Hagans Makes the Difference for Cavs


Marques Hagans

For the first time this season, Virginia didn’t physically dominate its opponent. Syracuse was a tough team that played a smart game. The Orange mixed things up on offense, did a decent job against UVa’s running game and provided a good challenge in most respects. Yet the Cavaliers still won by three touchdowns. The main reason? Marques Hagans.

At this point, four games into the season, anyone who still wonders whether UVa has a quality quarterback is out of his mind. That’s not to say Hagans has nothing left to prove. He’ll still need to come up big on the road at Florida State and produce in the clutch against the likes of Maryland, Miami and Virginia Tech. But he demonstrated yet again today that he’s a playmaker, he’s a dynamic runner, he’s a better passer than any of us thought — and, most importantly, he’s a winner.

Hagans more or less cruised through the first three games, but he faced some genuine adversity today. He didn’t have much of a receiving corps, which now can be described as “Michael McGrew and Then Hoo?” The running backs weren’t carrying the offense. The line wasn’t providing him its usual protection. And the defense didn’t do the offense many favors in terms of field position.

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