One message board poster compared Virginia’s performance on offense at Pitt on Saturday to Wyoming in 2007. One can only hope that things improve in a similar fashion in 2013.

The Cavaliers lost 23-3 at Wyoming in that season’s opening game, but bounced back with 7 straight wins en route to a 9-win season. The statistics that day were actually much worse than the loss this past weekend. UVa recorded 100 total yards at Wyoming with -3 in the rushing yards category. QB Jameel Sewell went 11-of-23 passing for 87 yards and was sacked 3 times to go with 2 interceptions. The Hoos produced just 5 first downs in that game. Yuck. Anyone saying Saturday was the worst offensive performance they’ve seen must have missed that one.

The Wahoos didn’t do too much better against the Panthers, though. They came up with just 11 first downs and 188 yards of total offense (123 passing and 65 rushing). David Watford completed 15 of 37 passes with 0 interceptions. Coach Mike London said the coaching staff charged the team with 10 dropped passes on the day.

The point of that comparison is that the 2007 team steadily improved its scoring output from a lone field goal in the opener to end up at 24.38 points per game. No, that’s still not a lot of points the way many college teams turnstile the scoreboard these days but it allowed that team’s defense to set the tone AND win games. Many came from grind-it-out and just survive offensively match-ups: 22-20 over UNC, 23-21 over Middle Tennessee State, 17-16 over UConn, 18-17 over Maryland, and 17-16 over Wake Forest.

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