Week 2 is in the books for the Hoos. That chapter was one I would like to close, forget and hope was a glitch.
This week, return to the friendly (at least unless you need a drink) confines of Scott Stadium to face the ODU Monarchs. The game kicks at 2pm, and the Hoos are currently a 10-point favorite. ODU is coming off a loss at ECU, but as we all know, did defeat VPISU week one.
Cheers
Cheers are a lot easier to come up with when optimism abounds. The performance in Illinois certainly threw a bucket of water on that. The Hoos return to Scott Stadium this week - where they have won a good percentage of games the last few years. I am hopeful the return to Scott will help get our boys back on track before the ACC season gets started next week.
With failure comes the opportunity for growth - I hope. Illinois exposed issues with pass protection, run blocking, offensive scheme and in-game adjustments. Illinois was able to rush 4 or 5 guys, play press man coverage on our wide receivers and leave a deep middle safety with regularity, and they still managed to stop both the run and pass consistently.
Against a power 5 opponent, it was obvious that UVA misses the experienced OL from last year. It was also obvious that the Hoos were unable to generate any threat to the middle of the field in the passing game. Jelani Woods terrorized Illinois last year down the hashes. Our tight ends were not able to do that when on the field, which was not often. KT was able to get a little success on crossing routes later in the game, but at that point, the Hoos were way behind. I am hopeful that this will be recognized as game film is evaluated. Whether its Misch getting more time to help with blocking and to provide a middle option or using KT more early in the game, the Hoos need to threaten the defense in the middle and help keep the defense more honest.
The wide receivers and BA struggled mightily on Saturday. We know they are a talented group and after getting punched in the mouth, I look forward to seeing how they respond moving forward. While I am concerned with how much they struggled beating man coverage and how uncomfortable BA looked in the pocket, I am hopeful they will rebound and show more of their potential. I hesitate to say this, but Illinois might be one of the better defenses the Hoos face this year. That said – hesitantly or not – other teams are going to try to attack UVA the same way that Illinois did. I look forward to seeing the response of BA and the merry band of bad men from a game where they looked not too merry and the wrong kind of bad.
While the offense struggled, the defense seems to be improving as they get more comfortable in their new scheme under Coach Rudzinski. The defense showed up to play in Illinois: forcing 4 turnovers, 3 sacks and repeatedly getting the ball back to the offense with a chance to get back in the game. While Illinois is not a juggernaut offensively, they could keep their playbook open most of the game because of their lead, yet the Hoos defense still managed to keep Illinois largely in check. The defense only allowed 17 points despite an offense that went 0 for 16 on 3rd down and turned the ball over 2 times themselves (3rd turnover was Billy which resulted in 7 as we all know). I am looking forward to seeing the defense continue to improve and more new guys continue to step up.
Fears
Everything is fine. No fears.
Fine, if I must.
I predicted UVA to lose Saturday at Illinois, but I also could not pick them to go 12-0. Now, like most fans of any team, my fear is can we even win another game. Fanaticism does that kind of thing to you. Coming out Saturday and taking care of business will go a long way to helping stabilize fans and the season. However, a loss Saturday against an ODU team with a chance to sweep the Power 5 schools in the Commonwealth would be a killer. Yeah, I have some fears.
The offensive line was a question mark going into the season. While the Richmond game gave some hope that they could potentially develop, the Illinois game showed the inexperience. Pass protection broke down all day against Illinois, with 26 pressures allowed. Run blocking graded better but for a good chunk of the game, Illinois was willing to concede runs because of their lead. To add to the issues, the OL was called for a couple of false starts, a holding and had a snap about 20 yards over Brennan’s head. Leech finally was able to play to add some more experience, but he struggled in his first game back and is not 100 percent. Can this be fixed? It feels like some changes need to be made to find the right five. It is unlikely that can happen in one week, so yeah, I have some fears.
