Virginia fans finally saw some life in the Cavalier offense and despite a drop-off in the second half this unit played well enough to win. The letdown this week came from a defense that was shredded for 157 rushing yards in the second half a special teams unit that gave up big play after big play to open the door for the Eagles’ late game come-from-behind win. It’s been over four years since Virginia lost a game when scoring 34 points or more. Let’s find out why.

Trend Report

What’s up?

Offensive production. Obviously the play of the offense improved dramatically since the first two weeks of the season. Both Kris Wright and JHoo have alluded too many of the changes that were responsible for the improvement so I will not repeat their analysis here. All four offensive operations had their highest grade of the season and three graded out above average.

Analysis and the improved grades and production notwithstanding, let me temper the excitement of Saturday’s production with this. As I noted in Priorities, Picks, & Power Players, “To be fair, Southern Miss has not been playing Texas or Florida. Alcorn State is a perennial FCS loser and UCF’s offense is just two spots ahead of Virginia in total offense – that’s not saying much. Still, the defense has been effective.” Yes the Eagles defense entered the game with some gaudy defensive numbers but the Tar Heels will be a much stiffer defensive test next Saturday at noon.

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