Boston College 41, Virginia 10
Sometimes after a particularly bad game by a sports team, you'll hear the phrase "burn the tape." It means that the result was so bad and uncharacteristic of said team that the film of the game isn't even worth studying, a futile attempt to learn something. An outlier outcome.
I hope the Cavaliers did not burn the tape from Saturday's beatdown.
I understand the sentiment of the phrase, but in general, unless you're say, the Patriots or Alabama in football, how many teams have such a good track record that it is possible that you can just chalk up a loss as an off day and know the team will probably be back on track next week? And let's get real, I'm sure Bill Belichick pored over New England's loss to Kansas City in Week 1 this year and let his players hear about all the things they did wrong. And if Alabama ever loses this year, whether by one point or a few touchdowns, you better believe Nick Saban will rip into his players.
So while the demolition by the Eagles of the Wahoos on Saturday was uncharacteristic of UVa this year, it is better for the team to learn from the loss rather than chalk it up to a bad day. And I'm sure that's what the coaching staff and players did. As coach Bronco Mendenhall has emphasized, the program is still in its infancy under him.
After the game, he said, "I've talked a lot about managing interference, and I've expressed week in and week out, at least up to this point, we're just at the very beginning of this program and what I want it to be, and I think we all want to skip ahead a number of chapters to see how the story ends.
It's word by word, letter by letter, and page by page, and that was driven home today again of where we currently are, where we can be if we're not really well prepared and really precise and compete at an elite level and if you have an injury or two along the way."
Unfortunately, recent ACC results have shown that UVa, while it has improved, is still a ways off from being a top-25 team, despite the 5-1 record coming into the game and the fact that the team was getting votes in the AP poll last week. UVa had a four-game winning streak that started with a win over Connecticut. I don't think anyone thought that UConn was a good team, and the Huskies are now 3-4 and have been blown out a few times. The next week, though, UVa got an impressive road win over Boise State -- and it remains impressive. Boise State has since won three straight games and is 5-2, and one of those wins came on the road against San Diego State, which was ranked. After that surprising triumph came ACC victories over Duke and North Carolina, and this is where what UVa has done recently starts to fade. The Blue Devils were 4-1 when they came to Charlottesville, and they are now 4-4, but it is worth mentioning that every loss except the one to Miami has come by seven points. The Tar Heels, though, are apparently truly atrocious. I don't know why they are so bad all of a sudden, and I have considered Larry Fedora a solid coach, but UNC is 1-7 and every loss except for two -- the opener to Cal (35-30) and the one to UVa (20-14) -- have come by at least 10 points. The Heels bottomed out last week with a 59-7 loss to Virginia Tech.
So while UVa has been a pleasant surprise, it is clear that most of its resume was built against sub-par competition, and the Cavaliers were only a couple plays away from losses to Duke and UNC. It is great that the 'Hoos were able to beat those types of teams since, for the most part, they didn't last season, but once you get a few wins, more is expected of you and opponents take notice and start to prepare better. And Virginia's schedule is getting tougher, as I've mentioned many times on here.
I didn't think Virginia was going to lose focus going into the BC game because a) the Eagles had just beaten Louisville, and b) because that sixth win and bowl eligibility is still dangling out there for the 'Hoos.
But running back Jordan Ellis seemed to admit that the players were getting a little ahead of themselves. "The one thing about football is that this game will really humble you," he said after the game. "I think we thought we were better because we were 5-1, so this definitely humbles us and brings us back down a little bit. This gives us a chance to correct the mistakes that we have and go into next week with a chip on our shoulders because we got kind of embarrassed today at home."
Kind of? Yeah, I would say a 31-point loss to a 3-4 team at home when you're 5-1 is embarrassing. But maybe in the end, such a midseason humbling is just what was needed to get the Wahoos to correct course and set their sights on the rest of the season. Virginia travels to face Pittsburgh on Saturday, and though the Panthers are 3-5, they are coming off a 24-17 win over Duke. But after the way Boston College manhandled UVa on Saturday, I doubt the Cavaliers will be overlooking anybody.
