Lost in the frustration about five second-half turnovers in a 26-13 loss to North Carolina Saturday, the Virginia football team quietly put together it’s most convincing performance of the year.
It wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the near win against No. 9 Notre Dame or as satisfying as the triple-overtime win against Syracuse, but it proved that the Cavaliers have all the pieces necessary to put together a winning season. The problem is those pieces haven’t been coming together all at once.
Yes, the running game was great Saturday, but that’s not what impressed me most. The rushing committee — led by junior Taquan Mizzell — tacked up 205 yards on 5.3 yards per carry. That was the highest yardage total of the year by over 40 yards, though it did come against an admittedly poor UNC rushing defense that ranks No. 114 in yards against per game.
The most important take-away from the game, however, was the performance of the Virginia defense. Just a few weeks ago, I was writing how that unit got off to arguably the worst start ever for a Mike London-coached team. It’s now clear that the defense is good enough to win the Cavaliers games against respectable opponents.
UNC has one of the best offenses in college football, but Virginia became the first team to hold them under 38 points since South Carolina did it in the Tar Heels’ season opener. Carolina entered the game No. 10 in the country in points per game at 40.5, but were held two touchdowns below that mark.
Better yet, North Carolina only scored six points off those five second half turnovers. The defense was asked several times to do a lot with a short field, and it stepped up on multiple occasions. Most impressively, the defense forced a field goal on the Tar Heels’ first second-half possession despite a Matt Johns interception that was returned to the Virginia 16 yard line.
The defense also made big plays, including a forced fumble to end a driving Tar Heels offense to start the game and an interception to set up the field goal that would send the teams into halftime tied. After starting the year without forcing a single turnover, the Virginia defense now has two in each of the last three games.
North Carolina is a good team — the only one-loss team in the country not currently ranked — and the Virginia defense held its own on the road. The unit has quietly gotten better and better since the beginning of ACC play, holding teams to under 26 points in regulation — excluding the Syracuse overtime points — through those three games. Compare that to the 38.25 points allowed per game in the previous four games.
So in just one game, Virginia has proved its worth in running the ball and defending. With the exception of two four-interception games against UNC and Boise State, Johns has been good enough to win games as well. The special teams unit has been very solid, with kicker Ian Frye going eight for 11 on the year and punter Nick Conte ranking No. 11 in the nation in average yards per punt.
But as I alluded to earlier, Virginia has struggled stringing it all together for four quarters, and it’s only two wins came against the worst two teams on the schedule. If each of the units had brought that A-game each week, the team would likely be sitting 5-2 right now.
The other reason for optimism going forward is the schedule, where the worst is certainly behind. The toughest game left is against No. 22 Duke, who seems to be about as good as UNC, but the Cavaliers get the Blue Devils at home. They then get three teams with losing records — Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Virginia Tech — and a 4-3 Miami team that just fired its head coach and seems to be imploding.
I’m certain that each of those games is winnable, but the Cavaliers only need to win four to reach bowl eligibility for the first time in four years. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, and I definitely wouldn’t put money on it. But the case for optimism is there, and we shouldn’t write off the season quite yet.
Matt Comey is a weekly Sports Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.comey@cavalierdaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @matthewcomey.
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