Dear Old U.Va.

Well, I Was Wrong

Monday, September 13 2010 by Tiki

My prediction for this past week’s USC game was 48-13. I said that “I am optimistic that our revamped defense will hold its own against a potent USC offense, and I am hopeful that our new offense will be able to move the ball at times”. I was half right, kind of. Our offense was able to move the ball at times, and 13 points was pretty close to the 14 we ended up with.

However, I was nowhere near correct about our defense, or USC’s offense, or the game in general. The UVA defense played a great game, albeit against a mistake-prone USC offense. USC, in general, did not play well at all. That should not take anything away from the Hoos and the effort that they showed in this game.

USC came into the game having broken 20 points in 100 out of their last 108 games. Seriously, that is ridiculous. That is 93%. I don’t have the patience to count back 108 games, but for reference sake, we have broken 20 points in 28 out of our last 61 games. That is 46%. So, basically USC scores 20 points twice as often as we do.

The entire point of the previous paragraph, which I admit is poorly written, is that holding USC to 17 points is a monumental performance. Our defense is young and inexperienced, not to mention we were missing arguably our two best defenders (in CB Ras-I Dowling and S Rodney McLeod). With those two factors in mind, that might have been the greatest defensive performance I’ve ever seen from UVA.

There are so many different stats and numbers and observations I can make to point out just how great that defensive performance was. My favorite might be that we held the Trojans to less total yards than we gave to the Spiders a week prior.

If you hadn’t seen the game, and had no idea what happened, and then read the previous few paragraphs, you’d think we won the game. Nope. Despite our offense being acceptable and actually outgaining the Trojans, we lost 17-14. Robert Randolph missed 2 FGs (USC missed one as well), QB Marc Verica threw a (terrible) interception in the endzone, and we failed to recover the onsides kick that would’ve given us a shot at the very end.

USC’s two touchdowns both came at the end of the first half, and both could’ve been prevented. The first came on a short field, after a failed 4^th down conversion by the Hoos. I absolutely thought it was the right decision to go for it, and I have no problem with the QB sneak call. It didn’t work, and USC took advantage. The second drive started with just 1:08 remaining in the half, and ended with a Barkley TD pass with just 1 second left. Considering the drive was aided by what looked to be a poor call on Trey Womack for a late hit out of bounds on Barkley, it isn’t a stretch to think that drive could’ve ended with a FG attempt as opposed to a TD.

After that first USC TD, Virginia countered with a great drive of their own. It started with a good KO return from Perry Jones that gave us the ball at the 31 yard line. Verica completed 3 straight passes for 55 yards, and then Keith Payne finished off the drive with 2 strong runs and a TD.

Our second TD came very late in the game, with the Trojans holding a 10 point lead. That drive, while it was admittedly against a soft defense, may end up being a turning point for Marc Verica and the offense. We picked up two huge 4^th down conversions, including a 4^th and 13. Verica completed passes to 5 different receivers, and also picked up 12 yards on a scramble. Verica has the athleticism to made plays with his feet, and if he can make teams respect his running ability, it will open up some things downfield.

For example, it looked as though Verica could have run the ball into the endzone on the play where he threw the interception. He was running to his left, and tried to throw a lob, across his body, to Payne in the back of the endzone. It was a poor throw, but a much worse decision. Verica should’ve either thrown the ball away, or run it. Either way, we should’ve come up with points on that drive. The game was scoreless to that point, and taking the lead would’ve put a lot of pressure on a USC team that was already making a lot of mistakes.

The other play that must be mentioned is the fake punt we ran early in the 2^nd quarter. With the game scoreless, on 4^th and 5 from our own 40, punter Jimmy Howell hit Colter Phillips for a 36 yard catch and run that should’ve had us in position to put some points on the board. The officials flagged us for an illegal block, negating the play. The officials have since admitted that the flag was incorrect. Possibly the worst thing about the flag is that everybody has seen our big fake punt, and may now be ready for it.

In all, it was a game that we could’ve won (I won’t say should’ve won). Both teams made mistakes, as evidenced by the nearly 250 combined yards on 22 penalties. Both teams also made some great plays. USC, aided by a home field, a semi-capable placekicking operation, and (perhaps) some friendly officiating, made a few more plays and came away with a win.

I don’t want to ever be too happy with a loss, but I can’t say I was upset with the game. We went toe-to-toe with one of college football’s heavyweights, and we held our own. At this point in a new era, that’s a positive step.

Next up, a bye week. And then, an even easier week.

Final Score and Stats