Dear Old U.Va.

2010 Football Preview - The Offense

Tuesday, August 17 2010 by Tim

With fall football camp in full swing and the open practices behind us, it’s time to continue our pre-season look at the 2010 Virginia Football team. We begin today with a look at the offense. We’ll start off with an admittedly painful look at the recent history of the Virginia offense before we dive into a look at what we can expect from this year’s squad.

The Past

After a couple of decades of pro-style offenses based on a cadre of great running backs (names like Terry Kirby, Tiki Barber, Thomas Jones, and Wali Lundy), the previous Wahoo coaching staff decided to join the spread offense revolution that was overtaking college football. This was despite arguably not having the personnel to run this offense. Also, as we have learned from places such as Michigan, Oklahoma and Arkansas, it takes a couple of years for the spread offense to become effective. The spread requires a lot of timing between QB and WR, plus an entirely new blocking scheme from the OL, Additionally, any new offensive scheme requires a lot of new plays, formations and terminology.

To put it mildly, this didn’t work. So, we tried a read-option based offense that worked a little while. Sort of. Then, we went back to the spread. Then, back to a pro-style offense. Then, back to the spread. We even tried a single-wing offense for a game. I lost track of all the different schemes we ran, but I think we even gave the A-11 offense a shot. None of it worked. Below is a little chart, showing our national ranks as an offense over the past few seasons.

(stats courtesy NCAA.org)

As you can see, it wasn’t necessarily the scheme that was causing the problems offensively. In 2005, we still had an offense based around Lundy and Marques Hagans (among others). Perhaps that team would’ve been successful in any scheme. Perhaps not, we’ll never know. Once we ditched the pro-style offense, things went downhill quickly. If we’d stuck with one scheme over the past 4 years, would we have had more success? Again, we’ll never know.

The Present

In 2010, we have a new coaching staff, and we’re going retro. The plan is to re-implement the pro-style offense that we’d run in the past. Obviously, nobody knows if it will work any better than the spread worked, or the read option worked. Regardless, at least in this writer’s opinion, this will be more of a “Virginia offense”. It’s not quite “3 yards and a cloud of dust”, but it’s definitely designed to be a power rushing offense that relies largely on using the run to set up play action passes.

Until September 4^th, we won’t know the exact details of the offense. We’ve gotten hints from Coach London and Coach Lazor. We’ve seen bits and pieces from videos and practice reports. We know the TE figures to be heavily involved again. We expect several running backs to rotate in and out, keeping everybody fresh. We can expect to see play action used extensively. These things are obvious. Some of the specifics are still unknown, and are reliant on multiple factors, not the least of which is the strengths of the players on the field.

The obvious starting point for any offense preview is the quarterback position. He is the first player to touch the ball on any given play, as well as the only player to touch the ball on every single play. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the offensive line. For the 2010 Hoos, the OL is the key to the success of the offense as a whole.

The Line

In some ways, there is a lot of promise on the OL. After all, we are returning 3 starters from last year. Then again, considering the unit’s struggles last season, that may not be a positive. Junior Anthony Mihota takes over at center after the departure of rising senior Jack Shields, who left the program to focus on his studies. Certainly, nobody with a UVa degree is going to fault a guy for wanting to ensure his post-college success, but we would be much better off with a seasoned hand manning the position. Mihota will have to get up to speed on the new schemes very quickly if the unit will have any success. The other newcomer is RT Oday Aboushi, who got some playing time last season as a true freshman. Aboushi was a highly touted recruit out of high school, and likely won’t be too big a downgrade from the inconsistent Will Barker.

Rounding out the OL are 2 juniors and a senior. The juniors are Austin Pasztor and Landon Bradley at LG and LT, respectively. Pasztor has all the makings of another high NFL pick. He’s 6’7” 325 pounds and mobile enough to be a pulling guard on trap plays. Bradley took over at LT last year, after the departure of 1^st round pick Eugene Monroe. He had his ups and downs, as expected, but overall he wasn’t a problem per se. If he ends up the weakest member of our OL, that will be fine. If he is the strongest member of our OL, that may be a problem. Oddly enough, the lone senior on the line is also the most likely to be replaced. That would be projected starting RG BJ Cabell. Cabell has been plagued by inconsistency over his entire career. The best thing for Cabell, at least from the standpoint of keeping his job, is that there just isn’t anybody better. I suspect that Cabell will hold on the job all season long.

I suppose it is difficult to discuss the offensive line without mentioning Morgan Moses. This is partially because he is an enormous human being. But, this is also because the 6’6” 360 pound lineman is very good. He won’t start, at least not yet. But he could get on the field during week 1, and he could be starting by October. Where that may be is somewhat up in the air, and will depend on the play of the starters as well as injuries. The other backup who will almost definitely get some playing time is 5th year senior Isaac Cain. Cain doesn’t do anything particularly well, but he is consistent and he can step in anywhere on the line. If anybody gets nicked up, Cain will be the first one off the bench. Long term replacements will go to the younger guys like Moses or fellow Fork Union signee Cody Wallace. (Wallace would likely step in only at center.)

