Speaking with a friend and long-time Wahoo fan prior to the game Saturday, I was stunned by his optimism in the Hoos’ chances for a win against Clemson. I could not share in his hope sensing that this was one of those really terrible match-ups. Teams with speed at every position, and in particular teams in spread offenses, are a nightmare for this Virginia team to handle at this time. The Tigers have tremendous speed and athleticism at every position and, as the grades reflect, they dominated play across the board Saturday.

The most disheartening aspect of the 59-10 loss to CU is that after we saw improvement in previous defeats, there was nothing that looked better Saturday as the Wahoos took a big step back in their development. Hopefully, they can regain the lost steps this weekend or at least return to status quo.

Greg’s Grades

Let’s take a quick glance at the grades. As a reminder, all 12 opponents have been assigned a rating. In response to many reader requests, I instituted an Opponent Strength Rating (OSR) number in the weekly grades. All 12 opponents have been assigned an OSR number based on where they rank among the 120 FBS schools. So the breakdown looks like this: Teams 1-15, Tier 5; Teams 16-35, Tier 4; Teams 36-85, Tier 3; Teams 86-105, Tier 2; Teams 106-124, Tier 1.

In games against Tier 5 teams, the net grade will be adjusted upward 5%. Games against Tier 4 teams will receive a 2.5% adjustment upward. Conversely, grades against Tier 2 opponents will be reduced by 2.5% and Tier 1 grades will be dropped by 5% to account for the lesser opposition. Games against Tier 3 teams will serve as the mean and will not incur any changes. Clemson is a Tier 5 team.

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