Virginia 28, Duke 21
It seemed like we were headed toward one of those Virginia-type losses.
The Cavaliers' game this past Saturday against Duke at home had all the makings of a typical disappointing outing for Wahoo fans: plenty of penalties (on both sides), a special teams mistake, missed opportunities on offense, a couple big offensive plays by the opponent, and then a drive into UVa territory with the result hanging in the balance. The only thing missing was Virginia up by fewer than seven points, followed by a rip-your-heart out moment. Think Louisville last year and Notre Dame in 2015.
But then, Virginia actually won. And that's what was so impressive about this victory. Things kept going against UVa that gave the game that eerie, all-too-familiar feeling. But the Cavaliers, especially on defense, refused to fold, and responded time and time again with strong plays of their own, which eventually sealed the win in the team's ACC opener.
The resiliency began right away. UVa got a good kick return on its opening possession but couldn't convert a fourth-and-1 near midfield. So Duke's first possession started with great field position. But UVa's defense had a great series, which ended with a pick-6 by Quin Blanding of Duke QB Daniel Jones.
But Kurt Benkert quickly threw his own pick-6, and the score was tied. Then the Blue Devils marched down with an impressive drive ending in a TD to take a 14-7 lead. At that point, it was the second quarter, and UVa had mustered zero offensive points. I felt like I knew where this was headed
-- the same place many games ended last year. A respectable halftime score followed by a one- to two-touchdown win for the opponent. But UVa went down and scored before halftime, a huge response and momentum boost.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Virginia led, 21-14, had the ball, and it was fourth-and-1 on Duke's side of the field. Benkert tossed a swing pass to Jordan Ellis with almost nothing but green in front of him. One Duke defender would've had a chance at the tackle, but it was going to be a gain of at least 10 yards, and probably more. But Benkert missed a little with the throw, which did hit Ellis in the hands, and the ball dropped to the ground, a big missed opportunity. But the defense responded, forcing Duke to punt. That was a play I felt for sure was going to bite the 'Hoos, but it never really did.
Later in the fourth, UVa put together a nice drive to eat up some time, and it ended with a nice scramble and pass by Benkert to Doni Dowling, who raced down the sideline to the end zone and a 28-14 score. He got a little too excited, though, and somersaulted into the end zone, prompting a referee to penalize him for unsportsmanlike conduct. You can argue whether or not he deserved the flag, but had he just handed the ball to a ref, there would not have been a penalty. He gave the refs a choice by celebrating, and they chose to flag UVa, meaning the kickoff was moved back 15 yards. As a result, Duke returned the kick off all the way to UVa's red zone. UVa's kickoffs had been going into the end zone, so the penalty probably led to the long return. Yes, the Cavaliers should have had better kick coverage, but still, the flag gave the opportunity to Duke. The Blue Devils took advantage, scoring a TD to make it 28-21 with plenty of time left.
Dowling said after the game he felt terrible about the flag and was relieved when UVa still won the game. He addressed his teammates when they got to the locker room. That play, to me, was the one that I felt was really going to haunt UVa and was typical of the past few seasons of Cavalier football: a positive wrapped up in a negative. And it basically did cost the team a TD by Duke. But again, in the face of the adversity, the team responded.
Down the stretch, UVa had to come up with two more stops on defense. I was thinking and hoping one would be enough, provided UVa could then melt the clock. And despite a first down on some tough running by Ellis, UVa had to punt and rely on its defense one more time. Ellis has been solid this year, and had 96 yards Saturday, but overall, the running game is still mostly a weakness for UVa. That was a clear disadvantage on UVa's last possession, when it was unable to just line up and run some power-running plays to finish out the game.
So the burden fell back on the defense once more, and it delivered. Chris Peace and Charles Snowden, a true freshman, came up with huge time-wasting sacks on the final drive. Snowden's takedown was particularly crucial, as it was on third down and put Duke in a fourth-and-long situation once it had driven into UVa territory. Snowden is a lengthy, 6-foot-7 but light defensive end who now has three tackles on the year and 1.5 sacks, so he is not exactly heavily involved in the defense. For an unheralded player, a true freshman no less, to step up like that at that time was huge. On fourth down, Jones heaved a pass toward the sideline, but Juan Thornhill broke up pass for the final solid defensive play for UVa.
The Boise State victory was attention-grabbing, but this one was almost more impressive, because not everything went Virginia's way, but it responded time and time again with positive plays. Blanding said the defense loves "sudden change" this season, and it is starting to look like that. That the Wahoos can perform in the face of adversity is a very encouraging sign, because it shows the team is growing from the past few seasons and is tough and resilient. Also, the schedule will get tougher, especially at the end of the year, and there will definitely be games where if UVa hopes to be in it, it will have to perform despite negative circumstances.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall said after the game that he is seeing the development of that mindset in the team. "... as I'm watching our players' body language [on the sideline], there's just a resolve of 'Oh, that just happened, next play.' And there aren't these wild and emotional way ups and downs. There's just work to be performed. Then at the end of all the work when the game's over ... they get to explode in the locker room; they still are. And that's fun."
Couple things I note in that quote. The wild and emotional ups and downs sound like a particular coach that was fired by UVa recently, and the even-keel, don't get too high, don't get too low attitude sounds like a particularly beloved coach at UVa. Hmm.
