If anyone has been wondering what a complete game by the 2014 Cavaliers would look like, you got your wish Saturday night. Virginia’s offense was solid, the special teams were sound, and the defense was dominant. The result? An overpowering 30-13 win against visiting Miami.

As I noted in last week’s grades column, Miami QB “[Brad Kaaya] can be pressured to make mistakes” and that’s exactly what Jon Tenuta’s defense did Saturday. After connecting on 10 of his first 12 passes, the rookie trigger man hit just 10 of 22 (45%), was sacked three times (a total of four on the day), and struggled with his footwork, leaving a lot of passes off the mark. Virginia bottled up the vaunted Hurricane run attack and forced UM to rely on its weakness – the passing game.

The Cavalier special teams had their third best performance of the season, (second best against FBS teams) and four of the five operations graded out with A’s – the only time that has happened this season. Only a blocked punt late in the game marred the effort.

Finally, it’s no coincidence that on a night when Greyson Lambert looked more comfortable, more poised, and more confident than at any time this season, the Hoos put together their most efficient offensive performance of the season.

...