Last season as Virginia prepared to face Liberty, I had just arrived in Northern Virginia. Now, as UVa prepares to play LU again, another milestone: This is my 1,000th post on this blog. It's pretty crazy to type that sentence (and also makes me wonder how many words I've typed for this blog). I don't know if I ever thought I'd get to this point when I started this venture in September 2010. I began it with the idea that I'd keep my sportswriting skills sharp in order to one day get a job in that field. That never happened, however this blog has helped my career in more ways than one.
First, in my first few jobs as a sports copy editor, the writing I edited at work helped me write better (and in some cases, I saw what not to do), and my writing here helped me become a better editor, too. Both sides helped inform the other.
Second, perhaps unexpectedly, as I've jumped into the web editing side of things over the past year or so, first a little bit at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, then full time at Circa.com and now at TTNews.com (Transport Topics), this blog has helped me understand that world and not start with a blank slate. When I began at Circa, I was like, oh yeah, this feature (fill in the blank) is similar on my blog. At the same time, those workplaces have helped me make the blog better, such as something as simple as learning how to embed tweets. This blog is now a legitimate bullet point on my resume, which is pretty cool.
So, whether you've been here since 2010 or just got here recently, thanks for following along!
Now, onto the business at hand.
The Virginia basketball team is off to a 4-0 start and ranked No. 7 in the country. It's been fun to see the team come together so far. The defense is as strong as it was expected to be, and the offense has been spotty, but it's been enough. On Tuesday, UVa staved off a tough Vermont team in Charlottesville, 61-55. To read my HoosPlace.com recap of that victory, click here. The Cavaliers face Massachusetts (5-0) today in Uncasville, Conn., at noon in the semifinals of the Air Force Reserve Hall of Fame Tip Off Classic. That game will be televised on ESPNews. To read the Hoos Place preview, click here. Yes, it will be going on at the same time as the football game, Virginia fans, so it's up to you how you want to work the remote control/streaming device/computer. On Sunday, the Wahoos will face St. John's or Arizona State at 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.
All right, now to the gridiron picks.
Last week: 9-3 Season: 95-34
No. 8 Penn State (9-1) at No. 2 Ohio State (10-0), Noon, Fox
The Nittany Lions recovered from their loss to Minnesota by beating Indiana at home, 34-27, last week. But a seven-point victory over an improved Hoosiers team doesn't mean much for facing the Buckeyes at The Horseshoe. OSU has been playing at an elite level almost all its own this season. PSU's defense is probably its toughest test yet, though. Still, Buckeyes roll.
Ohio State 34, Penn State 17
Boston College (5-5) at No. 16 Notre Dame (8-2), 2:30 p.m. NBC
Notre Dame 42, Boston College 24
Texas A&M (7-3) at No. 4 Georgia (9-1), 3:30 p.m. CBS
Georgia 27, Texas A&M 16
No. 13 Michigan (8-2) at Indiana (7-3), 3:30 p.m.
Michigan 30, Indiana 27
Mercer (4-7) at North Carolina (4-6), 3:30 p.m. ACC Network Extra
North Carolina 45, Mercer 10
Pittsburgh (7-3) at Virginia Tech (7-3), 3:30 p.m. ESPN2
The Panthers and Hokies are both 4-2 in the ACC. UVa is 5-2. The implications are clear for the Coastal Division title hunt: If the Hokies win, the Panthers, who face Boston College in next week's regular season finale, can finish no higher than 5-3 in the league and are out. It would come down to the Virginia Tech-Virginia winner then, and the winner would be 6-2, which would obviously put either team ahead of Pitt. If the Panthers beat the Hokies, though, they would still need to beat BC and also have Tech down UVa. In that scenario, Pitt would be 6-2 and UVa 5-3. If Pitt wins out, and UVa beats Tech, both would be 6-2, and UVa would win the Coastal because the Cavaliers topped the Panthers in Pittsburgh way back on Aug. 31.
If Pitt beats Tech but loses to BC, and Tech beats UVa, and all three teams are 5-3? Don't ask me :)
You'll have to find out what that scenario would mean for yourself.
So, to keep it relatively simple, it pretty much comes down this: Pitt has to win to stay alive and does not control its own destiny, but the Hokies do control their own destiny.
So what happens in the matchup? Virginia Tech is playing the best it has all season and is coming off a 45-0 trouncing of a Georgia Tech squad that has been showing some fight in almost every game lately despite having just two victories (EDIT: make that three wins for the Yellow Jackets, who beat N.C. State, 28-26, on Thursday). Before that shutout victory, Virginia Tech took care of Wake Forest, 36-17, in Blacksburg and then narrowly missed out on taking down Notre Dame on the road, losing 21-20. The Panthers have been playing well, too, but they needed overtime to defeat North Carolina in their most recent outing, beat Georgia Tech by 10, and lost to Miami by four. The Panthers have been the more consistent team over the course of the entire season, but right at this moment, the Hokies should have the edge playing at home. And because the Coastal has to come down to Hokies-'Hoos. It just has to, right?
