Pittsburgh 45, Virginia 31
Two steps forward and one step back.
Like many rebuilding projects, the Cavaliers' took a hit Saturday against the Panthers. After two consecutive wins, Virginia's offense, defense, and special teams faltered at different times in the loss.
The offense scored 28 first-half points but then just three in the second half as the unit put up three and out after three and out despite having opportunities to get right back into the game. Of course, the whole contest changed on a pick-six right before halftime on a bad throw by Kurt Benkert across the middle of the field around the 50-yard line. I applaud the Cavaliers trying to get points with under a minute left in a 28-28 game, but perhaps a better play would have been looking down the field where an interception might not have been as damaging. Overall, the offense really bogged down after that play and was never the same. Benkert had probably his worst game, finishing 20 of 44 for 278 yards, one TD (to Olamide Zacchaeus), and the pick. Pittsburgh came in as one of the worst pass defenses in the country, and Virginia was only able to take advantage in the first half. Pittsburgh was able to generate a pass rush in the second half and finished with four sacks. UVa should have drawn up plays to take advantage of that, or Benkert should've used his scrambling ability on some draws up the middle of the field with a strong pass rush coming from the edges.
I didn't think the defense played too poorly. It gave up 31 points -- take away a kickoff TD and the pick-six -- to a team scoring a little more than 37 per game. It played well enough to win, I thought, but obviously the turnover machine it was against Duke vanished. It missed out on at least two opportunities I can recall, two fumbles that weren't recovered by UVa, though I believe one of those might have been on a punt return. This defense isn't going to be good enough to help the team by not forcing turnovers, so hopefully that shows up more games than not. The Panthers rushed for 209 yards, 90 from James Conner, on 4.3 yards per carry, so the performance could have been better, but like I said, it could've sufficed for a win if the offense had kept up its output.
In addition to the pick-six, the other huge problem for Virginia in the game was kickoff coverage. After going up 14-7, the Wahoos allowed a 93-yard TD return for Quadree Henderson, someone I pointed to as a potential threat before the game. Then, after going up 28-21, they allowed a 69-yard return by Rafael Araujo-Lopes to the Virginia 26. The defense really made Pitt work from there, but the Panthers did punch it in for a TD. Those returns really ended up being momentum killers for the team and deflated the modest-sized crowd, making it hard for it to really get into the game, when one good thing was followed by a bad thing. The funny thing is I do not recall many problems on coverages so far this season, and Pitt didn't really do much on returns outside of those two. The Panthers had five kickoff returns for 210 yards, so if you take away 162 of those yards from those big returns, you get three for 48 yards, which is just an average of 16 per return. In other words, I'm sure Bronco Mendenhall identified what went wrong on two specific returns, and hopefully that will be the main blemish for that unit this season.
One positive special teams note is Sam Hayward made a 36-yard field goal at the end of the game, something that hopefully boosts his confidence. Virginia, of course, hasn't been sharp on kicking this season or even willing to try field goals on some occasions, so that was good to see and also made me understand why the team probably opted to do that instead of go for a touchdown when the game was basically out of reach anyway.
Though the score might say otherwise, this was not a bad performance from the team. Take away the two non-offensive TDs, and one play when Pitt's offense was majorly helped by a special teams mistake, and you have a pretty even game. With that said, a loss is a loss and the schedule gets tougher, I think, with North Carolina coming to town next week. Virginia can win, but will probably have to play its best game of the year to date and can't afford some of the mistakes it made vs. the Panthers.
Two steps forward and one step back.
Like many rebuilding projects, the Cavaliers' took a hit Saturday against the Panthers. After two consecutive wins, Virginia's offense, defense, and special teams faltered at different times in the loss.
The offense scored 28 first-half points but then just three in the second half as the unit put up three and out after three and out despite having opportunities to get right back into the game. Of course, the whole contest changed on a pick-six right before halftime on a bad throw by Kurt Benkert across the middle of the field around the 50-yard line. I applaud the Cavaliers trying to get points with under a minute left in a 28-28 game, but perhaps a better play would have been looking down the field where an interception might not have been as damaging. Overall, the offense really bogged down after that play and was never the same. Benkert had probably his worst game, finishing 20 of 44 for 278 yards, one TD (to Olamide Zacchaeus), and the pick. Pittsburgh came in as one of the worst pass defenses in the country, and Virginia was only able to take advantage in the first half. Pittsburgh was able to generate a pass rush in the second half and finished with four sacks. UVa should have drawn up plays to take advantage of that, or Benkert should've used his scrambling ability on some draws up the middle of the field with a strong pass rush coming from the edges.
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| UVa QB Kurt Benkert was harassed in the second half vs. Pitt. The Panthers finished with four sack and gave up only three second-half points. |
I didn't think the defense played too poorly. It gave up 31 points -- take away a kickoff TD and the pick-six -- to a team scoring a little more than 37 per game. It played well enough to win, I thought, but obviously the turnover machine it was against Duke vanished. It missed out on at least two opportunities I can recall, two fumbles that weren't recovered by UVa, though I believe one of those might have been on a punt return. This defense isn't going to be good enough to help the team by not forcing turnovers, so hopefully that shows up more games than not. The Panthers rushed for 209 yards, 90 from James Conner, on 4.3 yards per carry, so the performance could have been better, but like I said, it could've sufficed for a win if the offense had kept up its output.
In addition to the pick-six, the other huge problem for Virginia in the game was kickoff coverage. After going up 14-7, the Wahoos allowed a 93-yard TD return for Quadree Henderson, someone I pointed to as a potential threat before the game. Then, after going up 28-21, they allowed a 69-yard return by Rafael Araujo-Lopes to the Virginia 26. The defense really made Pitt work from there, but the Panthers did punch it in for a TD. Those returns really ended up being momentum killers for the team and deflated the modest-sized crowd, making it hard for it to really get into the game, when one good thing was followed by a bad thing. The funny thing is I do not recall many problems on coverages so far this season, and Pitt didn't really do much on returns outside of those two. The Panthers had five kickoff returns for 210 yards, so if you take away 162 of those yards from those big returns, you get three for 48 yards, which is just an average of 16 per return. In other words, I'm sure Bronco Mendenhall identified what went wrong on two specific returns, and hopefully that will be the main blemish for that unit this season.
One positive special teams note is Sam Hayward made a 36-yard field goal at the end of the game, something that hopefully boosts his confidence. Virginia, of course, hasn't been sharp on kicking this season or even willing to try field goals on some occasions, so that was good to see and also made me understand why the team probably opted to do that instead of go for a touchdown when the game was basically out of reach anyway.
Though the score might say otherwise, this was not a bad performance from the team. Take away the two non-offensive TDs, and one play when Pitt's offense was majorly helped by a special teams mistake, and you have a pretty even game. With that said, a loss is a loss and the schedule gets tougher, I think, with North Carolina coming to town next week. Virginia can win, but will probably have to play its best game of the year to date and can't afford some of the mistakes it made vs. the Panthers.
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