Virginia 49, VMI 0
It took a whole quarter, but Virginia's offense finally busted loose in its third game of the season last Saturday against VMI. The first quarter was quite an embarrassing performance by the Wahoos. QB David Watford threw two picks and UVa failed to convert on a 4th-and-1 against the Keydets, who just a week earlier had gotten beat by a Division II squad. It was 0-0 after the first quarter but by halftime, it was 21-0 as RB Kevin Parks broke open the floodgates with a nice cutback run off a toss for a 61-yard touchdown, the longest of his career.
From there, Virginia dominated, moving the ball at will. UVa followed up its 21 second-quarter points with 21 more in the third quarter. The team finished with over 300 rushing yards and 580 total yards. Parks finished with 135 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The breakout performer of the game, though, was freshman Daniel Hamm, who carried the ball 21 times for 136 yards and a touchdown. A walk-on from
Wytheville, Va., south of Roanoke, Hamm's moves, speed, and vision looked good, even though the opponent was weak. The only reason he played was because Khalek Shepherd and Taquan Mizzell both sat out with ankle injuries. Watford even got it going by connecting on a 38-yard pass to WR Tim Smith in the back of the end zone in the second quarter. Watford and his WRs had been struggling so far this season to connect on long passes. It was against VMI, but hopefully that nice bomb was a sign of things to come for the offense. Virginia will need a strong passing game in coming weeks as the run game just won't always be able to get it done like it did against the Keydets.
All in all, it was a performance you would expect vs. VMI. I guessed before the game that the score would be 41-0 and the Cavaliers exceeded those expectations. The beginning of the game was very rough but 49 points in pretty much 30 minutes of play is impressive no matter the opponent. Watford got better as the game wore on but was still forcing passes early on. Hopefully, he continues to show improvement as the season goes along.
The defense, which got torched two weeks ago by Oregon for over 500 yards and 59 points, held VMI to under 100 yards of total offense and a shutout, a notable accomplishment even against a weak opponent. That should give the unit some confidence heading into a tough road game at Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Panthers have averaged 53.5 points per game in their last two contests.
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Cowboys 31, Rams 7
Every week in the NFL, you never know what is going to happen. Any team can literally beat any team on any given Sunday. The NFL loves its parity. It must love the Cowboys, then. I heard a stat at the end of last year that since their last Super Bowl win in January 1996, the Cowboys are exactly a .500 ballclub. Amazing. Every week is a tossup as a Dallas fan. It is involved in so many close games. I think that is why it is so surprising when Dallas blows out a team or gets blown out. It seems like the 'Boys are always playing in single-digit affairs. Last Sunday was a change of pace, because at home, Dallas walloped St. Louis by 24 points. The Cowboys led 17-0 at halftime and the Rams didn't get on the board with a TD until it was too late and never threatened Dallas' lead.
The key to the game was the rushing attack of the Cowboys. Dallas piled up 193 yards of rushing with DeMarco Murray recording 175 of those yards and a touchdown. Just for good measure, he also had three catches for 28 yards. It was Murray's first 100-yard game since the opener last season at the Giants. Murr
ay must also enjoy facing the Rams. He made his debut against them two years ago and had 253 yards in that contest.
QB Tony Romo had a ho-hum day, and I mean that in a good way. He only had to throw the ball 24 times (for reference, he threw it 49 times vs. the Giants and 42 times against the Chiefs), completing 17 of his passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Romo has a had a good year so far, completing 72.2 percent of his passes (easily his best in any year) for six touchdowns and just one pick. Any time Romo is quiet in a game is a good thing. And it was indeed a quiet three-touchdown performance with the spotlight shining instead on Murray and the defense, which sacked St. Louis QB Sam Bradford four times. DeMarcus Ware had two of those sacks, giving him 115 in his career, putting him one sack ahead of Harvey Martin on the franchise's all-time list.
Dallas needs to bottle this performance and bring it into every game. Obviously, the Rams are not a very good team but a nearly 200-yard game from Murray is encouraging. The more Dallas can run the ball successfully, the less pressure is on Romo to try to win the game by himself. That is when he makes mistakes. A solid run game and good defense with Romo managing the offense is the recipe for the Cowboys' success. Dallas has an important road game this weekend at San Diego, because the following week the Cowboys host the Broncos, who have looked like the class of the NFL thus far. Dallas is 2-1, but a loss this weekend to the Chargers could mean the Cowboys could be 2-3 heading into a meeting with the Redskins a little over two weeks from now (assuming Dallas would also lose to Denver).