Is the new offensive scheme better for the team moving forward in the future but not ideal for the personnel on the roster currently? Time will tell, but it felt at times against Illinois, and even at points against Richmond, that this might be the case. The current scheme is more of a modified Chad Morris offense. His schemes do not utilize a whole lot of formation variation or motion. It is more traditional in today’s game than the offense Dr. Bob showed last year – which for the record, is very different than the other offenses he had at UVA. Brennan Armstrong is a very good quarterback with very good weapons. Tweaks can be made to any scheme to utilize that, and I hope that we start seeing more of those this week, but we did not see many tweaks during the game against Illinois. I have some fears.
Finally, for a team that is still figuring it out on offense (and to some extent on defense), special teams performance has to be good to great. It has not been. Sparks got injured on Saturday and Farrell only managed to net 29 yards on his punts after he took over punting duties. Farrell has also struggled kicking this year. Farrell missed an XP against Richmond and 1 of his 2 field goal attempts against Illinois. Billy Kemp has had a bit on adventure returning punts this year as well. He made a bad decision Saturday which cost the team 7 points when leading 3-0 and getting the ball back. On the season he has attempted to return 3 punts, one of which was the fumble for a TD. The other two were for a total of 1 yard against Richmond. Special teams struggling is not what this team needs. So yep, more fears.
Beers
The ODU game kicks at 2:00pm. This allows for more tailgating than the Noon kick against Richmond. The forecast for gameday currently is 82 degrees and sunny. Hard to beat that for a September game.
A 2:00 pm kick is kind of awkward in the “do I bring the TV and generator set-up” decision. So, I will call that a gameday decision. Given the concession issues last week – which someone tells me are known and are being addressed – I will make sure to have good food this week. It will likely be a Wayside day for our group. Tent, chairs, flags, Wayside, cold drinks, and a lot of whining about the Illinois game which will eventually lead to a group walking to the stadium sure of a victory as we do every game.
What time should you start? Well, it is a 2:00 kick-off. I like to get to the stadium 30 minutes before kick at least. So based on my years of experience, you will want to be in your spot and set-up for the day by 8:00AM. We will be.
Go HOOS!
This week, return to the friendly (at least unless you need a drink) confines of Scott Stadium to face the ODU Monarchs. The game kicks at 2pm, and the Hoos are currently a 10-point favorite. ODU is coming off a loss at ECU, but as we all know, did defeat VPISU week one.
Cheers
Cheers are a lot easier to come up with when optimism abounds. The performance in Illinois certainly threw a bucket of water on that. The Hoos return to Scott Stadium this week - where they have won a good percentage of games the last few years. I am hopeful the return to Scott will help get our boys back on track before the ACC season gets started next week.
With failure comes the opportunity for growth - I hope. Illinois exposed issues with pass protection, run blocking, offensive scheme and in-game adjustments. Illinois was able to rush 4 or 5 guys, play press man coverage on our wide receivers and leave a deep middle safety with regularity, and they still managed to stop both the run and pass consistently.
Against a power 5 opponent, it was obvious that UVA misses the experienced OL from last year. It was also obvious that the Hoos were unable to generate any threat to the middle of the field in the passing game. Jelani Woods terrorized Illinois last year down the hashes. Our tight ends were not able to do that when on the field, which was not often. KT was able to get a little success on crossing routes later in the game, but at that point, the Hoos were way behind. I am hopeful that this will be recognized as game film is evaluated. Whether its Misch getting more time to help with blocking and to provide a middle option or using KT more early in the game, the Hoos need to threaten the defense in the middle and help keep the defense more honest.
The wide receivers and BA struggled mightily on Saturday. We know they are a talented group and after getting punched in the mouth, I look forward to seeing how they respond moving forward. While I am concerned with how much they struggled beating man coverage and how uncomfortable BA looked in the pocket, I am hopeful they will rebound and show more of their potential. I hesitate to say this, but Illinois might be one of the better defenses the Hoos face this year. That said – hesitantly or not – other teams are going to try to attack UVA the same way that Illinois did. I look forward to seeing the response of BA and the merry band of bad men from a game where they looked not too merry and the wrong kind of bad.
