Game Essentials

• Saturday, Nov. 2, 3:30 p.m.
• Scott Stadium, Charlottesville
• Tailgating Info and Stadium Policies
• ESPN
• Local Radio – WINA 1070AM | UVa Radio Affiliates | Satellite – Sirius 108, XM 192
• Game Tracker Live Stats
• Roster Card – printable pdf
• Projected UVa Depth Chart – printable pdf
• Exclusive Weather Updates
• TheSabre.com Game Info Page

Game Nuggets

• Virginia is facing Clemson for the first time since 2009 thanks to conference expansion. The two teams won’t meet again until 2020 at Clemson.
• Clemson holds a 37-8-1 lead in the series. That includes a 16-5 edge at Scott Stadium.
• UVa has won two of the last three meetings in Charlottesville.
• Virginia is 3-5 against ranked opponents under coach Mike London. The Tigers enter this week’s game ranked No. 9.
• With 5 interceptions, Cavalier safety Anthony Harris is in a four-way tie for No. 1 nationally in that category.

Match-ups To Watch

Virginia quarterback David Watford vs. Clemson’s secondary. One week after having some success against Georgia Tech’s umbrella style coverage (Cover-2 and Cover-3 heavily), Watford will see a similar approach from Clemson’s secondary this week. That means a lot of those intermediate routes that were open with Tim Smith and Darius Jennings last week – they combined for 23 catches – could be free again against the Tigers. Watford’s decision-making seemed quicker and more confident last week so we’ll see if he can replicate that against Darius Robinson, Bashaud Breeland, and company. Robinson and Breeland have tallied 3 interceptions each, a big piece of Clemson’s 20 take-aways this season (only 10 teams nationally have more).

Virginia’s offensive line vs. Clemson defensive end Vic Beasley and other D-Linemen. The biggest difference from the Georgia Tech, however, will be the pass rush. Clemson is very effective at pressuring the pocket and it often does it with just the four defensive linemen. That means the time to find the openings will be smaller for Watford and that he may see seven players in coverage at times. The Cavalier offensive line will be challenged to keep Watford’s pocket secure with Beasley leading an aggressive front four. Beasley has 10 sacks on the season, a big reason that Clemson leads the nation in that category with 29. Beasley is very fast off the edge so Morgan Moses and Eric Smith likely will have to deal with him the most often.

Clemson linebacker Stephone Anthony vs. perimeter runs and underneath passes. Anthony is as good as any linebacker on UVa’s schedule to date. He has 80 tackles (9.5 tackles for loss with 4 sacks) and 2 pass break-ups in 2013. He diagnoses run or pass rapidly so he gets into his needed steps quickly. On any running plays, swing passes, or screens to outside the hash marks, Anthony’s pursuit is superb. He closes down at the right angle as fast as anyone you’ll see in Scott Stadium this season.

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