UVA Football Week 4 Review: A win is a win.. Now how to jumpstart that offense?

by user BigPPup

The Virginia Cavaliers continued their road trip this weekend as they traveled to Durham North Carolina to take on the lowly Duke Blue Devils. Virginia was coming off a three game losing streak which seemed miniscule to the 11 game slide the Blue Devils are currently in. For a struggling Cavalier team a trip down tobacco road is exactly what the doctor ordered to put the team back on the winning path.

The Cav’s jumped out to a quick start, scoring a TD in the first quarter. A 21 yard reception for wide out Fontel Mines got the scoring started. The best part of the play was the pass was thrown by Emmanuel Byers. Finally the Groh’s are digging back into their book of trick plays to get a very stagnant offense going. The Hoos would continue to pour it on in the first quarter with a field goal from Chris Gould and a short run by Jason Sneiling.

The Cavaliers would continue to pile it on thanks to a fumble recovery and a TD from Jeffery Fitzgerald, a Sewell TD pass and more tough running inside the red zone. When the smoke cleared Virginia left the field with a t 37-0 victory. A big win for a team that needs to win every expected game if they want a shot at six wins and a bowl birth.

The win was huge; it was refreshing to see UVA put some points on the scoreboard. The 7-6 games where growing old quickly. That being said, there are still plenty of questions and issues that need to be addressed with this UVA.

One thing we know for sure is the defense and the special teams for UVA are great. The punt defense unit blocked a punt on Saturday brining the total to two blocks for the season, not to mention countless near misses so far this season. The Virginia defense has the potential to be one of the best in the nation if they could just get some help from the offense and stay off the field some. On Saturday the Virginia defense held Duke to 100 total yards offense. An impressive feat no matter how sub-par an opponent.

It was Virginia’s outstanding play on offense and special teams that put the UVA offense into such great positions this past weekend. The UVA offense only put up 253 yards on Saturday. That was more than enough to dismiss Duke, but the offensive unit still proved to be inconsistent and will struggle against any decent opposition.

Coach Groh and the Hoos can walk away with two positive factors from their offense. First Jason Sneiling carried the ball for 92 yards and a TD. That’s the exact type of performance the Cavaliers need from their rushing attack. For the first time all season the Hoos went over 100 yards on the ground. The Cavaliers must have at least a respectable offense if they want to be able to run their pro-style offense, or even the spread adapted one for Sewell. Virginia needs to be able to run a play action offense. It will buy them time with a weak offensive line. It will also allow them roll Sewell out of the pocket to find space where he can be a threat with his arm and his legs. Saturday the Cavalier was able to do that, and they need to improve on that for the rest of the season.

Next week the road trip across tobacco road continues as the Cavalier will take on East Carolina. ECU is one of those funny teams, they don’t always play like a top ranked team, but give them an inch and they will beat you. The Cavaliers will need their A-game if they want to walk out of that game with a victory. This could be a pivotal game for the Hoos. A win next week get them back to .500, it also could give a young team some confidence and much needed momentum coming into the second half of the season. The month of October will be extremely difficult, so wins are at a premium, ECU is not one the Cavaliers can afford to drop.

Date

Mon 10/02/06, 4:53 pm EST