The Virginia football team returned home Saturday and found a way to get back in the win column with a 16-14 victory against Old Dominion. It took a Brendan Farrell kick as time expired to get there, but the Hoos continued their recent success at Scott Stadium as they moved to 23-5 on their home field since 2018.

In terms of the Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades, which aim to measure the level of execution, the Cavaliers improved in all three phases from the disappointing showing at Illinois that resulted in a 24-3 loss. The offense raised its score from 48.6 (yikes!) at Illinois to 71.9 against Old Dominion. The defense inched up from 65.9 to 71.7 between the two games, while the special teams jumped from 43.6 (double yikes!) to 63.7.

If you’re interested in the quarter-pole numbers through three games, the offense has averaged 66.8 with a stark difference at home (75.9 in two games at Scott against lower competition vs. the 48.6 on the road against the Illini). The defense has averaged a 72.7 with more consistency (between 65.9 and 80.5 in the three games). The special teams has averaged the lowest number of the three units at 57.6, an unsurprising number if you consider two missed field goals, a missed PAT, and a fumble that led to an opponent’s touchdown.

Circling back to the ODU game, one of those missed field goals almost proved incredibly costly. Farrell missed from 36 yards with 3:07 to go on a kick that would have pushed UVA ahead 16-7. Instead, the Monarchs took over at their own 20-yard line and managed a drive in 2:06 that gave them the 14-13 lead with 1:01 to go. Of course, Farrell got redemption on the final attempt of the game that won it from 26 yards. The day overall received a below average 60.2 field goal PFF grade for Farrell.

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