Note: This is the final part of a series I started in December. Part I looked at the season overall and the offensive side of the ball. Part II studied the special teams. Part III examines the defense.
Part I: http://aaronampedup.blogspot.com/2012/12/virginia-footballs-disappointing-season.html
Part II: http://aaronampedup.blogspot.com/2012/12/virginia-footballs-disappointing-season_20.html
It took me awhile to get to checking out UVa's defense from this past season and the reason was because after the year, the Cavaliers fired defensive coordinator Jim Reid and defensive line coach Jeff Hanson. On Jan. 3, Virginia announced that it had hired Jon Tenuta as defensive coordinator. Mike London, I believe, will coach the defensive line, a job that he had under Al Groh for a period of the former coach's tenure.
Well, it turns out more news came out of the defensive camp Wednesday. Sophomore defensive tackle Chris Brathwaite was kicked off the team for not fulfilling the program's off-the-field requirements. Brathwaite could be a big loss for the 'Hoos next season. He appeared in all 12 games in 2012 and was really coming into his own. He led all defensive tackles on the team with 41 tackles and led the entire roster with 10 tackles for loss.
After looking back at this past season's defense, I will try to take a look ahead to next year based on what we know about Tenuta's defenses in the past.
Going into the year, most UVa fans thought that the defense was going to be the weakest part of the team. That was because only a few starters were returning from a unit that was solid in 2011, but certainly not spectacular. I was thinking it could be a long season for the 'D' after the first game of the season. The Cavaliers gave up 19 points and 266 yards to Richmond, which I think is a bit much for an FCS opponent. The next week, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Penn State racked up 330 yards and had extra opportunities to score after four UVa turnovers but the Nittany Lions were held to 16 points by the Cavaliers in a one-point win. Everyone likes to point out that the Penn State kicker missed four field goals and that is why we won. True, that certainly helped. But I remember hearing a stat after the game and I think Virginia held Penn State to negative yards after the turnovers. Penn State went down and scored a touchdown on its opening drive but the Cavalier defense made it more difficult on the Nittany Lions after that. I thought that was a great defensive effort by the Wahoos.
The next few weeks saw more disappointing performances from the Cavs. Against Georgia Tech, the 'D' was shredded for 594 yards and 56 points. I certainly expected the Virginia defense to at least keep the Yellow Jackets around the ballpark of 30 points but it didn't happen as the young defense looked confused throughout the contest. The next week the defense gave up 27 points to an OK TCU team. Granted, the defense got little help from the offense. In late September, Virginia faced the hyper-speed of Louisiana Tech's spread offense and struggled at times but held the Bulldogs in check at other times. Virginia limited the Bulldogs to 37 offensive points, about two touchdowns below their season average at that point, I think, and that was while having to deal with 16 penalties and three turnovers from the offense.
The next week against Duke was probably the most disappointing performance by the defense of the year. Virginia was up, 17-14, at the half but fell flat in the second half (the offense, too), giving up 28 points to a Duke squad that made a bowl but was nothing special. It was an inexcusable performance.
Against Maryland and Wake Forest, the defense did about all it could to help the team win but the offense sputtered. The Cavs held the Terps and Deacons to a combined 36 points and 448 yards (Maryland scored 20 offensive points).
Despite some of these good performances, the defense struggled all year at creating turnovers. Virginia's turnover margin was last in the ACC and ranked poorly across all of college football. Against N.C. State on Nov. 3, however, the defense had one awesome turnover-causing game, forcing the Wolfpack into five in a 33-6 rout. Against Miami the next week, Virginia gave up 33 offensive points (Miami had 40 total thanks to a kickoff return TD) and 402 yards but came up with a huge turnover late in the game that I thought helped Virginia make a late comeback to a victory. Down 31-28, Miami was trying to make it 38-28 and quarterback Stephen Morris was running the ball down the field for 22 yards inside Virginia's red zone when Maurice Canady hit the ball out of Morris' grasp from behind. That ended up being a huge play because Miami went on to eventually go up 38-28, just not on that drive. The final score was 41-40 in favor of Virginia but I think Miami would have won had it not been for Canady's play.
UVa took on UNC the next week. It was not a great game for the Cavaliers defense. Virginia had two turnovers and the offense was again putrid, but the Tar Heels carved up the UVa 'D' for 446 yards and 37 points. Virginia ended the year by battling rival Virginia Tech and held the Hokies offense in check and even helped the Wahoos take a 14-7 in the third quarter when Eli Harold and Jake Snyder combined for a sack and fumble on QB Logan Thomas. Brent Urban picked up the ball and ran it 16 yards for a touchdown. Virginia could not come up with the win but the defense played pretty well, giving up just 303 yards. The Hokies offense was not good this past season, though, so I don't know if that contest was a good barometer for strong defense.
