Man, what a brutal 2nd half.
I actually put most of the credit on UCLA. We definitely hurt ourselves with penalties, we still can't get the ball in the end zone and cash in when we play well, and our playcalling is still atrocious, but I think the Bruins win this one even if we'd scored a TD for every FG. They are just really, really good. They made adjustments at the half and got in a groove and I don't think Duke with their great coach in his 8th year beats UCLA today. Hats off to them.
As far as we stand, it's a little tough to say. The defense looked markedly downgraded from last season. Not sure how much of that is our personnel and how much is just UCLA being a top 15 program with a superstar QB and great OL, but it was a disappointment from what's generally been a strength. Playcalling is bland, bad, predictable, and a huge handicap. I think Fairchild is going to end CML's career here. I think the offense showed some improvement. Johns was strong, other than that series where you could tell he was panicking. We'll see how that translates to easier opponents in conference play.
I still think we can win 5 and maybe even 6 games this season. It's easy to just throw your hands up and give up, but you can't tell but so much from a game like this. It's a top 15 program and they played like it, especially in the second-half. I honestly don't think we can judge where we are by this game. And it doesn't get much easier this month.
Regardless, there's no reason to keep Mike London under contract. Barring an all but impossible scenario where we improve each week and finish with eight or nine wins, there's nothing he can do to make it a net positive to retain him. Even if he gets six wins, which I genuinely believe is possible, or seven, which I don't even consider a remote possibility under the circumstances, we've seen the ceiling here. Best case scenario and we're not going to be better than an eight win team season after season, and we're nowhere near the best case scenario. I think firing Fairchild could get us to six wins with London, but at this point the program is better off letting Mike London go and starting over. We'll be competitive again in three to four years, if we make a solid hire. And we as the University of Virginia need to do it. The level of our athletics department demands it. The prestige of our university demands it. We must be competitive in the number one sport. We must strive for excellence.
I love Mike London. He's an amazing human being. I wish with all my heart he had been successful, but it is time to move on.
But now and always, I love this team. Go Hoos!
I actually put most of the credit on UCLA. We definitely hurt ourselves with penalties, we still can't get the ball in the end zone and cash in when we play well, and our playcalling is still atrocious, but I think the Bruins win this one even if we'd scored a TD for every FG. They are just really, really good. They made adjustments at the half and got in a groove and I don't think Duke with their great coach in his 8th year beats UCLA today. Hats off to them.
As far as we stand, it's a little tough to say. The defense looked markedly downgraded from last season. Not sure how much of that is our personnel and how much is just UCLA being a top 15 program with a superstar QB and great OL, but it was a disappointment from what's generally been a strength. Playcalling is bland, bad, predictable, and a huge handicap. I think Fairchild is going to end CML's career here. I think the offense showed some improvement. Johns was strong, other than that series where you could tell he was panicking. We'll see how that translates to easier opponents in conference play.
I still think we can win 5 and maybe even 6 games this season. It's easy to just throw your hands up and give up, but you can't tell but so much from a game like this. It's a top 15 program and they played like it, especially in the second-half. I honestly don't think we can judge where we are by this game. And it doesn't get much easier this month.
Regardless, there's no reason to keep Mike London under contract. Barring an all but impossible scenario where we improve each week and finish with eight or nine wins, there's nothing he can do to make it a net positive to retain him. Even if he gets six wins, which I genuinely believe is possible, or seven, which I don't even consider a remote possibility under the circumstances, we've seen the ceiling here. Best case scenario and we're not going to be better than an eight win team season after season, and we're nowhere near the best case scenario. I think firing Fairchild could get us to six wins with London, but at this point the program is better off letting Mike London go and starting over. We'll be competitive again in three to four years, if we make a solid hire. And we as the University of Virginia need to do it. The level of our athletics department demands it. The prestige of our university demands it. We must be competitive in the number one sport. We must strive for excellence.
I love Mike London. He's an amazing human being. I wish with all my heart he had been successful, but it is time to move on.
But now and always, I love this team. Go Hoos!
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