The football season left in shambles behind us, it is time to take a close look at the program. What elements within the team contributed to the 2013 disaster? Where were improvements, if any, from the 2012 campaign? Is 2014 as bad as it looks or is there a faint glimmer of hope out there?

The first article looked at the defense. Now it is time to look at the offense The numbers first …

Virginia Football Offense

Statistic	2010 (ACC rank)	2011 (ACC rank)	2012 (ACC rank)	2013 (ACC rank)
Scoring offense	25.3 (7th tie)	23.2 (9th)	22.8 (9th)	19.8 (13th)
Rushing yards	139.33 (6th)	162.08 (4th)	128.50 (7th)	156.58 (9th)
Yards per carry	3.99 (7th)	4.25 (5th)	3.70 (8th)	3.84 (10th)
Passing yards	265.5 (3rd)	237.7 (7th)	268.0 (6th)	211.8 (10th)
Yards per attempt	7.2 (4th tie)	7.0 (8th)	6.8 (9th)	5.0 (14th)
Total offense	404.8 (3rd)	399.8 (4th)	396.5 (8th)	368.4 (11th)
Yards per play	5.64 (6th)	5.53 (7th)	5.34 (7th)	4.44 (13th)
Third down offense	37.21% (9th)	40.93% (6th)	36.46% (8th)	37.99% (7th)
Red zone offense	79.59% (8th)	76.09% (8th)	80.00% (9th tie)	80.49% (12th)
Red zone TD offense	61.22% (3rd)	50.00% (10th tie)	60.00% (7th)	51.22% (12th)
Interceptions	17 (9th)	16 (11th tie)	15 (10th)	17 (12th tie)
Fumbles lost	6 (2nd tie)	12 (9th tie)	11 (6th tie)	9 (9th tie)
Tackles for loss allowed	55 (1st)	77 (8th)	69 (4th)	84 (10th)
Sacks allowed	23 (5th)	16 (2nd)	25 (5th tie)	24 (8th tie)
20+yard plays	48 (10th)	57 (7th)	60 (6th)	34 (13th)
20+yard TDs	5 (NA)	13 (NA)	10 (NA)	5 (NA)

Like the defense, the offense had a new coordinator in charge in 2013. As you can see in the table, Steve Fairchild’s first season didn’t produce inspiring numbers. The Cavaliers landed in the bottom half of the league in every statistical category with the best mark coming on third down conversions where 37.99% finished 7th among the ACC schools. Scoring, passing yards per attempt, yards per play, and interceptions all ranked either last or second to last in the conference.

Of course, many of these offensive categories have been ongoing issues at Virginia and are hardly Fairchild specific. Specifically, the Hoos’ inability to score points, build an effective red zone offense, and limit turnovers has sabotaged team results for the better part of the last 10 years. As noted many times in EDGE articles, UVa hasn’t finished with a positive turnover margin since 2007 (drew even in 2009). Despite finishing in the top 50 nationally in turnovers gained this season, however, the margin remained in the negative thanks to an offense that gave the ball away 26 times – tied for 103rd nationally.

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