Yeah thatās honestly who he reminds me of - Lundy in particular. Itās kinda wild how few good running backs weāve had over the years since then.
On a separate note, I have a hot take that I donāt think is that hot: this team is better than 2019. That team was basically just Perkins making plays in spite of his bad OL and no run game (but great receivers), with a better defense.. A good team for sure, but I think this yearās team is more well rounded.
Maybe a good question to consider for the podcastā¦
How about the fact that we can pretty consistently move the ball on 3rd and 4th and short. Sure we had one miss late on Friday but usually itās been very easy for us to move the chains on short yardage.
agreed, at the very least this group is definitely more impressive than the 2019 teamās performance thru their first 5 games.
This is championship football. This is what this staff has been trying to do since day 1. Dominate the lines of scrimmage and have a foundation of a physical and diverse running game. You pointed out how the 2019 offense kinda felt fluky in the sense that it relied on Perkins essentially making magic out of nothing. Our offense this year is completely the opposite. Everything about the way this unit is producing feels consistent and predictable. Ofc there were magical plays on friday night, but this squad excels at āmaking the routine playā (as Elliott would put it) and staying on schedule. This is how championship programs are built and Iām soooo happy that the staff got the requisite resources to truly bring their vision to life
I donāt really think thatās a hot take. Maybe if Bryce Hall snd the other DBs that got hurt stayed healthy, but by the end of the year that defense was spent.
I also think we have way more top end talent than we realized heading into this year. I think most assumed we added solid, experienced players in the portal, but these dudes are really talented too. Plenty of the guys on offense will be playing Sundays.
I ear marked a stat about that I read yesterday. And I need to bring it back for the pod, but the conversion numbers for the Hoos are insanely high and put them in the top 10 or 15% in college football.
Edit: Had to dig in on this currently the Hoos are converting 56.9% of their third down conversions. Last year the number was 34.25% obviously this year is a limited data sample, but itās doubtful they fall to a number that low.
Agreed with @ell and @Jerome, this yearās team is better than the one we saw in 19 that was carried by a super hero at QB. This team can absolutely dominate you on offense in a way Iāve not seen before. The balance with the bullies up front, Morris doing just enough in the read game, and then being able to zip it around makes the unit a real pick your poision to defend.
Also, we got a special one at QB this year too. I implore anyone to watch interviews of Chandler. Even if I didnāt know anything about his background, you can tell heās a coachās kid. His football IQ, understanding of how to manage the different personalities and temperaments of his guys, his ability to relay and say dramatic things with such conviction and sincerity (the mark of a truly great motivator IMO). I know many folks scoffed at him when he talked about winning a natty this year, but after what we saw Friday night (we ran for 200+ yards with 3 OL out against THAT front), who are we to say anything? let the young man cook
Toughest game left on our schedule but still winnable. Louisville looked awful in the 1st half against Pitt and then dominated in the 2nd, they probably win that game by 2-3 TDās if they donāt fall in such an early hole.
I actually think itās a pretty clear cut recipe to beating them, you have to get pressure on Miller Moss and force him out of the pocket. Heās awful when having to improvise and make throws on the run but if you give him a clean pocket or allow Brohm to get his quick passing game working theyāll pick you apart. The main issue for us will be how do we stop the short passing game without giving up big plays on the perimeter, UL has a really good WR tandem in Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy who are both threats to catch 50/50 balls downfield and theyāve got in my opinion the best RB in the ACC in Isaac Brown. Not as much depth or as many home run threats as FSU, but theyāve got plenty of talent. I think this is a game where you have to live with giving up a couple deep shots in order to stop ULās overall game plan, Brohm as a coach is someone who will be completely comfortable nickel and diming you down the field if you let him so we canāt let him.
Yeah, its extraordinary. I havenāt checked into how many tackles for loss weāve allowed, but it feels really low. Also, its just incredible the team can face a genuinely good top-10 opponent stacking the box to stop the run, and just casually come away with 5 yards.
Like, this is a program that hasnāt had good OL/RB play inā¦ 20 years? Sure, weāve had the occasional good ārushing attackā, but Iām putting it in quotes because those seasons had good rushing totals because we had Perkins or another good running QB. An actually good rushing attack spearheaded by OL and good RB play? A long time.
I feel bad slighting Kevin Parks because iirc he got some all-ACC honors and put up some great numbers, but I just donāt think he was in that category. Maybe the very best of the step down.
Anyway, its just fun to see the team be able to pass AND run the ball on offense.
Interesting stat. Those were during the Art Guepe years. Still the best U.Va. football coach of all time in terms of wins percentage (47-17-2, or 73.4%). Vandy stole him from us in 1953 because U.Va. President Darden wouldnāt let him take the #13 Hoos (8-1) to the Orange Bowl after the 1951 season. At Vandy he went 49-54-7 (the SEC was brutal even back then).