DURHAM, N.C. – Just as well this game wasn’t on TV. If you didn’t watch it and simply looked at the final score and stat sheet, you’d think Virginia did just fine. A 21-point win. Six sacks. Two-hundred twenty-three rushing yards – yes, 223! – for Alvin Pearman. It even looked like Marques Hagans had a decent day.

But beyond the numbers, for those of us watching closely at Wallace Wade Stadium, there was very little about UVa’s 37-16 rout-but-not-a-rout of Duke that was encouraging. The vertical passing game was nonexistent. The secondary struggled again. The Cavaliers were called for nine penalties, a season high. Besides the running game, every facet of Virginia’s performance was ordinary at best, including the effort, execution and coaching.

Good thing it was the Blue Devils. Against anyone left on its schedule, Virginia probably would have lost Saturday. Its overall performance was that bad – worse, in many ways, than last week’s showing against the Seminoles. Don’t let the final score fool you. This was as unimpressive as a three-TD victory gets.

Perhaps I’m being overly critical – maybe I was spoiled by the first five games – but the Cavs have clearly regressed in several areas over the past two weeks. The defense and passing game, in particular, have sprung some leaks. The Devils moved the ball easily and creatively all day and should have scored more points. But they missed a field goal. They blew an easy pass on fourth-and-goal at the 1. Their successful fake punt was nullified by a penalty. They killed themselves with mistakes, which is what you’d expect from a 1-6 team. Duke stinks.

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