Notre Dame 34, Virginia 27
Both of my favorite football teams nearly won by 27-26 margins this weekend. UVa's and Dallas' games were remarkably similar. The underdog team took a lead but ended up losing at the end. The Giants lost to the Cowboys with seven seconds left when Tony Romo found Jason Witten at the goal line for the touchdown.
Unfortunately, Virginia would have won by the same score but Notre Dame pulled ahead for good with 12 seconds left on a long touchdown pass from backup quarterback DeShone Kizer to wideout Will Fuller, who replicated a great week in a win over UCLA by similarly torching Virginia for 124 yards and two touchdowns, both on long passes.
First, the good, and then the bad, and finally I'll speak from the heart. Matt Johns turned in the best quarterbacking performance for UVa in a long while. The junior finished 26 of 38 (68.4 percent) for 289 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. That is a solid, efficient, mistake-free game that Matt Schaub would be proud of. He also took off on a couple nice scrambles more reminiscent of Jameel Sewell as well, including a courageous dive into the end zone for a touchdown. That connection I spoke of with Canaan Severin? Yeah, that appears to be a thing.
Here is an Aug. 23 article from The Daily Progress' Matt Johns that I had missed: http://www.dailyprogress.com/cavalierinsider/johns-severin-aim-to-be-deadly-combination/article_8ed7209c-49f7-11e5-b069-2b3ea76f1740.html?mode=jqm
The connection was even stronger than in the UCLA game, with Severin catching nine passes for 153 yards. He doesn't have blazing speed but did get behind the secondary on at least one long pass I remember. What I really like about him is his physicality and his ability to fight for the ball when he jumps in the air next to a defender. He also has great hands.
Taquan Mizzell continued to show what he can do in the open field. He can be a great weapon this year if used in the right way. He just missed out on becoming a UVa legend of sorts. He dove for a go-ahead touchdown on a pass Johns floated out to him on Virginia's final scoring drive. He just missed catching it. It looked like he should've caught it, but it was a pretty difficult catch. Had he held on and Virginia went on to win, he would have been forever remembered for that play, even if he doesn't do anything amazing the rest of his career. Sharing some of Mizzell's traits, freshman RB Olamide Zaccheaus showed he has some burst, running on an end-around for a big gain and also catching two passes for 25 yards.
Holy reverse flea flicker! That play where the ball was snapped to Albert Reid who handed to Mizzell who flipped to Johns who threw downfield to Keeon Johnson for a touchdown was a thing of beauty. You can relive it in the above video. Throughout the game, the play calling by Steve Fairchild was more bold than usual. Hopefully it stays that way, but I won't hold my breath.
The bad: This defense has not looked very good so far, again allowing over 400 yards and exactly 34 points in both games. Granted, the Cavs have had to play two top-15 teams. But I would have to say the defense is playing a little worse than I thought it would in the early going. The passing defense got better overall against the Irish, but two long touchdown passes went to Fuller, including the game winner. And don't forget that Notre Dame's starter, Malik Zaire, wasn't even available down the stretch. He broke his ankle and is out for the year. The run defense was decent against UCLA, but got gashed vs. the Irish as CJ. Prosise, the second-string RB, ran for 9.1 ypc and a touchdown.
Penalties. The Wahoos almost pulled off the upset and the yellow flags would largely be forgotten had they been successful, but now they just glare more, particularly the continuous offsides by the defense and then the holding call on an offensive lineman in the red zone that stopped the down and distance from being 1st-and-goal at the beginning of the second half. Instead, Virginia was pushed back into a long field goal and Ian Frye missed. Had that kick been closer and converted, or had the drive ended with a TD, obviously the chances of the upset would have increased. Virginia had a 14-12 lead at the time of the miss. UVa finished with nine penalties for 55 yards. On their own, penalties are not a huge deal, but they have been a major problem during Mike London's tenure and they might have helped prevent a huge upset victory in this case.
