Virginia 34, Duke 20
With a bone-shattering hit on Duke quarterback Daniel Jones, Virginia true freshman linebacker Jordan Mack emphatically ended the Cavaliers' 17-game road losing streak Saturday in Durham. If you haven't seen that play, enter "Jordan Mack Duke" into Google now. Whew boy. It's not surprising that a hit like that dislodged the ball into the end zone where UVa's Eli Hanback landed on it for the game-sealing touchdown.
The Cavaliers' first mission this season was to win a game. Accomplished. The second was to win a road game. Accomplished. Their most recent victory away from Scott Stadium before Saturday came in November 2012 against N.C. State.
Virginia did it by harassing Jones into six turnovers -- five picks and the fumble -- and sacking him twice (should have been at least two more sacks I remember off the top of my head). Bryce Hall, another true freshman, had two of the picks, and sophomore Juan Thornhill had a pair as well. The other one went to Quin Blanding. Micah Kiser had the other sack and finished with a career-high 18 tackles, two for loss, and two pass breakups. Virginia finished with seven pass breakups, and the linebackers and defensive linemen are doing a great job of getting their hands up and disrupting the passing lanes.
On offense, Kurt Benkert had another solid game, completing 23 of 41 passes for 336 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, really the only bad throw that stands out. His completion percentage
should have been higher, and he honestly probably should have challenged his record of 421 yards he set the week before, but I can recall several drops from receivers that hampered his total. He continues to show really nice accuracy and touch on the ball. His TD to Olamide Zaccheaus in the left side of the end zone was a really nice throw where he threw Zaccheaus into the open spot and Zaccheaus did a great job of securing the ball and getting a foot down.
Something cool that has started happening for UVa is the number of freshmen and other young players stepping up. I already mentioned Hall's contribution, and Thornhill is really developing into a nice corner as a sophomore. Mack finished with eight tackles. Freshman linebacker Matt Terrell had three tackles, one for loss. Hanback totaled three tackles. Sophomore David Eldridge at wideout had the best game of his career and showed blazing speed with two catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. He probably should have had a touchdown on UVa's first drive as well, but the pass from Benkert was just a little out in front of him. Eldridge got his fingers on it, though, and I bet he'd tell you he should've caught it. Freshman receiver Hasise Dubois had a catch, and freshman tight end Richard Burney tallied a 3-yard TD reception. These guys are getting on the field and are looking coached up, and they have confidence.
I will say not everything was great in this game. The fact that UVa forced Duke into six turnovers but only won by 14, and led by just seven until the fourth quarter, suggests that the offense didn't have a very efficient day and that without the turnovers, Virginia might well have lost. Of course, we don't know how the play calling would have changed with Virginia behind or tied more in the game, but still, when you have a 6-1 turnover edge, a team is usually supposed to win by more than a couple scores. I was also not a fan of Mendenhall's decision to try a fake punt in the fourth quarter with the Cavaliers up 27-20 and not even across the 50-yard line. He took responsibility for the call after the loss. I thought that was an ill-timed decision and really put the defense in a bind, a drive after it had just give up a touchdown. You can say that shows Mendenhall had faith in the defense to hold Duke if it didn't work, and that's what happened, but I won't agree with the fake-punt call. The defense, after giving up the TD early in the fourth, was just superb the rest of the way. It held after the failed fake punt and held after Benkert's pick. On those two drives, it gave up a combined 14 yards. The next possession was the huge sack by Mack in the end zone, and the final drive ended in the final interception by Thornhill.
On a day when the offense struggled early and was stop-and-go the rest of the way, the defense stepped up in a big way with the turnovers. Virginia still gave up 430 yards, but in today's age of fast-paced offenses -- Duke ran the ball 31 times and Jones passed it 55 times -- that isn't that bad, and the turnovers cover up that yardage quite nicely. Each game, it has been something different with this team. At Oregon, it was second-half fight. Against UConn, it was stingy defense. Last week, the offense finally exploded. And at Duke, it was the ball-hawking defense. This team is finding different things it can rely on each week, and that gives it a better chance to win every game.
