No. 20 Virginia lost both its spot atop the ACC and its signal-caller in its defeat versus Wake Forest last week. With a road showdown with Duke on the horizon, the Cavaliers (8-2, 5-1) are eager to seize back their ACC Championship bid, even with uncertainty at quarterback.
Although grad quarterback Chandler Morris is still in concussion protocol and will need to be cleared before his return, the Virginia signal caller could potentially suit up this week — that information came courtesy of junior linebacker Kam Robinson.
“I think with our quarterback coming back, we have a better chance of winning,” Robinson said.
A hint at his quarterback’s status was not all Robinson offered during Wednesday’s media availability, though. Beyond that, he made clear the Cavaliers’ approach to the final two weeks of their regular season.
“We need these games, we know we need them,” Robinson said. “We’ve been practicing hard. We’ll practice hard for the next two games, but first we’re gonna worry about winning this one.”
Multiple lackluster offensive performances since the bye week have this team effectively on the brink, and a loss to the Blue Devils (5-4, 4-1) would spell doom for Virginia’s waning postseason chances.
Should Morris be inactive or face limitations, the offense will need to lean on grad center Brady Wilson. When asked about Wilson’s importance in running his offensive system during media availability, Coach Tony Elliott gave a nearly five-minute long answer, in which he detailed how the offense relies on what the center’s pre-snap adjustments to protection — the center reads the front of the defense so the quarterback can read the rest of it.
“When you got an experienced center, what it does is it calms everybody down, right?” Elliott said. “The guys around them, you know, kind of have a leader to tell them the direction that we're going.”
Wilson and the rest of the line will face a Blue Devil front seven bookended by a dynamic pass rush duo that has combined for 8.5 sacks this season in senior defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr. and junior defensive end Wesley Williams. Due to recent struggles, the offensive line has fallen to the middle of the pack for sacks allowed in the ACC. Elliott, however, expressed appreciation for the unit ahead of the road trip to Durham.
“Shout out to my offensive line guys, because they live a tough life. Man, nobody wants to recognize them,” Elliott said, “Everybody wants to throw them under the bus, right? And they got the hardest doggone job.”
The other side of the ball will face quite a test against a dynamic and talent-loaded Duke offense. Sophomore quarterback Darian Mensah is ranked fourth in the country in passing yards and touchdowns and fifth in passer rating. According to Elliott, this is the best passing offense the Cavaliers have faced all year, partially because their run game is equally as strong.
“It’s kind of the same tree that I came from,” Elliott said, “It’s designed to be a physical smash mouth type of play, and then off it, they can create some play action.”
The Blue Devils are tough, but they’re a test this team, particularly the Cavalier secondary, are prepared for — defensive coordinator John Rudzinski mentioned that the defensive backs regularly meet at 6:30 a.m. to review game film. When asked about Rudzinski’s comments, grad safety Devin Neal’s response called the “student” part of “student-athlete” to mind.
“You would never show up to a test without doing a study guide,” Neal said, “That’s our study guide.”
With their study guide, Neal and his teammates have passed tests with flying colors as of late. Through two games in November, the Cavaliers are allowing both their lowest completion percentage and lowest passing yard of the season. Against Wake Forest, Virginia defenders broke up seven passes and held Demon Deacon passers to a less than forty percent completion percentage.
In Elliott’s mind, the growth of the unit has come from their team-first mentality.
“They’re not counting their reps, they’re making them count,” Elliott said. “They’re very unselfish. They spend a lot of time preparing on their own. They’re taking pride in their communication.”
If the Cavaliers pass the test, they will hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Blue Devils, in addition to the one they already hold over Louisville, repositioning themselves to compete for the ACC Championship.
If they fail, then their conference title chances will be, for all intents and purposes, zilch.
“We need to perform as if we’re playing a national championship every single game,” Neal said, “That way we’ll be at our best when our best is required.”
The most important game — thus far — of Virginia’s season kicks off Saturday, 3:30p.m. in Durham, N.C.
Xander Tilock contributed reporting.
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