Now, to that guy London. The players love him. I think the fan base would love to love him. We desperately want a winner in football. He has all the characteristics you want in a good coach. He's a nice guy, pretty good recruiter, doesn't have many knuckleheads on his team, has turned around academics on the team, has established good rapports with UVa professors, and is involved in the community with his players. But, his record at the school is now 23-40. I just don't think he can build a winner in Charlottesville at this point. You can overcome some of those other factors being not where you want them to be if you win. But he hasn't won enough and the act is wearing thin. Winning is the biggest part of the job. Losing a lot is fatal.
My dad texted me after the game, "The hoo nation is sick. I'm so in disbelief." I responded with, "They played well. Oh well," and dad asked me if that response was because I was in public, or if I was actually that mellow. First of all, yes, had I not been at the newspaper, I probably would have had a more natural, visceral reaction. However, that's not the only reason I wasn't that angry. I responded, "I don't care about UVA football anymore. I'm numb until they get a better coach. Don't get me wrong. I was hoping they would win but I'm more mellow than even just two years ago. ... I couldn't keep caring so hard about every game when they were starting to suck so bad."
Ok, so you can tell I was a little angry in the second text by saying I didn't care about the team anymore. That isn't true. I definitely do not care as much as I used to, though. If the 'Hoos started playing well, I would become more intense again. However, one game does not a competitive team make. The Cavs beat Louisville, which was ranked at the time, last September, and still ended up 5-7. Just because the play calling was good for one game doesn't mean I can trust Fairchild all of a sudden. One near swing and miss at a top 10 team does not change my mind about London. The fact of the matter is he is 0-2 this year and might need to win six games to keep his job and it is getting harder and harder to do that with each loss. Moral victories won't be good enough this season. It is a shame the team had to face Notre Dame and play so well and still lose, but that's just how it is this year. The schedule is tough, but the time for leniency is over. He needs to make hay this year.
Honestly, with the struggles of the team recently, another reason I wasn't that mad was because UVa played so well, relatively speaking to other performances. But as I pointed out, this has happened before in other seasons and yet London has fallen short against the ACC (see an 11-29 career conference record). If this is truly how the team can play this year, it needs to be consistent. It needs to be carried on to the road, where Virginia has just one win since the beginning of the 2012 season (what an unbelievably horrific stat). If the Cavaliers play like that most weeks, they can become bowl eligible and compete in the ACC. But until I see this type of performance more and more, week to week, I can't start trusting the coaching staff or start caring so much again. Until then, it is just another loss on top of a pile of them that makes each one hurt less than the one before.
Both of my favorite football teams nearly won by 27-26 margins this weekend. UVa's and Dallas' games were remarkably similar. The underdog team took a lead but ended up losing at the end. The Giants lost to the Cowboys with seven seconds left when Tony Romo found Jason Witten at the goal line for the touchdown.
Unfortunately, Virginia would have won by the same score but Notre Dame pulled ahead for good with 12 seconds left on a long touchdown pass from backup quarterback DeShone Kizer to wideout Will Fuller, who replicated a great week in a win over UCLA by similarly torching Virginia for 124 yards and two touchdowns, both on long passes.
First, the good, and then the bad, and finally I'll speak from the heart. Matt Johns turned in the best quarterbacking performance for UVa in a long while. The junior finished 26 of 38 (68.4 percent) for 289 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. That is a solid, efficient, mistake-free game that Matt Schaub would be proud of. He also took off on a couple nice scrambles more reminiscent of Jameel Sewell as well, including a courageous dive into the end zone for a touchdown. That connection I spoke of with Canaan Severin? Yeah, that appears to be a thing.
Here is an Aug. 23 article from The Daily Progress' Matt Johns that I had missed: http://www.dailyprogress.com/cavalierinsider/johns-severin-aim-to-be-deadly-combination/article_8ed7209c-49f7-11e5-b069-2b3ea76f1740.html?mode=jqm
The connection was even stronger than in the UCLA game, with Severin catching nine passes for 153 yards. He doesn't have blazing speed but did get behind the secondary on at least one long pass I remember. What I really like about him is his physicality and his ability to fight for the ball when he jumps in the air next to a defender. He also has great hands.