While the offense struggled, the defense seems to be improving as they get more comfortable in their new scheme under Coach Rudzinski. The defense showed up to play in Illinois: forcing 4 turnovers, 3 sacks and repeatedly getting the ball back to the offense with a chance to get back in the game. While Illinois is not a juggernaut offensively, they could keep their playbook open most of the game because of their lead, yet the Hoos defense still managed to keep Illinois largely in check. The defense only allowed 17 points despite an offense that went 0 for 16 on 3rd down and turned the ball over 2 times themselves (3rd turnover was Billy which resulted in 7 as we all know). I am looking forward to seeing the defense continue to improve and more new guys continue to step up.
Fears
Everything is fine. No fears.
Fine, if I must.
I predicted UVA to lose Saturday at Illinois, but I also could not pick them to go 12-0. Now, like most fans of any team, my fear is can we even win another game. Fanaticism does that kind of thing to you. Coming out Saturday and taking care of business will go a long way to helping stabilize fans and the season. However, a loss Saturday against an ODU team with a chance to sweep the Power 5 schools in the Commonwealth would be a killer. Yeah, I have some fears.
The offensive line was a question mark going into the season. While the Richmond game gave some hope that they could potentially develop, the Illinois game showed the inexperience. Pass protection broke down all day against Illinois, with 26 pressures allowed. Run blocking graded better but for a good chunk of the game, Illinois was willing to concede runs because of their lead. To add to the issues, the OL was called for a couple of false starts, a holding and had a snap about 20 yards over Brennan’s head. Leech finally was able to play to add some more experience, but he struggled in his first game back and is not 100 percent. Can this be fixed? It feels like some changes need to be made to find the right five. It is unlikely that can happen in one week, so yeah, I have some fears.
Is the new offensive scheme better for the team moving forward in the future but not ideal for the personnel on the roster currently? Time will tell, but it felt at times against Illinois, and even at points against Richmond, that this might be the case. The current scheme is more of a modified Chad Morris offense. His schemes do not utilize a whole lot of formation variation or motion. It is more traditional in today’s game than the offense Dr. Bob showed last year – which for the record, is very different than the other offenses he had at UVA. Brennan Armstrong is a very good quarterback with very good weapons. Tweaks can be made to any scheme to utilize that, and I hope that we start seeing more of those this week, but we did not see many tweaks during the game against Illinois. I have some fears.
Finally, for a team that is still figuring it out on offense (and to some extent on defense), special teams performance has to be good to great. It has not been. Sparks got injured on Saturday and Farrell only managed to net 29 yards on his punts after he took over punting duties. Farrell has also struggled kicking this year. Farrell missed an XP against Richmond and 1 of his 2 field goal attempts against Illinois. Billy Kemp has had a bit on adventure returning punts this year as well. He made a bad decision Saturday which cost the team 7 points when leading 3-0 and getting the ball back. On the season he has attempted to return 3 punts, one of which was the fumble for a TD. The other two were for a total of 1 yard against Richmond. Special teams struggling is not what this team needs. So yep, more fears.
Beers
The ODU game kicks at 2:00pm. This allows for more tailgating than the Noon kick against Richmond. The forecast for gameday currently is 82 degrees and sunny. Hard to beat that for a September game.
A 2:00 pm kick is kind of awkward in the “do I bring the TV and generator set-up” decision. So, I will call that a gameday decision. Given the concession issues last week – which someone tells me are known and are being addressed – I will make sure to have good food this week. It will likely be a Wayside day for our group. Tent, chairs, flags, Wayside, cold drinks, and a lot of whining about the Illinois game which will eventually lead to a group walking to the stadium sure of a victory as we do every game.
What time should you start? Well, it is a 2:00 kick-off. I like to get to the stadium 30 minutes before kick at least. So based on my years of experience, you will want to be in your spot and set-up for the day by 8:00AM. We will be.
Go HOOS!
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