Greg’s Grades & Trends: Duke

The grades provide analysis on Virginia football.
Juan Thornhill’s 2 interceptions helped UVA defeat Duke. ~ Courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

Bronco Mendenhall’s Virginia football team continued to show progress and exercised some road demons in the process. UVA’s 34-20 win against the Duke Blue Devils, its first road victory since Prohibition, sent the Hoos into the bye week with increasing confidence and momentum. What impressed me about the Duke game, and the grades reflect this, is that the Hoos won on the road not playing what I believe is their best football.

The defense proved solid, holding the Blue Devils to 3.4 yards per rush and 5.1 yards per play. The D gave up just 13 of 21 potential red zone points (61%). The defense shined most in forcing disruptive plays. By my unofficial count, the Hoos produced 26 disruptive plays including sacks, tackles for loss, forced fumbles, pass breakups, quarterback hurries, and interceptions. I know that with six turnovers I’ll get some wondering on why the grades below do not show A’s across the board, but a 40% third down conversion allowed and an average gain of 5.7 yards on first down for Duke is not championship caliber stuff.

I suspect I’ll get some blowback from the offense’s grades as well, but I think they are fair. The run game was sluggish at 3.8 yards per carry (that excludes sacks and the fake punt loss) and I counted seven dropped passes. Teams that average 27 points per game ranked 78th out of 128 teams in 2015, 79th in 2014, and 74th out of 124 in 2013. That’s an average performance; in fact, it’s below average. My biggest concern with the Duke game offense, though? Inconsistency. It’s something I will address in the trends section.

All special teams units finished with above average grades and they ended the day with their second consecutive overall B mark.

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