Over the past couple of seasons, the OL has probably been through every OL scheme ever invented. With the possible exception of a drive blocking, power rushing scheme. Well, that is what we’re planning to run this year. Most OLs will tell you that’s what they prefer. It’s simple, and its much more physical. The biggest problem is that it requires correct line calls from the center, or you’ll end up with free defenders. So, again, lots of pressure on Mr Mihota.

The Signal Caller

OK, now we can tackle the QB position (isn’t that a sack?). As everybody knows, QB play can make or break an offense. If you took Peyton Manning off the Colts, you’d leave them with a terrible offense. If you put him on the Hoos, we might have a pretty solid offense. Sadly, we don’t have Peyton Manning. Or Eli. Or even Cooper. Any other Mannings out there we can look at?

Our QB is Marc Verica. He is the only QB on the roster who has ever taken a snap in a college football game. I actually like Verica. He has good size for a QB, at 6’3” and 210 pounds. He has adequate quickness and athleticism. He has a strong arm. His problem has always been in his head. I am hopeful that being the unquestioned #1 coming into the season will help him in that regard. I also hope that offensive coordinator Bill Lazor can simplify the offense enough to make Verica’s job easier.

At the end of the season, a quick glance at Verica’s statistics will likely be an easy way of determine the team’s overall record. If his touchdown-to-interception ratio is anything like his career 8:17, our record is going to be very poor. If it is anywhere near the 8:8 that the team put up last season, our record will still be quite poor. If he can put up something around a 3:1 ratio or higher, we may have a surprisingly good season.

If Verica can’t get it going, there aren’t a whole lot of options behind him. The backup QB will almost definitely be redshirt freshman Ross Metheny. I really do not want to see Metheny on the field much this year. He is a lefty, and I’ve had enough of left handed UVA QBs for a while. Behind Metheny is Michael Strauss, who is a true freshman, but enrolled in January and participated in spring practice. Ideally Strauss will redshirt. Frankly, if he needs to be play, we’re in big trouble. Another true freshman, Mike Rocco, has impressed during fall practice. But, like Strauss, he should redshirt and if he even sniffs the field (other than, perhaps, making the travel squad just to get prepared) then we’re in big trouble.

None of the 4 QBs I’ve named are much of a threat to run. Verica is probably the most athletic of the bunch, but he’s more likely to use his legs to buy time in the pocket, as opposed to running for yardage. This could hurt, because it takes away the ability to gain yardage on broken plays. However, it is also a good thing, because it means we can’t call the QB draw on every single short yardage play all season long. In fact, if Bill Lazor calls that on short yardage even once, I may assassinate him. (Please note: I will not actually assassinate anybody, but I will probably want to. Unless it works, in which case I will call Bill Lazor a genius and pretend I never wrote this paragraph.)

The offense we intend to use is based on the ability to run the ball. Running the ball opens up play action, which is a strength of Verica. He is good at hiding the ball and using the fake to buy time for his receivers to get open. Of course, if we can’t run the ball, play action won’t work. And neither will our offense. I can’t really say what Metheny or Strauss’ strengths might be, because I’ve never seen them play. Let’s hope their (collective) strength is throwing the football, while their weakness is tackling defenders on interception returns.

The Runners

The next unit in line is the running backs. When you are planning to run a power rushing offense, you better have some talented backs. Preferably several of them, especially since the offensive line is so unproven. As it turns out, the Hoos have quite a stable of RBs. So many, that nobody has the slightest clue who the starter is.

The leading returning rusher from last year is Torrey Mack, who had all of 73 rushing yards. Fear not, we have 3 other returning backs that have a total of … 62 rushing yards. Ouch. 135 total rushing yards from our returning running backs. If there’s a team with less than that, we should get them on the schedule. Those numbers are slightly misleading. Senior Keith Payne is hopefully returning from a year’s absence, and he has 255 career rushing yards.

In all seriousness, there is a lot of talent at RB. Mack and redshirt freshman Dominique Wallace were both 4 star recruits. Incoming freshman KP Parks set the all-time rushing record in the state of North Carolina. And Payne is so good, Chuck Norris keeps a picture of him next to his bed. Despite all that talent, it appears as though the starting job is going to Perry Jones.

Jones played in 11 games last year, mostly on special teams. He played RB in a couple of games late in the season, and had 9 carries for 9 yards. However, he has looked great in practices and he certainly has speed and quickness.

Regardless of who starts, it is likely that all of the above names will get some time at tailback. Maybe not Parks, who could redshirt. Perry Jones and Torrey Mack are both smaller, quicker backs. Wallace and Payne are both bigger backs, although neither are really what I would call “power” backs.

