From the opening kickoff of Virginia’s 16-10 loss to Wake Forest on Sunday, changes were evident on special teams as the Hoos unveiled a different alignment to receive that kick. Unfortunately, the scheme shift was more sanguine than successful as a multitude of errors proved costly again on special teams.

The issues, now common-place for the UVa special teams units, appeared immediately. On the game’s first punt, Alec Vozenilek lofted a punt 42 yards to the Wake Forest 24-yard line where Lovell Jackson caught the kick. The Cavalier coverage team closed in with at least five blue jerseys free from blocks (a sixth player is partially free) … only those players didn’t maintain lane discipline, approaching Jackson like a swarm of bees rather than a flock of geese. Farther up field, two more UVa players occupied the same lane making a cut-back move to the middle open at the next level too.

Jackson bounced out to the left side (he may have been able to bounce it out to the right side for a big gain too) and streaked up the sidelines for a 60-yard return and one play later Wake Forest had a 7-0 lead. JHoo is expected to dive into this play a little more in his weekly “Things I Learned” column so I won’t elaborate further, but the lane integrity issues for the coverage teams appear far too frequently. Even on a kickoff late in the first half when the Cavaliers skied a short kick, the outside contain lane broke down to allow a 20-yard return to near midfield (more on that momentarily). Last week, lane problems allowed Maryland’s Stefon Diggs to break outside for a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown.

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