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Kevin Parks and the Hoos throttled NC State. |
Virginia is riding a one-game win streak into its game with Miami … wait, UVa won an ACC game … on the road … against a formidable opponent with a high level quarterback? Yes, the Hoos did. And they did so in dramatic fashion by completely dominating NC State in a 33-6 rout in front of a red sea of more than 54,000 Wolfpack fans.
But how can this be? How can a Virginia team that looked to be college football’s brand of the Bad News Bears win a game like this, in this way? Cavalier coach Mike London was asked about the difference in the team from the first half of the season to the one that came out of the bye week and grabbed a victory. And while a lot of phases of Virginia’s game needed to improve, and did, there’s one area of the NCSU win that seemed to define many of UVa’s losses this season: turnover margin. The Hoos, who entered the game last in the Football Bowl Subdivision in turnover margin without winning that category in a single game this season, flipped the script on the Wolfpack to take the TO battle 5-1.
“I had talked before about this turnover issue and not giving the ball up,” London said during UVa’s weekly media meeting on Monday. “One of the points of emphasis was, ‘Hey listen, it’s okay to throw the ball away, or to pull the ball down and run with it.’
“You saw if you could take care of the ball and limit those things in the air, you’ve got a shot. We practice those ball disruption drills all the time. Then the week in practice, I’d stop practice and we’d go celebrate – practice celebrating when we have a turnover,” he added. “I always envisioned the turnovers would come and when they come, they’d come in bunches and that’s what happens sometimes.”
With turnovers, it’s not just about taking care of the ball, it’s about taking the ball away. In addition to shooting itself in the foot by throwing interceptions or losing fumbles earlier in the season, Virginia had missed several opportunities to recover opponent fumbles or snag interceptions. Against the Wolfpack, the Hoos excelled on both sides of the ball. But sometimes forcing turnovers is about being in the right place at the right time, and that’s exactly what happened during Eli Harold ‘s interception for example.
“You look at the interception that Eli got, ” London said, “that was actually hit by Jake Snyder , and Daquan Romero batted the ball, and Eli had come around, all the way around on a pass rush and was right there at the spot. So many times things like that happen where you’re not there or just a step late. So [when you get those turnovers] it becomes contagious and you’ve got to continue that on in this next game. We had like 14 or 15 possessions, and we normally have 12. When those turnovers occurred, you look at the players and the sidelines, and that can get a whole team rejuvenated. So I think you work hard at it and stay the plan of how you practice and make the emphasis on those things that are important. And I think the guys did a good job of being in the right place, right time, and being fearless and going after the ball.”
“We have to continue to do that with [Miami] because they’ll throw it deep. They have their running backs, Duke Johnson, … and they’ll get two personnel, two tight ends, two backs, and they’ll try to run the ball right at you. … They’ll spread it out and say, all right, this guy’s fast. Let’s see how fast you are. Then they’ll throw the ball vertically and make you go up and play in the air and go get it,” London also said. “So we’ve got to come down with interceptions, sacks, if [Stephen] Morris is going to drop back like that, and just again, try to create turnovers to keep us in the game.”
More on Miami
Virginia proved it could win against a good opponent on the road last week. This week proves to be yet another stiff challenge. Miami has put itself in a position to win the ACC’s Coastal Division and potentially compete for the ACC Championship. The Hurricanes are in charge of their own destiny at this point, and UVa is in the way. Couple that with Miami’s embarrassing loss to up-start Virginia last season in Miami and there’s plenty enough reason for the Canes to be well prepared coming into the game.
In addition to the comments above, London continued on about Miami’s offense. The Hurricanes are led by quarterback Stephen Morris (192-of-339 passing, 2,384 yards, 12 TDs, 7 INTs), running back Duke Johnson (555 yards, 6 TDs rushing), and Phillip Dorsett (545 yards, 3 TD receiving).
“Obviously, they have a few dynamic players. Their team is athletic. The freshman, Duke Johnson, is everything that he’s been made out to be. He’s very explosive. He gets his hand on the football in various ways, the offense is very creative with them,” London said. “They’ll be the biggest team we play. Look at their tackles. They’re like 6’7″, 6’8″ and their guards are 6’8″, 6’6″ inside. They have a veteran quarterback that’s been playing in college games.”
London and Miami defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio worked on the UVa staff as assistants together. London noted that the Hurricanes “do a lot of things defensively” and could be tough to prepare for on that side of the ball as well. Plus, the Canes are as athletic with as much team speed as any team on the Cavaliers’ schedule.
“When you look at their tape, when you see them play, you see them game planning different teams and doing different things. They could be zone blitz one game, one team. It could be man pressure with another team, doing things that their linebackers and the rotation of the coverages, so you kind of look at when they’re playing a particular game. There is always something that they’re doing different that you might not have seen a game or two games before,” London said. “But what they do well is, because of the speed that they have, they play man coverage pretty well – whether that means man coverage with blitzes or man coverage with an extra safety down in the box. So if your tight end blocks, he’s another run defender. … So I’m quite sure we’ll see something that we haven’t seen, but it will be game planned on what they see or what they think we may give them.”