Taquan Mizzell continued to show what he can do in the open field. He can be a great weapon this year if used in the right way. He just missed out on becoming a UVa legend of sorts. He dove for a go-ahead touchdown on a pass Johns floated out to him on Virginia's final scoring drive. He just missed catching it. It looked like he should've caught it, but it was a pretty difficult catch. Had he held on and Virginia went on to win, he would have been forever remembered for that play, even if he doesn't do anything amazing the rest of his career. Sharing some of Mizzell's traits, freshman RB Olamide Zaccheaus showed he has some burst, running on an end-around for a big gain and also catching two passes for 25 yards.
Holy reverse flea flicker! That play where the ball was snapped to Albert Reid who handed to Mizzell who flipped to Johns who threw downfield to Keeon Johnson for a touchdown was a thing of beauty. You can relive it in the above video. Throughout the game, the play calling by Steve Fairchild was more bold than usual. Hopefully it stays that way, but I won't hold my breath.
The bad: This defense has not looked very good so far, again allowing over 400 yards and exactly 34 points in both games. Granted, the Cavs have had to play two top-15 teams. But I would have to say the defense is playing a little worse than I thought it would in the early going. The passing defense got better overall against the Irish, but two long touchdown passes went to Fuller, including the game winner. And don't forget that Notre Dame's starter, Malik Zaire, wasn't even available down the stretch. He broke his ankle and is out for the year. The run defense was decent against UCLA, but got gashed vs. the Irish as CJ. Prosise, the second-string RB, ran for 9.1 ypc and a touchdown.
Penalties. The Wahoos almost pulled off the upset and the yellow flags would largely be forgotten had they been successful, but now they just glare more, particularly the continuous offsides by the defense and then the holding call on an offensive lineman in the red zone that stopped the down and distance from being 1st-and-goal at the beginning of the second half. Instead, Virginia was pushed back into a long field goal and Ian Frye missed. Had that kick been closer and converted, or had the drive ended with a TD, obviously the chances of the upset would have increased. Virginia had a 14-12 lead at the time of the miss. UVa finished with nine penalties for 55 yards. On their own, penalties are not a huge deal, but they have been a major problem during Mike London's tenure and they might have helped prevent a huge upset victory in this case.
Now, to that guy London. The players love him. I think the fan base would love to love him. We desperately want a winner in football. He has all the characteristics you want in a good coach. He's a nice guy, pretty good recruiter, doesn't have many knuckleheads on his team, has turned around academics on the team, has established good rapports with UVa professors, and is involved in the community with his players. But, his record at the school is now 23-40. I just don't think he can build a winner in Charlottesville at this point. You can overcome some of those other factors being not where you want them to be if you win. But he hasn't won enough and the act is wearing thin. Winning is the biggest part of the job. Losing a lot is fatal.
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| "Sad UVa fan." This guy is now an online sensation thanks to Notre Dame's dagger of a game-winning TD. |
Ok, so you can tell I was a little angry in the second text by saying I didn't care about the team anymore. That isn't true. I definitely do not care as much as I used to, though. If the 'Hoos started playing well, I would become more intense again. However, one game does not a competitive team make. The Cavs beat Louisville, which was ranked at the time, last September, and still ended up 5-7. Just because the play calling was good for one game doesn't mean I can trust Fairchild all of a sudden. One near swing and miss at a top 10 team does not change my mind about London. The fact of the matter is he is 0-2 this year and might need to win six games to keep his job and it is getting harder and harder to do that with each loss. Moral victories won't be good enough this season. It is a shame the team had to face Notre Dame and play so well and still lose, but that's just how it is this year. The schedule is tough, but the time for leniency is over. He needs to make hay this year.
Honestly, with the struggles of the team recently, another reason I wasn't that mad was because UVa played so well, relatively speaking to other performances. But as I pointed out, this has happened before in other seasons and yet London has fallen short against the ACC (see an 11-29 career conference record). If this is truly how the team can play this year, it needs to be consistent. It needs to be carried on to the road, where Virginia has just one win since the beginning of the 2012 season (what an unbelievably horrific stat). If the Cavaliers play like that most weeks, they can become bowl eligible and compete in the ACC. But until I see this type of performance more and more, week to week, I can't start trusting the coaching staff or start caring so much again. Until then, it is just another loss on top of a pile of them that makes each one hurt less than the one before.
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