Marques Hagans

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The tackling wasn’t perfect. The offensive execution wasn’t perfect. The second half wasn’t perfect. Mr. Perfect himself, Connor Hughes, sure wasn’t perfect. But for an opening game, the Cavaliers couldn’t have asked for a much better performance than the one they turned in today.

Even against an awful opponent like Temple, I expected Virginia to struggle a little bit more, especially in the passing game. With an inexperienced quarterback and young receivers, I figured it might take that unit a while to work out the kinks.

Instead, Marques Hagans looked cool, calm and collected – no surprise, given his confidence and poise. But he also made good decisions and solid, accurate throws all day in directing five straight scoring drives in the first half and two more in the second. (He might have led nine straight scoring drives if Hughes hadn’t uncharacteristically missed two field goals.)

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