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Jameel Sewell and the Hoos can get a fresh start by winning at Duke. |
September certainly hasn’t gone like Virginia fans had wanted. The preseason optimism held hopes of a 3-2 record at worst and 4-1 or 5-0 at best. The reality of poor offensive line play, a quarterback carousel, giving up big plays, and inconsistent special teams smashed those fast-start dreams.
So where does that leave the Hoos? At 0-1 in the ACC, the Cavalier football team – and its fans – really only have one choice: Start fresh with the Duke game and hope for the best. That’s the first bullet point on this week’s Keys to the Game.
A New Start
O.K., so things didn’t go quite like everyone hoped. In fact, things have been downright disappointing with a 1-3 start. This isn’t a PlayStation season, so there is no reset button. The Hoos will have to settle for the next best thing – restarting.
The best way to approach this week’s game is as a fresh start. You’ve had a little longer preparation period for Duke. You’re still not out of the Coastal Division race. You can get to .500 in the conference with a win and set up an interesting October.
The quarterback situation seems to have been settled with Jameel Sewell as the starter. The offensive line has started to show signs of better play, at least in pass protection. The defense is focused on eliminating the big plays that have cost the team some points in lopsided losses.
Take all of those things and chalk it up to a four-week learning experience. Come out re-energized and with a little unearned swagger. That could lead to a fast start, a win, and a little momentum leaving September.
I’ll Have One Of Each
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Marcus Hamilton had two picks last year against Duke. |
Even though the defense has given up four one-play touchdowns, that unit can’t give up on its more aggressive style of 2006. As a whole, the defense looks better than it has in past years. If it can rid itself of the coverage breakdowns that led to those TDs, this defense could be laying the foundation to become a dominant force.
With that in mind, the Hoos need to go for two things this weekend: Sacks and INTs. Duke has allowed 14 sacks this season so the Cavaliers should be able to create some favorable pressure situations. If UVa can get into the backfield and disrupt the offense, then it could lead the Blue Devils to do something they haven’t done yet this season – throw an interception. In last season’s game in Charlottesville, Virginia picked off three passes en route to a 38-7 victory.
Don’t Let The Devils Fool You
Expect Duke to use some misdirection plays, some quarterback rollouts, some play-action fakes, and possibly even a trick play or two. The bottom line? Don’t buy into the tomfoolery. The Devils’ run game is not very strong so the defense doesn’t need to send extra help from the secondary on play-action fakes and over pursuit on misdirection will only get defenders in trouble. “Stay at home and do your job” should be the motto for Saturday.
As for the quarterback rollouts and potential trick plays, there is one rule that the secondary has to follow. Don’t let anyone behind you. It has cost the defense more than once this season so a better-safe-than-sorry approach is warranted on rollouts and trick plays this weekend.
No Exchanges Or Refunds – Returns, However, Are Welcome!
Virginia’s kick return game typically has been a strong point for Al Groh’s teams in the past. So far in 2006, the Cavaliers are struggling a little bit with just 20.5 yards return. That’s still good enough for fifth in the ACC standings, but there’s a certain pop missing this season. Groh has decided to insert Tony Franklin into one of the return slots to see if he can provide a boost – Franklin averaged 25.8 yards per return on 13 attempts in 2003.
There could be room to operate against Duke. The Devils have yet to produce a touchback this season on kickoffs and on average, they net just 37.7 yards of field position gained on each kick – that’s a decent punt number, but conference-leader North Carolina averages 46.1 yards gained on each kickoff. Virginia has to take advantage of this opening.
Deep 6
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Throw the ball deep and see if Andrew Pearman or another speedster can run under it. |
Deep 6 in nautical circles refers to a burial at sea. In this week’s Keys to the Game, deep 6 has a double meaning.
The first one is a play on words. The Virginia offense needs to throw the ball deep to get six points. Duke’s pass defense isn’t very good. The Devils have allowed 49 completions in 79 pass attempts and they give up 223.7 yards per game; the D has also allowed 4 TD passes. Plus, Duke has shown suspect coverage on deep passes.
UVa needs to commit to throwing the ball downfield at least five times this week, if not as many as seven or eight times. Go to maximum protection and send Kevin Ogletree long just to see if he can beat the coverage. Sewell can throw it a mile so tell him to air some passes out and see if Ogletree or Andrew Pearman or maybe someone else can run under it.
If that doesn’t happen and the Cavaliers play it close to the vest again on offense, they could lose a close one. That’s when the second meaning appears in reference to the actual burial definition. In other words, if the Hoos lose at Duke, their season has gotten the deep 6.
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