Hopefully the football team can keep going in the right direction.
It seemed like we were headed toward one of those Virginia-type losses.
The Cavaliers' game this past Saturday against Duke at home had all the makings of a typical disappointing outing for Wahoo fans: plenty of penalties (on both sides), a special teams mistake, missed opportunities on offense, a couple big offensive plays by the opponent, and then a drive into UVa territory with the result hanging in the balance. The only thing missing was Virginia up by fewer than seven points, followed by a rip-your-heart out moment. Think Louisville last year and Notre Dame in 2015.
But then, Virginia actually won. And that's what was so impressive about this victory. Things kept going against UVa that gave the game that eerie, all-too-familiar feeling. But the Cavaliers, especially on defense, refused to fold, and responded time and time again with strong plays of their own, which eventually sealed the win in the team's ACC opener.
The resiliency began right away. UVa got a good kick return on its opening possession but couldn't convert a fourth-and-1 near midfield. So Duke's first possession started with great field position. But UVa's defense had a great series, which ended with a pick-6 by Quin Blanding of Duke QB Daniel Jones.
But Kurt Benkert quickly threw his own pick-6, and the score was tied. Then the Blue Devils marched down with an impressive drive ending in a TD to take a 14-7 lead. At that point, it was the second quarter, and UVa had mustered zero offensive points. I felt like I knew where this was headed
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| Quin Blanding's pick-6 was the first of many positive responses by Virginia against Duke. |
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Virginia led, 21-14, had the ball, and it was fourth-and-1 on Duke's side of the field. Benkert tossed a swing pass to Jordan Ellis with almost nothing but green in front of him. One Duke defender would've had a chance at the tackle, but it was going to be a gain of at least 10 yards, and probably more. But Benkert missed a little with the throw, which did hit Ellis in the hands, and the ball dropped to the ground, a big missed opportunity. But the defense responded, forcing Duke to punt. That was a play I felt for sure was going to bite the 'Hoos, but it never really did.
Later in the fourth, UVa put together a nice drive to eat up some time, and it ended with a nice scramble and pass by Benkert to Doni Dowling, who raced down the sideline to the end zone and a 28-14 score. He got a little too excited, though, and somersaulted into the end zone, prompting a referee to penalize him for unsportsmanlike conduct. You can argue whether or not he deserved the flag, but had he just handed the ball to a ref, there would not have been a penalty. He gave the refs a choice by celebrating, and they chose to flag UVa, meaning the kickoff was moved back 15 yards. As a result, Duke returned the kick off all the way to UVa's red zone. UVa's kickoffs had been going into the end zone, so the penalty probably led to the long return. Yes, the Cavaliers should have had better kick coverage, but still, the flag gave the opportunity to Duke. The Blue Devils took advantage, scoring a TD to make it 28-21 with plenty of time left.
Dowling said after the game he felt terrible about the flag and was relieved when UVa still won the game. He addressed his teammates when they got to the locker room. That play, to me, was the one that I felt was really going to haunt UVa and was typical of the past few seasons of Cavalier football: a positive wrapped up in a negative. And it basically did cost the team a TD by Duke. But again, in the face of the adversity, the team responded.
Down the stretch, UVa had to come up with two more stops on defense. I was thinking and hoping one would be enough, provided UVa could then melt the clock. And despite a first down on some tough running by Ellis, UVa had to punt and rely on its defense one more time. Ellis has been solid this year, and had 96 yards Saturday, but overall, the running game is still mostly a weakness for UVa. That was a clear disadvantage on UVa's last possession, when it was unable to just line up and run some power-running plays to finish out the game.
So the burden fell back on the defense once more, and it delivered. Chris Peace and Charles Snowden, a true freshman, came up with huge time-wasting sacks on the final drive. Snowden's takedown was particularly crucial, as it was on third down and put Duke in a fourth-and-long situation once it had driven into UVa territory. Snowden is a lengthy, 6-foot-7 but light defensive end who now has three tackles on the year and 1.5 sacks, so he is not exactly heavily involved in the defense. For an unheralded player, a true freshman no less, to step up like that at that time was huge. On fourth down, Jones heaved a pass toward the sideline, but Juan Thornhill broke up pass for the final solid defensive play for UVa.
The Boise State victory was attention-grabbing, but this one was almost more impressive, because not everything went Virginia's way, but it responded time and time again with positive plays. Blanding said the defense loves "sudden change" this season, and it is starting to look like that. That the Wahoos can perform in the face of adversity is a very encouraging sign, because it shows the team is growing from the past few seasons and is tough and resilient. Also, the schedule will get tougher, especially at the end of the year, and there will definitely be games where if UVa hopes to be in it, it will have to perform despite negative circumstances.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall said after the game that he is seeing the development of that mindset in the team. "... as I'm watching our players' body language [on the sideline], there's just a resolve of 'Oh, that just happened, next play.' And there aren't these wild and emotional way ups and downs. There's just work to be performed. Then at the end of all the work when the game's over ... they get to explode in the locker room; they still are. And that's fun."
Couple things I note in that quote. The wild and emotional ups and downs sound like a particular coach that was fired by UVa recently, and the even-keel, don't get too high, don't get too low attitude sounds like a particularly beloved coach at UVa. Hmm.
Hopefully the football team can keep going in the right direction.
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