Virginia Tech 27, Pittsburgh 23
Syracuse (4-6) at Louisville (6-4), 4 p.m. ACC Network
Louisville 42, Syracuse 21
Miami (6-4) at Florida International (5-5), 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network
Miami 42, FIU 20
Duke (4-6) at Wake Forest (7-3), 7:30 p.m. ACC Network
Wake Forest 24, Duke 13
Liberty (6-4) at Virginia (7-3), Noon, NBC Sports Washington/ACC Network Extra
Coming off of their second bye week (every team has two bye weeks this year), the Cavaliers get an opportunity to step outside of ACC play and get their feet wet against a respectable state opponent before their big showdown with Virginia Tech on Black Friday.
Liberty is in need of one more victory to become bowl eligible, because the Flames have two wins over FCS foes, and only one can count toward bowl eligibility. If Liberty doesn't knock off UVa, it will have a good chance in the regular-season finale to get that seventh win, facing New Mexico State, a 1-9 team Liberty has already beaten. Yes, once again, those schools are playing a home-and-home series in the same season.
The Flames are in their first year under new coach Hugh Freeze, who previously was the coach at Ole Miss from 2012-16, resigning before the 2017 season following the discovery of NCAA recruiting and academic violations.
Liberty's offense is pretty good, as it was last season when the Wahoos beat the Flames at Scott
Stadium, 45-24. LU is putting up 32.8 points (41st in the nation) and 443.2 yards (38th) per game. The Flames bring QB Stephen "Buckshot" Calvert, running back Frankie Hickson, and wideout Antonio Gandy-Golden to Scott Stadium for the second straight season. Calvert is a senior who has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,941 yards, 23 touchdowns, and just three picks. He's playing more under control than last season, when he finished with 18 picks. In last year's matchup, UVa picked Calvert off three times -- one each by Juan Thornhill, Elliott Brown, and De'Vante Cross. Hickson has 637 rushing yards (5.3 ypc) and seven TDs. He's complemented by a transfer from Maine, Joshua Mack, who's tallied 639 yards (6 ypc) and five scores.
Gandy-Golden is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior who is getting some publicity as an NFL draft sleeper, someone who could surprise at the pro level. He has the right body type to succeed in the NFL, and he's producing again in 2019 with 64 catches for 1,244 yards (19.4 yards per catch) and eight TDs.
Last season, Virginia had All-America cornerback Bryce Hall lock him down, and Gandy-Golden finished with just two catches for 38 yards. But unfortunately, with Hall out, the Cavaliers don't have that luxury. It'll be up to who's left in the secondary to slow down the potential pro: the starting corners are Nick Grant (who's started since the beginning of the season, having taken over for Darrius Bratton in mid-August after Bratton went down), Cross (starting safety at the beginning of the season who slid over as Hall's replacement), and the starting safeties are Joey Blount (starting since day one) and Chris Moore (who took over after Brenton Nelson suffered his season-ending injury at Louisville; and yes, if you're keeping track, Nelson was Cross' replacement). Moore got hurt last time out against Georgia Tech, but is healthy. Their backups, perhaps some of whom weren't going to see time this year, are now getting extended time. Those young guys are: at corner, redshirt freshman Jaylon Baker and sophomore Heskin Smith, and at safety, true freshman Tenyeh Dixon, who is listed as the backup at both safety spots. Got all that? Needless to say, the defensive backfield, considered the strength of this team at the beginning of the year, has had to show its depth.
Liberty's defense is not as bad as it was last season, but it isn't anything special by any stretch. The Flames are giving up 26.6 points (tied-58th) and 424.3 yards per game (89th). They have 10 interceptions, five recovered fumbles, and 28 sacks. Cornerback Bejour Wilson has three picks, and safety Ceneca Espinoza has a pair. Defensive lineman Jessie Lemonier leads the way with 8.5 sacks.
Liberty has defeated Buffalo (35-17), Hampton (62-27), New Mexico (17-10), New Mexico State (20-13), Maine (59-44), and UMass (63-21). LU has losses to Syracuse (24-0), Louisiana-Lafayette (35-17), Rutgers (44-34), and BYU (31-24).
I've seen some talk about whether Virginia will play all of its starters a normal amount of time in this game, or let them get some rest and heal up more for the Hokies. I think we will see a business-as-usual approach from the team. First of all, Bronco Mendenhall is not one to let guys take extra games off if they are healthy. Second, Virginia just had a bye week and needs to shake some rust off before next week. In particular, the defense could really use a strong outing to see if it can reclaim a little bit of what it was at the beginning of the season. And third, last season's game in Charlottesville was not a blowout until the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers led just 24-17 at the half. One of the touchdowns was a Joe Reed kick return. If UVa isn't careful, Liberty can win this game. Now, a loss actually wouldn't matter in the ACC race at all, so technically, it wouldn't damage the ability of the team to reach its goals. But of course, it would be embarrassing, and also, that would be a lot of negative momentum heading into Tech week.
