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Hoos lock up 2 as part of the 25 class. Solid players on the defensive side. Davin is a 3 star recruit outta Md with a lot of offers. Of note both committed after an in-person this weekend and both cited the new facilities as something that stood out
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Every time I start to enjoy football news in the quiet offseasonā¦
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I was having a similar conversation this weekend with a friend regarding UVA football. 10-15 years ago, I could rattle off the 2-deep for the football team and breakdown the 3rd string guard. Those days are long gone.
But for some reason this yearās team has peaked my interest in a way that I have not felt since Perkins stepped on grounds. I have no expectations but it just feels like they are making some positive moves and building something, Iām just not entirely sure what it is.
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Its interesting since most of the projections have UVa doing worse than last year. At least on paper.
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This is the boat I am in. I have zero expectations, quit having them a long time ago (but the Perkins years had me back in for a minute). Gave up my season tickets after the 2007 season (the Cardiac Cavs season, where almost every win [Chris Gould] was by a FG except the final game in the Orange Bowl destruction of the Canes). But, with the new facility, the positive improvements shown last year, recruits seemingly excited to play for us, I am definitely interested to see where we go.
The schedule is brutal and will do us absolutely no favors, even if we are improved any more on both sides. I am still up in the air on whether or not this coaching staff can actually build something, but there were some small signs last year. Time will tell.
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The schedule is what you would call: not ideal.
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100%
Iāve said this since the offseason started, the '24 team could be vastly improved and still be worst or even at best due to the schedule. Itās going to be a slog.
The recruiting has picked up, but when youāre locking in a bunch of 3stars those arenāt typically immediate impact players and they need to grow into their roles.
When it comes to the staff, I donāt think this is the staff that takes the team to the promised land (8-9 win seasons on consecutive years), but I think they are providing a stable foundation for the next group to build on.
That said, I am willing to be wrong and can see a world where this regime is able to slow build into something if given time, but I wouldnāt bet on it given the landscape of the sport.
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Easier than last yearās schedule.
Dragon in his bag this morning 
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Never mind. I looked again and itās probably just as tough if not tougher.
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Eh. Last yearās schedule looked a lot tougher ahead of time than it ended up being. Still wasnāt a cakewalk but 6-12 months out it looked like a meat grinder.
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The interesting part about the upcoming yearās schedule is, while daunting itās not insane (yes Iām drinking a lot of Kool-aide) What I mean by that is, it would take a heroās effort to come out with a winning record, but I think there is a path. I expect there to to be a lot of matchups like last year where itās essentially a 50/50 game and if the team improves on the little things they could steal a win or 2.
I havenāt gone down the rabbit hole on predictions, but Iād place an O/U at 3.5 and MIGHT take the over.
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I see it like thisā¦ for us to be good, we need:
MUST WIN: Richmond, Coastal (i understand Coastal isnāt a gimme but they lost McCall and really i just donāt care, we have to win)
Need TWO of these 3: Wake, UMD, BC - Wake should be taking a step back themselves, not sure on UMD, and BC at home is not one we can afford to lose.
That gets us to 4 (and we beat the O/U). and those happen to be the first 5 games. if we could get to 4-1, that would do worlds for confidence, fan interest, etc., as we hit the harder games.
It also leaves us with 7 other gamesā¦ asking to go 2-5 might be a lot, but itās not unfathomable and if we did it, thatād be a hell of a year. In order of likelihood:
- at Pitt (they might be bad)
- vs SMU
- vs Louisville
- vs UNC (SMU-Lvl-UNC all feel about the same to meā¦ though iāve seen smoke about SMU and LVL both being dark horse teams so maybe UNC should be before them. at least all at home)
- at ND
- at Clemson
- at vpi (b/c in my dream world, weād be likely to be 5-6 going into that game and iāve gotten my hopes up like that beforeā¦)
2 Likes
You pretty much spelled out the math I did in my head to reach the number. I think the buckets you created are about right. Unfortunately I have not dug into teams charts/potential yet, so Iām hesitant to go all in on a Wake/Coastal/BC/UMD/UofL/SMU/Pitt win. But Iām not ready to chalk them up as probably losses yet.
For me the biggest differentiator will be can the team clean up the silly mistakes that cost them games last year? BC, NC State, JMU are three games that come to mind as squandered away due to inexperience and general I have no idea. I think this yearās team can put themselves into similar positions this year and be in close games going into the 4th, the question will be can the finish it.
3 Likes
Scott Stadium is Mack Browns house of horrors so I feel good about that one
9 Likes
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