The bye week is here. The Hoos have finished what we all expected to be the easy portion of the season with a record of 2 wins and 4 losses, as none of us expected. The offensive struggles have persisted all season. The special teams have been inconsistent at best all season, with a few games of outright poor play. The defense kept the team in the first 4 games and part of the last two, but it too has started to have breakdowns allowing Duke and Louisville to score 30 plus points. In the defense’s defense (if you will), it is hard to play defense when the opponent has no pressure to keep up on the scoreboard and the entire playbook at its disposal. Heading into the bye week, it is obvious that the team has multiple areas needing correction in order to produce any wins moving into the heart of the ACC schedule.
This week’s Cheers, Fears & Beers should probably be Tears in my Beers. Losing games sucks. Losing games when the expectations for the season were high sucks. Losing football games to teams you should worry more about during basketball season like Syracuse, Illinois, Duke and Louisville sucks. Being 0-3 in the ACC with GT, Miami, Pitt, UNC and VT still left on the schedule sucks. Being a board moderator when the team loses sucks. Everything sucks – including a lot of the hot takes out there.
Cheers
With no game this week and things as described already, the biggest (and only) cheer for this week is the bye week itself. Unfortunately, the team does not get a whole week off of opponent scouting with the next game being a Thursday night game on the road against an improving Georgia Tech. But the team does get a few days for both the staff and players to look back on what has worked and what has not. Hopefully these few days of self-scouting will lead to some sort of improvement when the Hoos next take the field.
Fears
I still have plenty of fears. We all do. That said, I am not going to be discussing those this week. I too am going to use this bye week for some self-scouting of my own performance and how our team - the fans - have been performing through 6 games of the 2022 season.
Individually, I once again let the Preseason Awesomeness Disease cloud my judgement prior to our Preseason Predictions’ Podcast. I chose to overlook the offensive scheme change as having the potential to lead to a dramatic reduction in points scored. I chose to believe that the new staff would blend seamlessly with the returning players on both sides of the ball. In doing so, I thought the team would look different offensively but still be productive on the scoreboard while making it harder for our opponents to score than last year. While not all wrong on the defense, I was very wrong on the offense.
If you had told preseason me that the Hoos would start 2-4 (0-3), I would have guessed the offensive line struggled mightily. I would have assumed the defense had not improved. I also probably would have guessed something happened related to player availability. I never would have guessed that a major reason for the offensive production drop was the play of the record-setting quarterback and the much-ballyhooed band of bad men at wide receiver. But here we are. But why are we here? Message boards, social media and text message threads are full of theories. I have read everything from the offensive scheme itself sucks to the whole team hates the new staff. I find most of the theories as worthwhile as a weekend in Blacksburg.
I do not know why the offense is struggling. I know that I have seen a lot of potentially positive offensive plays that have not resulted in a positive result. Whether it be open receivers dropping a ball, the quarterback making the wrong read, a lineman missing a block, or the defense making a good play, the result has all to often been the same – a bad play. As I have said before, no scheme works if you do not execute the play that is called. If I were seeing no open receivers or running lanes, I would be a little quicker to call out the scheme, but there are open players. There are chances for a positive play. The team is just struggling to have enough positive plays to result in points on the board.
Why aren’t the players making the plays? If I knew that, I probably would try to get the answer to the staff. I am not sure speculating about this is of any value. I am not privy to the internal thoughts of the players. But I do trust that no one who makes the sacrifices required to participate in football at a school like UVA is going out there without the intention of playing his best. I also trust that Tony Elliott and his staff are doing all they can to figure out the answer to this question. I am sure some of you may not agree with my trust in the staff. I have read many posts implying the coaches are not good. I have seen many people claim the players are not buying into this new staff. Quite frankly, maybe we should refer to this a “buy-in” week instead of a bye week.
Are the players simply not playing to their potential because they have not bought in to the new staff? That seems very unlikely to me, especially considering:
1. The former coach quit on them. After spending 6 seasons preaching earned not given and making players earn everything from work out apparel to a number, Bronco just decided to quit. Why still be loyal to him and unwilling to buy-in to Coach Elliott?
2. Once the former coach informed the team he was quitting, other people on the staff encouraged players to explore their options in the transfer portal. Many transferred. A few others entered the portal and returned. Others chose to stay after meeting Coach Elliott. Why would you stay if you were not bought in?
3. Offensively, 6 starters did not play any if at all last year. Why would they not be bought in to a staff that allows them to play? The players who did play a lot last year all had the option to leave and chose to stay and play for Coach Elliott.
Now, I am not saying that things are all dandelions and roses in the locker room. The team is 2-4. I would be concerned if there was not a little anger. I am sure that no player or coach is happy with how the season has gone so far. I could be wrong. It is not impossible that a player, or two, or three is not happy they decided to stay and is not buying in. But it is hard to believe that is the reason for the whole team struggling.
I do know where there is a big problem with buy-in: the fanbase. You have the right to think how you please. You have the right to share those thoughts. Maybe you are right, and Coach Elliott will not have great success at the University of Virginia. Making that conclusion 6 games into a coach’s tenure seems premature to me, but you do you. The problem with such statements on message boards and on social media is that they can quickly become self-fulfilling.
Beers
No game this week. So, I do not have any tailgating advice. I will spend the day watching a lot of football. After this bye weekend and next Thursday’s game at Georgia Tech, we get a stretch of 4 straight weekends of home games. I am looking forward to it. I hope a lot of you will continue to come out and support the team. As I get older, I realize the seasons go by fast – enjoy them. I will offer a drink suggestion for your home viewing of college football this weekend. Here you go:
“FRESH START”
Fresh fruit. Fresh start. Passion fruit puree energizes the flavors of this luxuriously refreshing cocktail.
