It's hard to get down on a football team that starts the season 2-0 and is ranked 23rd in the country. But despite the fact that Virginia has two wins in the bag and a likely third on the way with Duke visiting Saturday, I'm down on the Cavaliers. The lackluster performance Virginia put forth against Syracuse might have been good enough to scrape past a Big East has-been, but it won't be good enough to beat many ACC teams.
I'm as happy with a win as the next fan, but after two straight underachieving victories, Virginia has seemingly slipped into a gray area of acceptance. Following Saturday's game, the team and coaches alike seemed perfectly satisfied to walk out of the Carrier Dome with a three-point win against an inferior opponent.
It all begs the question: Why are we content with a 31-19 win over Western Michigan or a 27-24 escape at Syracuse? This is a team that opened last season with five straight wins while averaging a margin of victory close to 31 points. One year later, the Cavaliers are suddenly satisfied to accept narrow wins over lesser opponents. If anything, games against Western Michigan and Syracuse should be seen as pre-season games
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