The story for the defense all year was that it was bend but don't break, but it seemed to break a fair amount. There were some solid games, but also some disappointing ones. The season probably could have ended up better had the defense created more turnovers. Virginia only had 12 all season, and five of those were against the Wolfpack. The next closest conference team was Boston College with 19. The Cavs also had a hard time getting to the quarterback, picking up just 17 sacks, which ranked 10th in the ACC. The sad part in all of this is that despite the setbacks the defense faced, it was the best unit on the team. And it wasn't supposed to carry the burden. I, like many people, thought going into the season Virginia was going to have a dynamic offense that put up lots of points and was the best since Marques Hagans and Matt Schaub were running things. And it was good at times, great even, at producing yards, but the points never came. As a result, the defense was asked to do a lot. I thought the defense was going to just need to be decent. I thought it would lose us a few games but I thought it would get better as the year went on. I did not know it was going to need to keep us in so many games. Virginia won four games and needed just two more wins to get to a bowl. The defense was not anything that great but definitely did enough to get to six wins. If the offense had been just a little better in games against Maryland, Wake, and even Virginia Tech, Virginia could have gone bowling.
Tenuta is known for his aggressive defenses. He has lots of FBS coaching experience, way more than Reid does. I am guessing that Virginia is going for more turnovers here with this hire. It wants a more active, attacking defense. When Tenuta was hired, I likened it to hiring of Tony Bennett. Former UVa men's hoops coach Dave Leitao preached defense, but it never seemed to show on the court. It does with Bennett. Reid said the defense would be attacking, but it never really showed. Hopefully it does with Tenuta at the helm.
He has some returning talent to work with. Virginia lost two of its defensive anchors in the middle of the field, linebackers Steve Greer and LaRoy Reynolds. They were tackling machines and I am not questioning their heart. But sometimes Reynolds seemed out of control and Greer had obvious flaws in pass coverage. The loss of Brathwaite will hurt. He seemed to be a rising star to me. Otherwise, though, lots of players will be returning that made some plays in 2012, including Urban (20 tackles, 2.5 for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recover and TD), Canady (28 tackles, two INTs, three passes defended, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery), Snyder (44 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, four passes defended), and Harold (36 tackles, seven for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble, one INT). Both safeties, Brandon Phelps (48 tackles, three passes defended) and Anthony Harris (87 tackles, one forced fumble, one INT, three passes defended), will return. In addition to Canady, who I think is a guy to keep an eye on, Virginia has Drequan Hoskey (36 tackles, five passes defended, one forced fumble) and Demetrious Nicholson (56 tackles, 15 passes defended) returning at cornerback. Nicholson had a disappointing season with zero picks, but was still an All-ACC honorable mention. At linebacker, the most notable returner is Daquan Romero, who started four games after the suspension of Henry Coley and had 44 tackles, 3.5 for loss.
I think the Tenuta pick up will work out for UVa. There are a few holes to fill, but overall, he is inheriting an experienced defense that played well at times last season, but needs to force more turnovers, and that is one of the things Tenuta is good at. When he was at N.C. State, cornerback David Amerson racked up 13 interceptions in 2011 to lead the nation. If he can get just half of that production out of some of UVa's guys, fans should be pretty happy with next season's defense.
On the recruiting front, four-star cornerback Tim Harris, of Varina High School in Richmond and in this year's upcoming class, recently said he was still going to attend UVa. He was heavily recruited by Reid and seemed to be wavering in his commitment to the Cavaliers. It is not 100 percent, though, so this will be something to keep an eye on until National Signing Day on Feb. 6.
Part I: http://aaronampedup.blogspot.com/2012/12/virginia-footballs-disappointing-season.html
Part II: http://aaronampedup.blogspot.com/2012/12/virginia-footballs-disappointing-season_20.html
 |
| New UVa DC Jon Tenuta |
Well, it turns out more news came out of the defensive camp Wednesday. Sophomore defensive tackle Chris Brathwaite was kicked off the team for not fulfilling the program's off-the-field requirements. Brathwaite could be a big loss for the 'Hoos next season. He appeared in all 12 games in 2012 and was really coming into his own. He led all defensive tackles on the team with 41 tackles and led the entire roster with 10 tackles for loss.
 |
| Former UVa DT Chris Brathwaite |
After looking back at this past season's defense, I will try to take a look ahead to next year based on what we know about Tenuta's defenses in the past.
Going into the year, most UVa fans thought that the defense was going to be the weakest part of the team. That was because only a few starters were returning from a unit that was solid in 2011, but certainly not spectacular. I was thinking it could be a long season for the 'D' after the first game of the season. The Cavaliers gave up 19 points and 266 yards to Richmond, which I think is a bit much for an FCS opponent. The next week, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Penn State racked up 330 yards and had extra opportunities to score after four UVa turnovers but the Nittany Lions were held to 16 points by the Cavaliers in a one-point win. Everyone likes to point out that the Penn State kicker missed four field goals and that is why we won. True, that certainly helped. But I remember hearing a stat after the game and I think Virginia held Penn State to negative yards after the turnovers. Penn State went down and scored a touchdown on its opening drive but the Cavalier defense made it more difficult on the Nittany Lions after that. I thought that was a great defensive effort by the Wahoos.