Sabre TV |
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Virginia QB Phillip Sims chats exclusively with Sabre TV and meets with the media! |
Sims or Rocco? Solution: Use Them Both
Coach London and coach Bill Lazor shocked the Wahoo world when they chose to implement a scripted quarterback rotation against the Wolfpack. As Virginia fans have seen in the past, particularly last year with Michael Rocco and David Watford , rotating quarterbacks during a game can often mean poor execution because of the disruption in routine for the signal callers.
But that was not the case against NC State as Phillip Sims and Rocco combined to complete 20 of 33 passes for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. Whether by intelligent design or a fluke, the combination worked. Typically a move like this backfires. Coaches often have to pick a quarterback and stick with him. But in the evolution of both Sims and Rocco, each having a slightly different strong suit, maybe playing them both is just what the doctor, ahem offensive coordinator, ordered?
“Both guys have things that they do, different skill sets that’s they bring to the table,” London said. “Michael is a guy that’s been in the offense, knows the offense – Phillip has a strong arm and is kind of learning on the job, so to speak. And he has some skills himself that we like, and can get the ball to some of the other playmakers. So as practice went on and looking at the things that they do well and trying to game plan and fit plays that fit their skills, whether it’s based on arm strength or using the ball to run out of pocket scenarios with them, we just looked at it as here we have two guys that have done and have run the offense and they both bring something to the table for us. So it was more of let’s find the plays that they can do, and let’s put a scheme together that can help benefit not only them, but the players that we’re trying to surround them with. Whether it’s out of pocket, drop off, play action, the reads, those type of things. As the open week went on, they shared reps. There were only two of them, so between the ones and twos, they shared all the reps.”
London said Monday that the plan for this week is expected to follow the same path.
“I think where we are right now as we prepare to not only come out of that game but going into this game is that we will continue to do the same thing,” he said.
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Gooch Report
Fans on TheSabre.com’s message boards have asked about receiver Miles Gooch at times this season. The 6’3″, 220-pound quarterback convert caught the eye of fans back during the spring when he posted 58 receiving yards. Gooch’s reps in games had been limited mostly to special teams early in the season. During the past two outings, however, Gooch has picked up some offensive snaps. London says he is developing into a physical blocker at receiver for the Hoos.
“When you talk about Miles, he’s a selfless player. All of these guys like to play a lot. He has played more in the game. He’s a big, physical presence in terms of blocking on the perimeter down in the red zone. If his number is called, to go up and get it, he’s got that type of size, receiver size, and athletic ability to go up and get it,” London said. “He’s worked extremely hard at being a player that can contribute, you know. That’s all he wants to do is contribute to this team. … During the open week he was consistently pointed out as giving great effort, of being the guy that is the model of what we’re looking for in terms of that type of effort. Actually that type of effort in the practices and special teams-wise led to his increased role in the scrimmage downs for second and third down because of the type of effort and things that he was doing. Again, he’s a player that will hopefully get him a catch or a touchdown or like all wide receivers like to touch the ball, but his role right now, he’s embraced it and done a really good job so far.”
Worth Quoting
UVa coach Mike London on the combination of blue helmets and all white uniforms at NCSU: “Well, that was the road uniform combination. Believe it or not, I get quite a few emails about suggesting new uniform combinations. Actually, the last couple of times I’ve talked about I don’t care what the uniform combinations are, as long as we’re executing the X’s and O’s. Our equipment guy, Kyle Riley did research and came up with the road combo that we had some sort of winning combination. And I said that sounds good to me, so let’s wear it.”
Worth Noting
- The kickoff times for two of Virginia’s last three games have been set. UVa hosts Miami at Noon this weekend and hosts UNC next Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Kickoff time for the game at Virginia Tech will be set at a later date.
- UVa sophomore defensive tackle Chris Brathwaite was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week and freshman cornerback Maurice Canady was named the ACC Co-Defensive Back of the Week.
- Cavalier defensive lineman Brent Urban is from Ontario, Canada. He joked on Monday that he gets lots of hockey questions because of his Canadian roots. Urban, who said he is probably around 6’9″ in skates, played hockey when he was younger on a team that won the all-Ontario tournament.
- Miami head coach Al Golden and defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio were previously assistants at Virginia.
- Saturday’s marks the five-year anniversary of Virginia’s 48-0 victory to close out Miami’s 70-year stay at the Orange Bowl.
- London said Monday that two of the three players suspended for a violation for team rules have been reinstated. Henry Coley and LoVante’ Battle are active for this week’s game with Miami. Jeremiah Mathis , London said, remains suspended.
