It’s no secret that most of the preseason predictions for the Virginia football team did not expect the Hoos to have much success. So far, fan fears of a slow start have been realized as well with losses to Tennessee, JMU, and Maryland already on the record.

Part of the reason for the poor prognostications was that UVA did not appear to have much proven Power 5 production on the roster, not much experience in some areas on offense, and key personnel no longer with the defense. Long story short: the margin of error in trying to get wins was expected to be, and is, really thin.

Knowing that narrow margin, the Cavaliers need to have game-changing plays go in their favor if they want to find a way to the winner’s circle. So far, the opposite has happened more often than not.

On offense, this means picking up big chunks of yardage and preferably even some long touchdowns but also avoiding large losses and turnovers. Virginia had a little bit of success with some long touchdowns against JMU as Malik Washington scored on a 63-yard touchdown catch and Kobe Pace hauled in a TD reception of 75 yards. Other explosive plays set up touchdowns in other situations. Pace had a 22-yard carry that set up a 17-yard touchdown run for Perris Jones against Tennessee. A JR Wilson catch moved the ball 32 yards on a scoring drive against JMU and Jones had a 60-yard reception in that same game that led to a Mike Hollins TD carry. A 49-yard flea flicker pass helped generate the first touchdown drive against Maryland.

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