
Rush defense: B+
The unit gave up 121 yards to Penn State, allowing less than three yards per carry. The Nittany Lions did not have their best running backs on the field because Silas Redd transferred to USC and the starter against Ohio on Sept. 1, Bill Belton, was injured. Still, an admirable performance, given how long the defense was on the field because of the offense's mistakes. The Virginia offense had four turnovers and I think the crazy statistic is that the defense gave up just a few yards and three points off these turnovers, all of which occurred in the Cavaliers' territory.
Pass defense: B+
Again, I give this unit a solid grade like I gave the rush defense. Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, who was the victim of some dropped passes as well, still only completed 19 of 35 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Defenders were blanketing receivers all day or at least in the vicinity of the receivers. There was at least one blown coverage, however, in the fourth quarter on Penn State's 30-yard touchdown pass from McGloin to Allen Robinson. And the weakest part of the pass defense is shallow to intermediate in the middle of the defense because the Virginia linebackers have a tough time covering this space. That was how Penn State scored on its first drive and I thought the Nittany Lions were going to attack that part of the field more.
Special teams: A-
It was certainly better than Penn State's. Just the Nittany Lions' kicking game was enough to give them a failing grade in this area. Virginia kicker Drew Jarrett, who is actually not on scholarship right now, fared much better, making both extra points and his only field goal attempt, a 46-yarder. He is now 3 for 3 on the year. Alec Vozenilek has done a great job punting so far. He only had one bad punt from what I remember Saturday. His seven punts in the two games have averaged 42 yards and he's put three of them inside the 20. Virginia's Brent Urban got up and blocked Penn State kicker Sam Ficken's second extra point of the game, stranding the Nittany Lions with 13 points instead of 14. Urban is 6-foot-7 and split the field goal protection well, but Penn State kicker Sam Ficken, who obviously had a bad day, might have had a hard time getting the ball in the air. The punt return coverage has been pretty solid, as has the kick return coverage. Punt returns and kick returns have left something to be desired.
Coaching: C-
Most of this grade comes from Mike London deciding to put Sims in the game late in the third quarter for two series. I don't understand his rationale behind the move. After the game, he said he wanted Rocco to see the game from the sideline. Hey, maybe it helped. Rocco came back in and drove the Cavaliers' down the field for the winning score. Or maybe Rocco just wanted to stick it to London. On one scramble play, Rocco ran out of bounds and ended up hitting London! Of course it had to be a coincidence, but it was funny to see given what had just transpired. London was lucky his move didn't cost the Wahoos the game. The two drives that Sims participated in were basically wasted opportunities for Virginia to try to pad its lead. And the second Sims drive was actually when Virginia was down 13-10 for the first time. I didn't think Rocco was going to be able to lead the team down for the winning touchdown once he re-entered the game because last year, when Rocco would come back into games after David Watford's multiple series under center, Rocco would play his worst, like his rhythm and/or confidence had been shot. So the ability of Rocco to do that was very impressive. Rocco showed lots of guts and courage. I guess London didn't learn anything from last year, when the Cavaliers went on a run once Rocco was allowed to play the entirety of games. It just didn't make sense to take him out. Besides the interception -- which was also a pretty good play by the Penn State player like I said -- Rocco was playing pretty well and had marched the 'Hoos down the field for a touchdown not long before he was yanked. There was a fumble on a snap between Rocco and center Luke Bowanko -- the third of the season so far -- but I don't think taking Rocco out fixes that problem. That is just something the two of them will have to work on in practice. I'll be interested to see what London does with this situation the rest of the year. It looks like he wants to play a second quarterback again. I just hope he saw against Penn State that Sims isn't ready for the spotlight yet. And I wonder how offensive coordinator Bill Lazor feels about the situation? I think last year he said something to the effect of it was hard to call plays for two different quarterbacks. Is this situation going to be a point of contention for the two of them?
Speaking of Lazor, his offensive game plan did not look great either. The Penn State defense is good, but the offense just looked pretty bad for much of the game. He, running backs coach Mike Faragalli, and offensive line coach Scott Wachenheim need to figure out a way to get Virginia's running game on track. The only part of the coaching staff that seemed to have it together against the Nittany Lions was on the defensive side of the ball.
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NFL
Bears at Packers, 8:20 p.m. NFL Network
It is hard to know how the Bears will do in this game. They have gotten destroyed by the Packers in recent meetings but they looked very impressive in beating the Colts 41-21 on Sunday. That was in Chicago, though, and the Colts, despite having new quarterback Andrew Luck, could be bad this year. Meanwhile, the Packers lost at home to an impressive 49ers team that played in the NFC championship last season. The Packers struggled to get their vaunted offense going and were down 23-7 at one point before losing 30-22. I just don't think I can see Green Bay going 0-2, much less with both games at home. It will be a close game, however.
Packers 28, Bears 27
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