With a bone-shattering hit on Duke quarterback Daniel Jones, Virginia true freshman linebacker Jordan Mack emphatically ended the Cavaliers' 17-game road losing streak Saturday in Durham. If you haven't seen that play, enter "Jordan Mack Duke" into Google now. Whew boy. It's not surprising that a hit like that dislodged the ball into the end zone where UVa's Eli Hanback landed on it for the game-sealing touchdown.
The Cavaliers' first mission this season was to win a game. Accomplished. The second was to win a road game. Accomplished. Their most recent victory away from Scott Stadium before Saturday came in November 2012 against N.C. State.
Virginia did it by harassing Jones into six turnovers -- five picks and the fumble -- and sacking him twice (should have been at least two more sacks I remember off the top of my head). Bryce Hall, another true freshman, had two of the picks, and sophomore Juan Thornhill had a pair as well. The other one went to Quin Blanding. Micah Kiser had the other sack and finished with a career-high 18 tackles, two for loss, and two pass breakups. Virginia finished with seven pass breakups, and the linebackers and defensive linemen are doing a great job of getting their hands up and disrupting the passing lanes.
On offense, Kurt Benkert had another solid game, completing 23 of 41 passes for 336 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, really the only bad throw that stands out. His completion percentage
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| Mack Truck coming through. |
Something cool that has started happening for UVa is the number of freshmen and other young players stepping up. I already mentioned Hall's contribution, and Thornhill is really developing into a nice corner as a sophomore. Mack finished with eight tackles. Freshman linebacker Matt Terrell had three tackles, one for loss. Hanback totaled three tackles. Sophomore David Eldridge at wideout had the best game of his career and showed blazing speed with two catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. He probably should have had a touchdown on UVa's first drive as well, but the pass from Benkert was just a little out in front of him. Eldridge got his fingers on it, though, and I bet he'd tell you he should've caught it. Freshman receiver Hasise Dubois had a catch, and freshman tight end Richard Burney tallied a 3-yard TD reception. These guys are getting on the field and are looking coached up, and they have confidence.
I will say not everything was great in this game. The fact that UVa forced Duke into six turnovers but only won by 14, and led by just seven until the fourth quarter, suggests that the offense didn't have a very efficient day and that without the turnovers, Virginia might well have lost. Of course, we don't know how the play calling would have changed with Virginia behind or tied more in the game, but still, when you have a 6-1 turnover edge, a team is usually supposed to win by more than a couple scores. I was also not a fan of Mendenhall's decision to try a fake punt in the fourth quarter with the Cavaliers up 27-20 and not even across the 50-yard line. He took responsibility for the call after the loss. I thought that was an ill-timed decision and really put the defense in a bind, a drive after it had just give up a touchdown. You can say that shows Mendenhall had faith in the defense to hold Duke if it didn't work, and that's what happened, but I won't agree with the fake-punt call. The defense, after giving up the TD early in the fourth, was just superb the rest of the way. It held after the failed fake punt and held after Benkert's pick. On those two drives, it gave up a combined 14 yards. The next possession was the huge sack by Mack in the end zone, and the final drive ended in the final interception by Thornhill.
On a day when the offense struggled early and was stop-and-go the rest of the way, the defense stepped up in a big way with the turnovers. Virginia still gave up 430 yards, but in today's age of fast-paced offenses -- Duke ran the ball 31 times and Jones passed it 55 times -- that isn't that bad, and the turnovers cover up that yardage quite nicely. Each game, it has been something different with this team. At Oregon, it was second-half fight. Against UConn, it was stingy defense. Last week, the offense finally exploded. And at Duke, it was the ball-hawking defense. This team is finding different things it can rely on each week, and that gives it a better chance to win every game.
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