There is also Raynard Horne, who I completely forgot about until right now. We’ll call this Al Groh syndrome, since he essentially did the same thing for the past 3 years. Horne has carried the ball 5 times in his career for 12 total yards. On paper, Horne has talent. He’s a bigger back, at 6’1” 215 pounds, and he’s a legit 4.5 guy. For some reason, he’s never really been able to show it on the field. He’s spent most of his career on special teams, and that is likely to be his role again. I only mention him because he is listed on the roster as a TB.

If Payne remains on the team, he could end up as the 2^nd RB in the rotation. Wallace also figures to get plenty of carries if he has fully recovered from his injury. Those 4 (Jones, Payne, Wallace, Mack) should be the primary backs all season long.

The Receivers

Still unmentioned are the WRs and TEs. The WRs are more interesting, so we’ll tackle those first. The leading returning receivers are junior Kris Burd and sophomore Tim Smith. Not coincidentally, those 2 will be the starters. Smith and Burd are both about 5’11” and 190 pounds, but Burd is really more of a possession receiver, while Smith is more explosive. Burd had some big catches on 3^rd down all season long, including a great catch lying on his back against Maryland (about the 4:30 mark). He ended up with 31 catches for 413 yards and a TD. Solid numbers when you consider the team as a whole had just over 2000 yards and just 8 TDs through the air.

Tim Smith played extensively as a true freshman, and had 15 catches for 204 yards and 2 TDs. He had the longest play from scrimmage for the team, a 69 yard TD catch in the Southern Mississippi game (just a few seconds into the video). Smith is fast, quick and strong, and has the potential to be the best WR we’ve seen at Virginia since Billy McMullen. Not that that is saying much.

Behind the two starters, there is a fair amount of depth. First, there is Jared Green, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green. Like his dad, Jared has a ton of speed. He just has had some trouble catching the ball. Green had 15 catches for 124 yards last year, after 12 catches for 144 yards as a freshman in 2008. Green, at 6’2” and 190 lbs, is probably the fastest of our WR corps (Tim Smith may have something to say about that.) His ability to stretch the field could be valuable on play action. But, he’s gotta catch the ball.

The other top threat we have is senior Dontrelle Inman. After playing as a true freshman, his playing time seems to have decreased over the course of his career. His production certainly has. He has 27 catches for 283 yards, with most of that coming during his freshman season. Inman is a bigger receiver, with the ability to go up and get the ball over smaller DBs. He has had some problems with injuries.

Finally, there is senior Matt Snyder and redshirt freshman Bobby Smith. Snyder is a a former walk-on who has earned a scholarship for his senior year due to his hard work on the practice field. Both are listed at about 6’5” and 210 pounds, and both are bigger receivers in the same mold as Inman. Smith might have more speed than either of them, but he’s also very raw.

The Tight Ends

This leaves the TEs. It is fitting that I left them for last, considering they were all but forgotten over the past few years. The spread offense doesn’t have much use for TEs. Prior to that, Virginia was developing a reputation as “TE U”. Heath Miller, Pat Estes, Tom Santi, John Phillips and Jon Stupar are a few of the guys to play the positions for the Hoos, and each of them spent time in the NFL.  (Estes played OT in the NFL, Santi is currently a FA, and Phillips is out for the year.  Heath and Stupar are currently listed as the starters for their respective teams.)

The logic behind removing the TE from the offense, while adding more WRs, is sound. You have a history of very successful players at one position, and have struggled to find consistent production the other. Clearly, you emphasize the latter while disregarding the former. That’s how I would do it.

The chief benefactor of the new/old system is senior Joe Torchia. Torchia was a highly regarded TE out of upstate NY. He has had some problems with injuries, but largely has just been overlooked in our offense. This could be his year, as he is healthy and back in an offense that suits him. Plus, of all the receivers on the team, he has probably spent the most time working with Verica. I seriously am looking for big things out of Torchia this year.

Behind Torchia are two sophomores, Colter Phillips and Paul Freedman. Both of them are similar players to Torchia, but lacking some polish on their games. Phillips should be the 2^nd TE in any double TE sets we run, with Freedman being the 3^rd option. Ideally, Freedman would redshirt, because he should’ve redshirted last year. He didn’t play at all until halfway through the season, and then only a handful of plays in total. Redshirt freshman WR Kevin Royal has moved, at least part time, to TE. He is unlikely to see the field at either position.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. The 2010 UVA offense. The talent is there, especially at the skill positions. Of course, it is largely young and untested. The OL is very much a work in progress. The QB has experience but has struggled with decision making. The coaching staff is largely made up young, energetic guys who have experience in both college and the NFL. If a lot of things fall correctly, it could be a pretty successful offense. More likely, they will struggle early on as they get used to (yet) another offensive scheme. Later on, as they get it together, the schedule is full of some very tough defenses. It could be another long year.

 

(Pictures courtesy virginiasports.com)