It took a whole quarter, but Virginia's offense finally busted loose in its third game of the season last Saturday against VMI. The first quarter was quite an embarrassing performance by the Wahoos. QB David Watford threw two picks and UVa failed to convert on a 4th-and-1 against the Keydets, who just a week earlier had gotten beat by a Division II squad. It was 0-0 after the first quarter but by halftime, it was 21-0 as RB Kevin Parks broke open the floodgates with a nice cutback run off a toss for a 61-yard touchdown, the longest of his career.
From there, Virginia dominated, moving the ball at will. UVa followed up its 21 second-quarter points with 21 more in the third quarter. The team finished with over 300 rushing yards and 580 total yards. Parks finished with 135 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The breakout performer of the game, though, was freshman Daniel Hamm, who carried the ball 21 times for 136 yards and a touchdown. A walk-on from
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| UVa RB Daniel Hamm |
All in all, it was a performance you would expect vs. VMI. I guessed before the game that the score would be 41-0 and the Cavaliers exceeded those expectations. The beginning of the game was very rough but 49 points in pretty much 30 minutes of play is impressive no matter the opponent. Watford got better as the game wore on but was still forcing passes early on. Hopefully, he continues to show improvement as the season goes along.
The defense, which got torched two weeks ago by Oregon for over 500 yards and 59 points, held VMI to under 100 yards of total offense and a shutout, a notable accomplishment even against a weak opponent. That should give the unit some confidence heading into a tough road game at Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Panthers have averaged 53.5 points per game in their last two contests.
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Cowboys 31, Rams 7
Every week in the NFL, you never know what is going to happen. Any team can literally beat any team on any given Sunday. The NFL loves its parity. It must love the Cowboys, then. I heard a stat at the end of last year that since their last Super Bowl win in January 1996, the Cowboys are exactly a .500 ballclub. Amazing. Every week is a tossup as a Dallas fan. It is involved in so many close games. I think that is why it is so surprising when Dallas blows out a team or gets blown out. It seems like the 'Boys are always playing in single-digit affairs. Last Sunday was a change of pace, because at home, Dallas walloped St. Louis by 24 points. The Cowboys led 17-0 at halftime and the Rams didn't get on the board with a TD until it was too late and never threatened Dallas' lead.
The key to the game was the rushing attack of the Cowboys. Dallas piled up 193 yards of rushing with DeMarco Murray recording 175 of those yards and a touchdown. Just for good measure, he also had three catches for 28 yards. It was Murray's first 100-yard game since the opener last season at the Giants. Murr
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| Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray |
QB Tony Romo had a ho-hum day, and I mean that in a good way. He only had to throw the ball 24 times (for reference, he threw it 49 times vs. the Giants and 42 times against the Chiefs), completing 17 of his passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Romo has a had a good year so far, completing 72.2 percent of his passes (easily his best in any year) for six touchdowns and just one pick. Any time Romo is quiet in a game is a good thing. And it was indeed a quiet three-touchdown performance with the spotlight shining instead on Murray and the defense, which sacked St. Louis QB Sam Bradford four times. DeMarcus Ware had two of those sacks, giving him 115 in his career, putting him one sack ahead of Harvey Martin on the franchise's all-time list.
Dallas needs to bottle this performance and bring it into every game. Obviously, the Rams are not a very good team but a nearly 200-yard game from Murray is encouraging. The more Dallas can run the ball successfully, the less pressure is on Romo to try to win the game by himself. That is when he makes mistakes. A solid run game and good defense with Romo managing the offense is the recipe for the Cowboys' success. Dallas has an important road game this weekend at San Diego, because the following week the Cowboys host the Broncos, who have looked like the class of the NFL thus far. Dallas is 2-1, but a loss this weekend to the Chargers could mean the Cowboys could be 2-3 heading into a meeting with the Redskins a little over two weeks from now (assuming Dallas would also lose to Denver).
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