With that said, I think Virginia will struggle a bit in this game, but like last season, eventually pull away and take control late.
Virginia 38, Liberty 24
First, in my first few jobs as a sports copy editor, the writing I edited at work helped me write better (and in some cases, I saw what not to do), and my writing here helped me become a better editor, too. Both sides helped inform the other.
Second, perhaps unexpectedly, as I've jumped into the web editing side of things over the past year or so, first a little bit at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, then full time at Circa.com and now at TTNews.com (Transport Topics), this blog has helped me understand that world and not start with a blank slate. When I began at Circa, I was like, oh yeah, this feature (fill in the blank) is similar on my blog. At the same time, those workplaces have helped me make the blog better, such as something as simple as learning how to embed tweets. This blog is now a legitimate bullet point on my resume, which is pretty cool.
So, whether you've been here since 2010 or just got here recently, thanks for following along!
Now, onto the business at hand.
The Virginia basketball team is off to a 4-0 start and ranked No. 7 in the country. It's been fun to see the team come together so far. The defense is as strong as it was expected to be, and the offense has been spotty, but it's been enough. On Tuesday, UVa staved off a tough Vermont team in Charlottesville, 61-55. To read my HoosPlace.com recap of that victory, click here. The Cavaliers face Massachusetts (5-0) today in Uncasville, Conn., at noon in the semifinals of the Air Force Reserve Hall of Fame Tip Off Classic. That game will be televised on ESPNews. To read the Hoos Place preview, click here. Yes, it will be going on at the same time as the football game, Virginia fans, so it's up to you how you want to work the remote control/streaming device/computer. On Sunday, the Wahoos will face St. John's or Arizona State at 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.
All right, now to the gridiron picks.
Last week: 9-3 Season: 95-34
No. 8 Penn State (9-1) at No. 2 Ohio State (10-0), Noon, Fox
The Nittany Lions recovered from their loss to Minnesota by beating Indiana at home, 34-27, last week. But a seven-point victory over an improved Hoosiers team doesn't mean much for facing the Buckeyes at The Horseshoe. OSU has been playing at an elite level almost all its own this season. PSU's defense is probably its toughest test yet, though. Still, Buckeyes roll.
Ohio State 34, Penn State 17
Boston College (5-5) at No. 16 Notre Dame (8-2), 2:30 p.m. NBC
Notre Dame 42, Boston College 24
Texas A&M (7-3) at No. 4 Georgia (9-1), 3:30 p.m. CBS
Georgia 27, Texas A&M 16
No. 13 Michigan (8-2) at Indiana (7-3), 3:30 p.m.
Michigan 30, Indiana 27
Mercer (4-7) at North Carolina (4-6), 3:30 p.m. ACC Network Extra
North Carolina 45, Mercer 10
Pittsburgh (7-3) at Virginia Tech (7-3), 3:30 p.m. ESPN2
The Panthers and Hokies are both 4-2 in the ACC. UVa is 5-2. The implications are clear for the Coastal Division title hunt: If the Hokies win, the Panthers, who face Boston College in next week's regular season finale, can finish no higher than 5-3 in the league and are out. It would come down to the Virginia Tech-Virginia winner then, and the winner would be 6-2, which would obviously put either team ahead of Pitt. If the Panthers beat the Hokies, though, they would still need to beat BC and also have Tech down UVa. In that scenario, Pitt would be 6-2 and UVa 5-3. If Pitt wins out, and UVa beats Tech, both would be 6-2, and UVa would win the Coastal because the Cavaliers topped the Panthers in Pittsburgh way back on Aug. 31.
If Pitt beats Tech but loses to BC, and Tech beats UVa, and all three teams are 5-3? Don't ask me :)
You'll have to find out what that scenario would mean for yourself.
So, to keep it relatively simple, it pretty much comes down this: Pitt has to win to stay alive and does not control its own destiny, but the Hokies do control their own destiny.
So what happens in the matchup? Virginia Tech is playing the best it has all season and is coming off a 45-0 trouncing of a Georgia Tech squad that has been showing some fight in almost every game lately despite having just two victories (EDIT: make that three wins for the Yellow Jackets, who beat N.C. State, 28-26, on Thursday). Before that shutout victory, Virginia Tech took care of Wake Forest, 36-17, in Blacksburg and then narrowly missed out on taking down Notre Dame on the road, losing 21-20. The Panthers have been playing well, too, but they needed overtime to defeat North Carolina in their most recent outing, beat Georgia Tech by 10, and lost to Miami by four. The Panthers have been the more consistent team over the course of the entire season, but right at this moment, the Hokies should have the edge playing at home. And because the Coastal has to come down to Hokies-'Hoos. It just has to, right?