Sometimes after a particularly bad game by a sports team, you'll hear the phrase "burn the tape." It means that the result was so bad and uncharacteristic of said team that the film of the game isn't even worth studying, a futile attempt to learn something. An outlier outcome.
I hope the Cavaliers did not burn the tape from Saturday's beatdown.
I understand the sentiment of the phrase, but in general, unless you're say, the Patriots or Alabama in football, how many teams have such a good track record that it is possible that you can just chalk up a loss as an off day and know the team will probably be back on track next week? And let's get real, I'm sure Bill Belichick pored over New England's loss to Kansas City in Week 1 this year and let his players hear about all the things they did wrong. And if Alabama ever loses this year, whether by one point or a few touchdowns, you better believe Nick Saban will rip into his players.
So while the demolition by the Eagles of the Wahoos on Saturday was uncharacteristic of UVa this year, it is better for the team to learn from the loss rather than chalk it up to a bad day. And I'm sure that's what the coaching staff and players did. As coach Bronco Mendenhall has emphasized, the program is still in its infancy under him.
After the game, he said, "I've talked a lot about managing interference, and I've expressed week in and week out, at least up to this point, we're just at the very beginning of this program and what I want it to be, and I think we all want to skip ahead a number of chapters to see how the story ends.
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| Quarterback Anthony Brown and the Eagles crushed the Cavaliers on Saturday in all three phases of the game. If it could go wrong it did for Virginia. |
Unfortunately, recent ACC results have shown that UVa, while it has improved, is still a ways off from being a top-25 team, despite the 5-1 record coming into the game and the fact that the team was getting votes in the AP poll last week. UVa had a four-game winning streak that started with a win over Connecticut. I don't think anyone thought that UConn was a good team, and the Huskies are now 3-4 and have been blown out a few times. The next week, though, UVa got an impressive road win over Boise State -- and it remains impressive. Boise State has since won three straight games and is 5-2, and one of those wins came on the road against San Diego State, which was ranked. After that surprising triumph came ACC victories over Duke and North Carolina, and this is where what UVa has done recently starts to fade. The Blue Devils were 4-1 when they came to Charlottesville, and they are now 4-4, but it is worth mentioning that every loss except the one to Miami has come by seven points. The Tar Heels, though, are apparently truly atrocious. I don't know why they are so bad all of a sudden, and I have considered Larry Fedora a solid coach, but UNC is 1-7 and every loss except for two -- the opener to Cal (35-30) and the one to UVa (20-14) -- have come by at least 10 points. The Heels bottomed out last week with a 59-7 loss to Virginia Tech.
So while UVa has been a pleasant surprise, it is clear that most of its resume was built against sub-par competition, and the Cavaliers were only a couple plays away from losses to Duke and UNC. It is great that the 'Hoos were able to beat those types of teams since, for the most part, they didn't last season, but once you get a few wins, more is expected of you and opponents take notice and start to prepare better. And Virginia's schedule is getting tougher, as I've mentioned many times on here.
I didn't think Virginia was going to lose focus going into the BC game because a) the Eagles had just beaten Louisville, and b) because that sixth win and bowl eligibility is still dangling out there for the 'Hoos.
But running back Jordan Ellis seemed to admit that the players were getting a little ahead of themselves. "The one thing about football is that this game will really humble you," he said after the game. "I think we thought we were better because we were 5-1, so this definitely humbles us and brings us back down a little bit. This gives us a chance to correct the mistakes that we have and go into next week with a chip on our shoulders because we got kind of embarrassed today at home."
Kind of? Yeah, I would say a 31-point loss to a 3-4 team at home when you're 5-1 is embarrassing. But maybe in the end, such a midseason humbling is just what was needed to get the Wahoos to correct course and set their sights on the rest of the season. Virginia travels to face Pittsburgh on Saturday, and though the Panthers are 3-5, they are coming off a 24-17 win over Duke. But after the way Boston College manhandled UVa on Saturday, I doubt the Cavaliers will be overlooking anybody.
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