Over the course of the offseason months, Virginia’s football players remained resolute. The Hoos acknowledged 2016’s disappointing 2-10 record, but insisted things would be different. From spring, through summer, and into fall, the message stayed the same.
Andre Levrone in the spring: “I’m motivated as an individual to put together a complete season; I’ve had spurts here and there where I’ve shown what I can do, but a full 12-game season, on to the ACC Championship hopefully, on to a bowl game hopefully, just to be able to show everyone I can sustain my body and show what I’m truly capable of.”
Quin Blanding in the summer: “I believe in the system. I trust the system. I trust the process. You know, why not go one more year and go out with a bang and increase the status of Virginia, and just like I said, go out with a bang.”
Hasise Dubois in August: “It’s been going well for all us. We’re more consistent, our focus is a lot better. I feel like this year could be a turnaround year.”
Chris Peace in August: ”That’s been our thing this offseason. This is going to be the year. There’s no excuses now. Everybody’s back. Everybody has a year under the belt. That’s the big thing – this is the year, right now. We say that every single day. This is not the same team as last year. We’re not young bucks anymore. It’s time to play.”
Then, there were the words of senior quarterback Kurt Benkert during the Cavaliers’ first game week press conference of the season. He was the most bold of all:
”I just tell them wins You can expect us to win games and I just leave it at that. We have our own expectations in the locker room, but from the outside, just expect us to win games.”
”I wouldn’t say it’s a false confidence like it was last year I think there’s a good edge to us and I think we really believe that we can do this.”
For a team that struggled down the stretch in 2016, many likely categorized all that talk as the “hope springs eternal” variety. New seasons, of course, tend to bring out optimism and talk of the possibilities. It’s easy to dismiss, or at least quietly acknowledge, that sort of thing without giving it too much more thought.
Now though? Now Virginia has everyone’s attention in earnest. After finding their way out of Chapel Hill with a 20-14 win against North Carolina, the Hoos are 5-1 at the season’s midway point. They labeled the turnaround the new standard in the presesason before making it a Cavalier-trending hashtag after the successful trip to Boise and they’re backing it up.
They’re a single, solitary victory away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2011. They’ve got six chances to reach the magic number with Boston College up next at home for Homecomings at UVA.
Merely focusing on bowl eligibility might be selling this team short, though. It seems likely, if not certain, that Virginia will figure out a way to get at least one more win. There’s a lot more thought being given to possibilities. UVA is one of only three teams in the ACC without a league loss, joining fellow Coastal Division undefeated Miami and Atlantic Division leader NC State on top of the charts right now. The Hurricanes are the only unbeaten team left in the conference at 5-0.
It’s too early to get caught up in too many permutations and the team itself answers questions about bowls, records, standings, and such with a simple ‘we’re trying to go 1-0 this week’ refrain. It’s not too early, however, to get caught up in how the Hoos got to this point so quickly in 2017.
That conversation begins with the defense. The Cavaliers have allowed 20.0 points per game and are tied with Utah for No. 30 nationally in scoring defense. Indiana is the only team to get into the 30’s against UVA and not coincidentally the only team to get a win.
While UNC running back Michael Carter became the first player to reach 100 yards rushing on the season against the defense, it took two big runs of 56 and 47 yards combined with defensive gap breakdowns to get there. Quarterback scrambles have caused some problems along the way too, but for the most part the run defense has been solid.
With the running game mostly contained, that’s led to favorable situations and impressive pass defense too. UVA currently ranks 10th nationally at 169.8 passing yards allowed per game and the 5.6 yards per attempt allowed is tied for sixth nationally. North Carolina couldn’t get anything going through the air Saturday, posting a dismal 46 passing yards on just seven completions. That came one week after Duke managed just 124 passing yards on 14 completions.
Throw in great performances on third down – UVA ranks seventh nationally by allowing just 26.83% conversions – and in the red zone – UVA ranks No. 1 nationally by allowing just 57.14% scoring on red zone chances – and you’ve got a defensive formula for success.
The offense backs that up with a combination of ball control offense and explosive scoring plays. The Cavaliers ranks fourth nationally in time of possession at 34:50 minutes per game. They’re tied for 46th nationally in plays of 50+ yards with four. Both of those were on display in Chapel Hill too. The Hoos held the ball for 39:58 on Saturday and tallied the go-ahead score with an 81-yard touchdown.
Jordan Ellis provided the gritty work to keep the ball in UVA’s hands with 27 carries and 136 rushing yards. He lost just one yard all day. Olamide Zaccheaus came up with the eye-catching play, an easy catch that turned into an 81-yard sideline sprint to the end zone in the third quarter.
Finally, there’s the matter of turnovers and that matters. The Wahoos are tied for 15th nationally in turnover margin at +1 per game and they’re tied for fifth nationally with only four turnovers lost. All of this ties together into what Virginia calls complementary football. That’s led to plenty of compliments lately and five wins.
So that’s how the Hoos got here. Now the question is how much further can they go.