Virginia Tech 27, Pittsburgh 23
Syracuse (4-6) at Louisville (6-4), 4 p.m. ACC Network
Louisville 42, Syracuse 21
Miami (6-4) at Florida International (5-5), 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network
Miami 42, FIU 20
Duke (4-6) at Wake Forest (7-3), 7:30 p.m. ACC Network
Wake Forest 24, Duke 13
Liberty (6-4) at Virginia (7-3), Noon, NBC Sports Washington/ACC Network Extra
Coming off of their second bye week (every team has two bye weeks this year), the Cavaliers get an opportunity to step outside of ACC play and get their feet wet against a respectable state opponent before their big showdown with Virginia Tech on Black Friday.
Liberty is in need of one more victory to become bowl eligible, because the Flames have two wins over FCS foes, and only one can count toward bowl eligibility. If Liberty doesn't knock off UVa, it will have a good chance in the regular-season finale to get that seventh win, facing New Mexico State, a 1-9 team Liberty has already beaten. Yes, once again, those schools are playing a home-and-home series in the same season.
The Flames are in their first year under new coach Hugh Freeze, who previously was the coach at Ole Miss from 2012-16, resigning before the 2017 season following the discovery of NCAA recruiting and academic violations.
Liberty's offense is pretty good, as it was last season when the Wahoos beat the Flames at Scott
Gandy-Golden is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior who is getting some publicity as an NFL draft sleeper, someone who could surprise at the pro level. He has the right body type to succeed in the NFL, and he's producing again in 2019 with 64 catches for 1,244 yards (19.4 yards per catch) and eight TDs.
Last season, Virginia had All-America cornerback Bryce Hall lock him down, and Gandy-Golden finished with just two catches for 38 yards. But unfortunately, with Hall out, the Cavaliers don't have that luxury. It'll be up to who's left in the secondary to slow down the potential pro: the starting corners are Nick Grant (who's started since the beginning of the season, having taken over for Darrius Bratton in mid-August after Bratton went down), Cross (starting safety at the beginning of the season who slid over as Hall's replacement), and the starting safeties are Joey Blount (starting since day one) and Chris Moore (who took over after Brenton Nelson suffered his season-ending injury at Louisville; and yes, if you're keeping track, Nelson was Cross' replacement). Moore got hurt last time out against Georgia Tech, but is healthy. Their backups, perhaps some of whom weren't going to see time this year, are now getting extended time. Those young guys are: at corner, redshirt freshman Jaylon Baker and sophomore Heskin Smith, and at safety, true freshman Tenyeh Dixon, who is listed as the backup at both safety spots. Got all that? Needless to say, the defensive backfield, considered the strength of this team at the beginning of the year, has had to show its depth.
Updated #UVa depth chart ahead of Saturday afternoon’s matchup against Liberty. pic.twitter.com/FGCngvBZhK— Brad Franklin (@Cavs_Corner) November 18, 2019
Liberty's defense is not as bad as it was last season, but it isn't anything special by any stretch. The Flames are giving up 26.6 points (tied-58th) and 424.3 yards per game (89th). They have 10 interceptions, five recovered fumbles, and 28 sacks. Cornerback Bejour Wilson has three picks, and safety Ceneca Espinoza has a pair. Defensive lineman Jessie Lemonier leads the way with 8.5 sacks.
Liberty has defeated Buffalo (35-17), Hampton (62-27), New Mexico (17-10), New Mexico State (20-13), Maine (59-44), and UMass (63-21). LU has losses to Syracuse (24-0), Louisiana-Lafayette (35-17), Rutgers (44-34), and BYU (31-24).
I've seen some talk about whether Virginia will play all of its starters a normal amount of time in this game, or let them get some rest and heal up more for the Hokies. I think we will see a business-as-usual approach from the team. First of all, Bronco Mendenhall is not one to let guys take extra games off if they are healthy. Second, Virginia just had a bye week and needs to shake some rust off before next week. In particular, the defense could really use a strong outing to see if it can reclaim a little bit of what it was at the beginning of the season. And third, last season's game in Charlottesville was not a blowout until the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers led just 24-17 at the half. One of the touchdowns was a Joe Reed kick return. If UVa isn't careful, Liberty can win this game. Now, a loss actually wouldn't matter in the ACC race at all, so technically, it wouldn't damage the ability of the team to reach its goals. But of course, it would be embarrassing, and also, that would be a lot of negative momentum heading into Tech week.
With that said, I think Virginia will struggle a bit in this game, but like last season, eventually pull away and take control late.
Virginia 38, Liberty 24
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