Grade Report: UVA

No fine-tooth comb this week as I was not able to rewatch the game (thanks WSB). Here are my thoughts. I apologize for the delay, but sometimes life and other things get in the way of good blogging.

Offense: B+

After a slow start the line played well. They eventually slowed Long and the rest of the UVA lineman were having trouble getting penetration -- especially in the second half. Trueblood seemed a little off, but I couldn’t go back and confirm my memory. Beekman had one of his better games. Very good movement and was really helping clear interior holes. The unit gave Porter pretty good protection throughout.

I am not a fan of the two running backs system. There are advantages, but we should not be limiting Andre Callender’s carries. Clemson was his gutsiest game. This was his most explosive. On his second long run, he seemed surprised that he was getting that much separation. Can he please start at this point? L.V. was solid. He helped move the pile and kill some clock. He is still not breaking anything long. The Toal experiment is finally working as planned.

The receivers did a good job overall. Larry Lester needs to learn that protecting the ball is more important than getting that extra yard, but that was really my only complaint. There were few drops and I felt the group did a good job helping Porter get back in sync. After struggling against Clemson, Ryan Thompson bounced back with his best performance to date. His late catches were crucial.

Porter probably had his best game of the season given the conditions, the unexpected turn of events and his health. He was rusty early and is still floating passes, but he did a good job of finding the open man within UVA’s loose coverage.

I felt Bible called a good game. UVA was really biting on the play fakes in the second half.

Defense: B

We used our standard package against a mobile quarterback and it worked. However, there was a difference this time and the whole staff needs credit for it. When Hagans took off, we finally had linebackers that were athletic enough to stay with him. In one situation, Pruitt stayed with him step for step.

The guys who played in place of Kiwi and Washington deserve credit. Our front four did a good job of getting penetration. Kevin Akins played very well in place of Williams. Toal missed a few tackles, but I’ll let it go for the other important things he did.

UVA helped our defense with the drops. The D continues to be plagued by stupid penalties. At least they are keeping our opponents out of the endzone.

Special teams: D

The blocked punt was huge. Containing UVA’s returns was also good. Very stupid penalty on the holding call which turned one of their punts into a first down. Ayers had a good day in bad weather. Ohliger…I wish I didn’t see this coming. The kid can’t make a field goal and I hope the staff is done giving him chances. Let him handle kickoffs and send Troost out their for any field goal or PAT. They are lucky Ohliger did not cost us the game and better find a new kicker before next season.

Overall: B

A sloppy game with all units making mistakes. They could’ve won by much more. It shouldn’t take a dirty play to focus. However, the win was big and I am proud of the way everyone rallied around Kiwi.