Greg’s Grades 2018: Virginia At Duke

Virginia is 5-2 this season.
Bryce Hall earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors and the secondary gets a good grade from Greg as well. ~ Photo Courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

I can’t recall if Bronco Mendenhall mentioned in his introductory press conference what a Mendenhall-coached UVA team would look like, but I think Saturday’s 28-14 win over Duke might have been close to what he envisions as good football.

A diverse offense that had spread components yet could pivot and wear a team down with multiple, double-play, five-minute plus, ball-control possessions. Dominant special teams that created massive field position shifts and set up the offense with multiple plus-field possessions. And defense. A defense that wreaked havoc on opposing offenses, stifled the running game, forced turnovers, and shut down the opposition when it crossed midfield.

I don’t know if that’s what he envisioned for certain, but that’s what I saw in Durham and it looks fabulous.

With that, to the grades. I am ecstatic to announce that the special teams’ unit had the top overall grade for the week. Congratulations. What a turnaround for these young men!

Greg’s Grades

Superlatives

  • Top performing unit (non-special teams): Secondary (back-to-back weeks)
  • Needs work unit (non-special teams): Offensive line
  • Top special teams unit: Punt return (second time this season)
  • Needs work special teams’ unit: Placekicking

Offense – Grades

  • Total Offense: 76.4 (C)
  • Quarterback: 75.09 (C)
  • Running backs: 81.8 (B-)
  • Wide receivers and tight ends: 74.8 (C)
  • Offensive line: 73.8 (C)

Offense – Quick Takes & Notes

  • The Virginia offense posted 28 points against a Duke defense that was ranked 18th nationally beforehand, allowing 18.4 points per game.
  • Despite needing an average 6.3 yards to gain to convert on third downs, the Hoos converted 47%.
  • Back-to-back 80+ grade marks for the running backs.
  • Backs had a pretty clean slate in pass protection.
  • Offensive line was again solid in power chance plays going three-for-three on third or fourth down runs with less than two yards to go for first down.
  • With the Hoos’ 120.4 passer rating against Duke, Virginia has passed the 110% mark six times this season. The last time that occurred was 2015 when the Cavaliers reached 110+ in eight games.
  • Virginia’s 178 net rushing yards and 4.05 yards per carry are the second best in each category against Duke’s defense in 2018.

Defense – Grades

  • Total Defense: 89.1 (B+)
  • Defensive line: 88.1 (B+)
  • Linebackers: 87.7 (B+)
  • Secondary: 91.3 (A-)

Defense – Quick Takes & Notes

  • Excellent HAVOC numbers for D – DBs (6 pass breakups; 3 run stuffs; 2 INTs), LBs (3 QB pressures; 1 stuff; 3 sacks; 1 pass breakup) DL – (1 sack).
  • The Hoos kept the Devils behind the sticks all day with Duke needing an average of 7.5 yards for per play to convert on third downs.
  • This is the first time since at least 2009 Duke did not had a possession in the red zone. It may be longer but that’s the deepest into the archives I went.
  • Held Duke to fewest yards rushing of the season, second lowest yards per carry average, and tied for fewest points allowed (14).
  • The Wahoo defense doubled the number of INTs thrown by Duke QBs this season.
  • UVA’s defense held Duke’s Daniel Jones to a 103.7% efficiency rating. Jones had posted a 123% rating or higher in all four of his games this season and has a career efficiency rating of 123.03%. The Hoos have held three of their seven opponents to their second worst QB rating and Duke to its lowest in 2018.

Special Teams – Grades

  • Total Special Teams: 89.2 (B+)
  • Placekicking: 80.5 (B-)
  • Kickoff coverage: 91.2 (A-)
  • Kickoff return: 83.4 (B)
  • Punt coverage: 93.9 (A)
  • Punt return: 97.2 (A+)

Special Teams – Quick Takes & Notes

  • Two missed kicks dropped the kicking grade down a little, but I love the way Brian Delaney delivered on his last two kicks.
  • After recording four touchbacks and five punts inside the 20 in the first five games, Lester Coleman has punted only one ball for a touchback and dropped three inside the 20 in the last two games.
  • UVA’s 14 yard (39-25) average starting field position gap is the largest of the season and the second double-digit gap in a row (+11 vs. Miami).
  • The punt return and punt cover units combined for a 95.6 grade against the Blue Devils.
  • This is the third consecutive week that special teams have graded out over 82% and the third week in a row where kickoff coverage, kickoff returns, and placekicking have all recorded 80% plus grades.

Additional Quick Takes & Notes

  • Coaches – Not a huge fan of high risk-high reward corner routes on fourth down and short late in the first quarter.
  • I know many were not fond of the conservative offense at the end of the first half but I’m ok with a sure 14-0 lead at the break compared to an over-aggressive approach that could potentially lead to a Duke score.
  • In its last four games against Virginia, Duke has turned the ball over 13 times.

One More Thing

Special teams typically create the largest swings in field position. For that reason, field position is alarge part of the statistical aspect of my special teams grading. A punt that travels 46 yards from the opponents’ 45 is of less value than one that travels 43 yards. You know why. The touchback cost the team field position. The 46-yarder has a net of 25 yards while the 43-yarder has a net of 43 yards, plus it has the added value of pinning the offense at the two-yard line. That’s a 23-yard swing between punts that travel a difference of only three yards. In grading, it’s a difference between a 98 and a 55.

Last season, the Hoos went 1-4 in games where they were on the negative end of the field position margin statistics. In those four losses, Virginia was outscored 126-66 and averaged 16.5 points per game compared to the opponents’ 31.5.

In 2018, UVA has never been on the losing side of the field position ledger. That being said, the Hoos did lose the one game where the two teams were even (Indiana) and the one with the smallest plus margin against the Wolfpack.

Other than the loss in Raleigh to State, Virginia’s last two games were probably the most difficult of the first seven contests. Not surprisingly, Virginia’s first two double-digit average starting field position margins were against Miami (11) and Duke (14).

Mendenhall’s club still has a small margin for error. Virginia had five-yard margins against Richmond and Louisville but there was plenty of room for error in those games. Not so against Devils and Canes and the field position difference added up to 143 hidden yards for Virginia this past Saturday.

There’s more.

Just like explosive plays can change the momentum and context of a game, so can big special teams plays.

  • Joe Reed’s 37-yard opening kickoff return set the Hoos up 61 yards from paydirt. (Drive result: TD)
  • Tavares Kelly’s punt return of 43 yards from the UVA 12 put the offense back in plus territory by taking the ball from inside the 15 to the Duke 45. (Drive result: turnover on downs but a 59-yard field position flip)
  • A 36-yard Duke punt to the uvA 35 resulted in a 27-yard Chuck Davis return to the Duke 38 (Drive result: TD)
  • Lester Coleman’s 47-yard sideline punt to the Duke 12 was fielded by T.J. Rahming, who was immediately ran out of bounds. (Drive result: A four-play, minus-3-yard drive for Duke and a punt from the end zone)
  • On the next play, a 29-yard punt return to the Duke 28 by Kelly (Drive result: TD)

The final TD gave Virginia a 28-14 lead and put the game away with the final margin.

If Virginia’s special teams continue to perform at this level, Mendenhall’s thin margins will expand.

1 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. I strongly believe that it is time to look at and comment on the overall confidence of the team, the way they have bought into Coach Mendenhall’s culture and the fact that he has turned the program around with inferior SA’s or maybe to say it differently, with mainly 3-Star SA’s.

    He has always been considered by his fellow HC’s as one he gets the most out of his players, both at BYU and here. If he starts recruiting 4-star SA’s…watch out!

Comments are closed.