As the 2011 season as progressed we have seen the Cavaliers do things that championship teams do. The Hoos are 2-0 in November, won games when they were the decided underdog, won on the road against good teams and bad, and responded to tough losses with victories. They have stepped up at critical times defensively, responded with scoring drives when needed and put teams away with the running game late. Duke is certainly not the caliber of opponent Virginia will face in its final two regular season games, but Saturday the Cavaliers proved they could win against a decent team when not playing their best. That’s something else quality teams do.

The Cavalier offense was serviceable Saturday but certainly did not perform at the level we’ve come to expect recently. Six of Virginia’s chartable drives (46%) were the three-and-out variety and the Hoos crossed midfield just six times. QB Michael Rocco was under duress frequently and though Virginia produced its 10th consecutive 100-yard rushing effort, the Hoos averaged 3.9 yards per carry to a Duke defense that had surrendered 6.3 YPC to Miami and Virginia Tech. Despite the pressure, the Cavaliers did not allow a sack for the third consecutive game.

Virginia’s defense held Duke to its second lowest rushing total and yards per carry production of the season and the Devils’ second poorest completion percentage of the campaign. UVa limited Duke to two red zone scores in four chances and held the visitors scoreless in the fourth quarter. Virginia has given up just 2.3 points on average in the fourth quarter in its last three games – that’s tied for fourth best in the NCAA. But the Hoos struggled with pass defense as Duke trigger-man Sean Renfree connected on five passes of more than 20 yards and averaged 14 yards per completion for the game. Duke’s 7.8 yards per attempt tied for the second highest total allowed by Virginia this year.

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