Ingredients
Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker; shake with ice. Strain into large coupe glass; top with ginger beer. Garnish with candied ginger.
Drink Responsibly!
Go HOOS!
This week’s Cheers, Fears & Beers should probably be Tears in my Beers. Losing games sucks. Losing games when the expectations for the season were high sucks. Losing football games to teams you should worry more about during basketball season like Syracuse, Illinois, Duke and Louisville sucks. Being 0-3 in the ACC with GT, Miami, Pitt, UNC and VT still left on the schedule sucks. Being a board moderator when the team loses sucks. Everything sucks – including a lot of the hot takes out there.
Cheers
With no game this week and things as described already, the biggest (and only) cheer for this week is the bye week itself. Unfortunately, the team does not get a whole week off of opponent scouting with the next game being a Thursday night game on the road against an improving Georgia Tech. But the team does get a few days for both the staff and players to look back on what has worked and what has not. Hopefully these few days of self-scouting will lead to some sort of improvement when the Hoos next take the field.
Fears
I still have plenty of fears. We all do. That said, I am not going to be discussing those this week. I too am going to use this bye week for some self-scouting of my own performance and how our team - the fans - have been performing through 6 games of the 2022 season.
Individually, I once again let the Preseason Awesomeness Disease cloud my judgement prior to our Preseason Predictions’ Podcast. I chose to overlook the offensive scheme change as having the potential to lead to a dramatic reduction in points scored. I chose to believe that the new staff would blend seamlessly with the returning players on both sides of the ball. In doing so, I thought the team would look different offensively but still be productive on the scoreboard while making it harder for our opponents to score than last year. While not all wrong on the defense, I was very wrong on the offense.
If you had told preseason me that the Hoos would start 2-4 (0-3), I would have guessed the offensive line struggled mightily. I would have assumed the defense had not improved. I also probably would have guessed something happened related to player availability. I never would have guessed that a major reason for the offensive production drop was the play of the record-setting quarterback and the much-ballyhooed band of bad men at wide receiver. But here we are. But why are we here? Message boards, social media and text message threads are full of theories. I have read everything from the offensive scheme itself sucks to the whole team hates the new staff. I find most of the theories as worthwhile as a weekend in Blacksburg.
I do not know why the offense is struggling. I know that I have seen a lot of potentially positive offensive plays that have not resulted in a positive result. Whether it be open receivers dropping a ball, the quarterback making the wrong read, a lineman missing a block, or the defense making a good play, the result has all to often been the same – a bad play. As I have said before, no scheme works if you do not execute the play that is called. If I were seeing no open receivers or running lanes, I would be a little quicker to call out the scheme, but there are open players. There are chances for a positive play. The team is just struggling to have enough positive plays to result in points on the board.
Why aren’t the players making the plays? If I knew that, I probably would try to get the answer to the staff. I am not sure speculating about this is of any value. I am not privy to the internal thoughts of the players. But I do trust that no one who makes the sacrifices required to participate in football at a school like UVA is going out there without the intention of playing his best. I also trust that Tony Elliott and his staff are doing all they can to figure out the answer to this question. I am sure some of you may not agree with my trust in the staff. I have read many posts implying the coaches are not good. I have seen many people claim the players are not buying into this new staff. Quite frankly, maybe we should refer to this a “buy-in” week instead of a bye week.
Are the players simply not playing to their potential because they have not bought in to the new staff? That seems very unlikely to me, especially considering:
1. The former coach quit on them. After spending 6 seasons preaching earned not given and making players earn everything from work out apparel to a number, Bronco just decided to quit. Why still be loyal to him and unwilling to buy-in to Coach Elliott?
2. Once the former coach informed the team he was quitting, other people on the staff encouraged players to explore their options in the transfer portal. Many transferred. A few others entered the portal and returned. Others chose to stay after meeting Coach Elliott. Why would you stay if you were not bought in?
3. Offensively, 6 starters did not play any if at all last year. Why would they not be bought in to a staff that allows them to play? The players who did play a lot last year all had the option to leave and chose to stay and play for Coach Elliott.
Now, I am not saying that things are all dandelions and roses in the locker room. The team is 2-4. I would be concerned if there was not a little anger. I am sure that no player or coach is happy with how the season has gone so far. I could be wrong. It is not impossible that a player, or two, or three is not happy they decided to stay and is not buying in. But it is hard to believe that is the reason for the whole team struggling.
I do know where there is a big problem with buy-in: the fanbase. You have the right to think how you please. You have the right to share those thoughts. Maybe you are right, and Coach Elliott will not have great success at the University of Virginia. Making that conclusion 6 games into a coach’s tenure seems premature to me, but you do you. The problem with such statements on message boards and on social media is that they can quickly become self-fulfilling.
Beers
No game this week. So, I do not have any tailgating advice. I will spend the day watching a lot of football. After this bye weekend and next Thursday’s game at Georgia Tech, we get a stretch of 4 straight weekends of home games. I am looking forward to it. I hope a lot of you will continue to come out and support the team. As I get older, I realize the seasons go by fast – enjoy them. I will offer a drink suggestion for your home viewing of college football this weekend. Here you go:
“FRESH START”
Fresh fruit. Fresh start. Passion fruit puree energizes the flavors of this luxuriously refreshing cocktail.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz (44.36 mL) cognac
- 1 1/2 oz (44.36 mL) passionfruit liqueur
- 5 oz (147.87 mL) ginger beer
- 1/2 oz (14.79 mL) passion fruit puree
- 1/2 oz (14.79 mL) lime juice
Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker; shake with ice. Strain into large coupe glass; top with ginger beer. Garnish with candied ginger.
Drink Responsibly!
Go HOOS!
