We are 5 days away from quite possibly the biggest Virginia football game EVER. At least since 1990 when UVA was #1 in the Nation and 7-0, playing a great Georgia Tech team. UVA lost and finished that season an underwhelming 8-4. UVA hasn’t reached the Top 5 since that game but has reached the Top 10 four times. (#6 in 2004, #7 in 1998, #9 in 1995 and #10 in 1992)
Lets get the discussion going because its a massive week for UVA Football and its fans.
What are your keys to the game?
What are your concerns?
Can Virginia get its first Top 10 win on the road EVER? I posted this on wahoops and asked for a fact check and so far, nobody has been able to tell me its wrong. Crazy to think we’ve never gone into a top 10 team’s house and gotten a victory. We have beaten a few top 25 and top 15 teams on the road but not many. Historically, when we get to these big games, we flop and get blown out but not every time. I expect us to at least keep this one close and give it a run. We have a great team and I know they will fight hard this Saturday.
O Line protecting Bryce controlling the line of scrimmage.
Run Game. Do we have enough of a consistent run game to beat a team like this? Do we even need that or can we rely on BP3 and get the ball in his hands most of the day. That strategy may not work all season but maybe we can keep getting away with it for now.
O line play is at the top of the list of areas of importance. If they can give BP some time and establish any sort of running game, it gives us a chance to control the clock a bit. I think time of possession is key.
It seems as though Virginia has played pretty amazing Defense all year so far, besides the first half of the ODU game. many turnovers. Yes we have 2 TD’s on defense and 4 INT’s overall but i expect this defense to average 1.5 INT’s a game maybe have 2-3 some games. 4 INT’s isn’t bad at all through 4 games but we could have more. As far as not having any FF’s this year, I think they will come to but… I think a good defense will have less control over fumbles than they do over forcing INT’s.
The way I look at this game is that we are playing with House Money. Notre Dame cannot afford another Loss to have a chance at the College Football playoff. I wanted ND to beat UGA, not only to make it a higher ranking matchup but also because they may be confident and know that they can ultimately afford 1 loss. Obviously that isn’t their thought process and they maybe wouldve had more confidence but to me, its a must-win now for a good football team.
Good news for us is that we are playing with House Money. We haven’t been 5-0 since 2004 and 6-0 since 1990 (didn’t fact check but my best guess). We also have never beaten a TOP 10 team on the road. We have absolutely nothing to lose, no ACC lead to lose, nothing. For that reason I expect us to go out and play hard for 60 minutes. We have the talent and heart to beat this Notre Dame team and capture the biggest win in our programs history.
In my opinion and from what I’ve heard, this is going to be the hardest game this year. High stakes and highly anticipated. This game is going to be tight, tough, and crucial. Going to be a heck of a top 20 matchup! I think we need to get our entire offense going (air and ground), and not just work around Bryce. We need to limit the turnovers offensively, and make a statement on defense. This game will make or break or reputation. I think it will be both an offense heavy and defense heavy game. This will be a great game! My UNOFFICIAL prediction is 31-28 hoos on top! Go Hoos!!!
In my opinion the game will basically ride on whether the O-line shows up.They have played well at times but are definitely our weakest spot. I was very afraid that Perkins was gonna get hurt against ODU.The line didnt play well at all but some credit has to be given to ODU.They are a MUCH better team than I thought and I believe will be hard to handle in their conference. My prediction is the O-line shows up and we win a nail biter. UVA 31-30