The next few weeks saw more disappointing performances from the Cavs. Against Georgia Tech, the 'D' was shredded for 594 yards and 56 points. I certainly expected the Virginia defense to at least keep the Yellow Jackets around the ballpark of 30 points but it didn't happen as the young defense looked confused throughout the contest. The next week the defense gave up 27 points to an OK TCU team. Granted, the defense got little help from the offense. In late September, Virginia faced the hyper-speed of Louisiana Tech's spread offense and struggled at times but held the Bulldogs in check at other times. Virginia limited the Bulldogs to 37 offensive points, about two touchdowns below their season average at that point, I think, and that was while having to deal with 16 penalties and three turnovers from the offense.
The next week against Duke was probably the most disappointing performance by the defense of the year. Virginia was up, 17-14, at the half but fell flat in the second half (the offense, too), giving up 28 points to a Duke squad that made a bowl but was nothing special. It was an inexcusable performance.
Against Maryland and Wake Forest, the defense did about all it could to help the team win but the offense sputtered. The Cavs held the Terps and Deacons to a combined 36 points and 448 yards (Maryland scored 20 offensive points).
 |
| UVa CB Maurice Canady |
 |
| UVa DE Jake Snyder |
The story for the defense all year was that it was bend but don't break, but it seemed to break a fair amount. There were some solid games, but also some disappointing ones. The season probably could have ended up better had the defense created more turnovers. Virginia only had 12 all season, and five of those were against the Wolfpack. The next closest conference team was Boston College with 19. The Cavs also had a hard time getting to the quarterback, picking up just 17 sacks, which ranked 10th in the ACC. The sad part in all of this is that despite the setbacks the defense faced, it was the best unit on the team. And it wasn't supposed to carry the burden. I, like many people, thought going into the season Virginia was going to have a dynamic offense that put up lots of points and was the best since Marques Hagans and Matt Schaub were running things. And it was good at times, great even, at producing yards, but the points never came. As a result, the defense was asked to do a lot. I thought the defense was going to just need to be decent. I thought it would lose us a few games but I thought it would get better as the year went on. I did not know it was going to need to keep us in so many games. Virginia won four games and needed just two more wins to get to a bowl. The defense was not anything that great but definitely did enough to get to six wins. If the offense had been just a little better in games against Maryland, Wake, and even Virginia Tech, Virginia could have gone bowling.
Tenuta is known for his aggressive defenses. He has lots of FBS coaching experience, way more than Reid does. I am guessing that Virginia is going for more turnovers here with this hire. It wants a more active, attacking defense. When Tenuta was hired, I likened it to hiring of Tony Bennett. Former UVa men's hoops coach Dave Leitao preached defense, but it never seemed to show on the court. It does with Bennett. Reid said the defense would be attacking, but it never really showed. Hopefully it does with Tenuta at the helm.
He has some returning talent to work with. Virginia lost two of its defensive anchors in the middle of the field, linebackers Steve Greer and LaRoy Reynolds. They were tackling machines and I am not questioning their heart. But sometimes Reynolds seemed out of control and Greer had obvious flaws in pass coverage. The loss of Brathwaite will hurt. He seemed to be a rising star to me. Otherwise, though, lots of players will be returning that made some plays in 2012, including Urban (20 tackles, 2.5 for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recover and TD), Canady (28 tackles, two INTs, three passes defended, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery), Snyder (44 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, four passes defended), and Harold (36 tackles, seven for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble, one INT). Both safeties, Brandon Phelps (48 tackles, three passes defended) and Anthony Harris (87 tackles, one forced fumble, one INT, three passes defended), will return. In addition to Canady, who I think is a guy to keep an eye on, Virginia has Drequan Hoskey (36 tackles, five passes defended, one forced fumble) and Demetrious Nicholson (56 tackles, 15 passes defended) returning at cornerback. Nicholson had a disappointing season with zero picks, but was still an All-ACC honorable mention. At linebacker, the most notable returner is Daquan Romero, who started four games after the suspension of Henry Coley and had 44 tackles, 3.5 for loss.
I think the Tenuta pick up will work out for UVa. There are a few holes to fill, but overall, he is inheriting an experienced defense that played well at times last season, but needs to force more turnovers, and that is one of the things Tenuta is good at. When he was at N.C. State, cornerback David Amerson racked up 13 interceptions in 2011 to lead the nation. If he can get just half of that production out of some of UVa's guys, fans should be pretty happy with next season's defense.
On the recruiting front, four-star cornerback Tim Harris, of Varina High School in Richmond and in this year's upcoming class, recently said he was still going to attend UVa. He was heavily recruited by Reid and seemed to be wavering in his commitment to the Cavaliers. It is not 100 percent, though, so this will be something to keep an eye on until National Signing Day on Feb. 6.
Dude, this is boring. Write about 11-inch subs, fake girlfriends and whether Kobe Bryant can really beat LeBron James in a 1-in-1 game. Oh, and HTTR4L!
ReplyDeleteHey, I agree with Anonymous. He nailed it!
ReplyDeleteHilarious Derek, just hilarious.
ReplyDelete