Though a 14-3 conference loss to Pittsburgh is nothing to write home about, a few points — not all bad, surprisingly — stood out in Virginia’s first ACC meeting with Pitt.
Playing outside its home stadium for the first time this season, the Virginia football team looked out of its element Saturday.
Early in his tenure as coach, London addressed his inaugural freshman class as a group for the first time. He walked with confidence into the McCue Center, looked each anxious young man in the eye and told them that things would get better.
It’s a weekend of firsts for the Virginia football team. For the first time since last Nov. 24, the Cavaliers (2-1, 0-0 ACC) will hit the road Saturday when they travel to Heinz Field to take on Pittsburgh.
“When it rains, it pours.” That was the theme for Virginia this past weekend as they took down the Virginia Military Institute with an offensive onslaught that racked up 580 offensive yards.
During an afternoon when sophomore quarterback David Watford looked to be off his mark early — throwing a pair of first quarter interceptions — Virginia needed a catalyst to kick-start its offense. The Cavaliers found what they were looking for and then some in their rushing attack, running for over 300 yards for the first time since 2004.
In the two weeks between Virginia’s 59-10 loss to Oregon and its matchup against Virginia Military Institute, Mike London had talked at length about the Cavaliers needing to find their identity on the field. Through one quarter Saturday, it looked as though Virginia was having an identity crisis.
Current Bayside High School star safety Quin Blanding arrived in Charlottesville Aug. 31 to watch his childhood friends play college football.
Senior defensive tackle Brent Urban is a gentle giant for the Cavaliers. But there is nothing gentle about his on-field prowess, as some professional scouts are beginning to notice.
From an incredible one-handed catch against Penn State that put the Virginia football team in a position to kick a game-winning field goal, to a clutch game-winning catch against Miami in the back of the endzone, junior tight end Jake McGee had his fair share of highlights in last year’s otherwise disappointing football season. He continued to shine in spite of an overall dismal offensive outing against Oregon, snagging eight passes, twice as many as his previous single-game best. In doing so, McGee has emerged as one of the anchors of the Cavalier offense.
Because you can’t spell “elite” without #GoACC, each week we will provide conference-wide football power rankings.
In “Jurassic Park,” Dr. Alan Grant and his comrades first encounter the Tyrannosaurus Rex well before the movie’s climax. They survive the attack — or at least the good guys do — and breathe easy for a bit. But of course, the drama is far from over. Though smaller and lacking the brute force of the T-rex, the Velociraptors prove to be a deadly challenge in their own right.
Coach Mike London knows the team has much work to do entering the bye week at 1-1, but he also understands that the team needs to put those first two games of the season in context.
Taquan Mizzell and Quin Blanding, former teammates at Bayside High School in Virginia Beach and the first five-star prospects to commit to the University since 2005, share a secret they believe will drastically alter the trajectory of a college football program.
Few jobs are as prestigious as being a professional sports player. Fewer jobs require the same level of unceasing physical and mental exertion. Two former Virginia stars, basketball player Mike Scott and football player LaRoy Reynolds, are putting in the effort and living the life so many people wish they could have.
Heralded entering the season for its depth, the ACC has earned praise in the first two weeks instead for the sterling accomplishments of its consensus best three teams.
At my elementary school’s annual fifth grade luau, the DJ played “Rock and Roll” by Gary Glitter — known at the University as “Countdown to Cav Man,” played every time Virginia scores a touchdown. Unaware of the song’s ubiquity across middle school dances and high school athletics nationwide, as the guitar riffs swelled to the chorus I pumped my fists proudly above my head and shrieked, “U-V-A, GO HOOS GO!” Surprisingly, my classmates didn’t seem to be as well-acquainted with the cheer.
A crowd of 58,502 was on hand to witness the brutal 59-10 thrashing No. 2 Oregon doled out to Virginia Saturday afternoon, the largest crowd at Scott Stadium since a 38-0 blowout loss to Virginia Tech in the final game of the 2011 season. That fact was not lost on many of the Cavalier players.
Oregon’s speed and athleticism were on full display from kickoff Saturday, as the No. 2 Ducks’ (2-0) Marcus Mariota and De’Anthony Thomas repeatedly gashed the Virginia (1-1) defense in a 49-point drubbing at Scott Stadium.
“The Skinny” for football, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey and volleyball games this weekend.
