Virginia?s challenge for Saturday afternoon?s home game against Georgia Tech is as simple as cornbread: stop the run.
The Yellow Jackets (4-3, 3-2) bring the nation?s third-best running attack to Scott Stadium (3 p.m. start), averaging 348 yards on the ground per game. Coach Paul Johnson?s run-heavy option attack presents a unique challenge to anything in its way.
?It?s always different,? UVa senior linebacker Micah Kiser said of Tech?s offense. ?You only play against the triple option one week out of the year. They key thing is you have to do your assignment and trust that everyone around you is doing what they?re supposed to do.?
Ah, there?s the rub. It doesn?t always happen that way, and that?s when the option jumps up and bites defenses.
?That?s where the big plays happened last year,? Kiser remembered. ?One touchdown was clearly my fault. Jordan Mack did his job perfectly and I didn?t do mine. A pitch gets outside and it?s a touchdown.?
The play Kiser referred to was a pitch from Tech quarterback Justin Thomas to Marcus Marshall that covered 67 yards.
Much is written about how the Yellow Jackets dominate games with the running attack, time of possession, grinding out long drives, but get this. In UVa?s 31-17 loss in Atlanta last year, Georgia Tech only ran 41 plays compared to the Cavaliers? 88, and had the ball but 21 minutes, 23 seconds, much less than Virginia?s 38:37.
If nothing else, those numbers showed that Tech can win with a few long runs, even though its game is truly ball control.
Thus, Virginia?s assignment Saturday is to prevent the Jackets from executing explosive plays and to limit the length of drives. Certainly, the Cavaliers won?t have to worry too much about the forward pass.
Tech QB TaQuon Marshall doesn?t throw the ball with frequency. In seven games this season, Marshall has only attempted a mere 64 passes. His Virginia counterpart, Kurt Benkert, threw 66 passes in one game.
Last week, in a 24-10 loss at Clemson, Marshall threw the ball 13 times. He completed three for 32 yards.
Georgia Tech can afford to do that when it averages nearly six yards per rush and converts 47 percent of its third down attempts, and an even higher 55 percent of fourth downs. Still, it?s a high-risk offense. The Jackets have lost an ACC-high 10 fumbles.
?That?s what they do,? Kiser said. ?They don?t have that many plays. You watch their coach on the sidelines, and he doesn?t have a playbook or play sheet. He?s calling [plays] off his head.
?They?re just going to keep doing the same plays over and over and over again, and hope that you break,? Kiser added. ?You have to be mentally focused.?
Johnson has been coaching the triple option his entire career. Never needed a playbook. He has all the angles and adjustments right between his ears, regardless of the situation.
Speaking of between the ears, that?s where Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall?s message to his players has been directed in the wake of a two-game losing streak.
?The exceptional teams, there is an air and swagger and confidence and belief that comes with repeated success,? Mendenhall said of his 5-3, 2-2 team. ?That needs to be in place versus option teams as well.
?We saw last year, the control of the game was really in our favor the majority, but one player off here or there, the play can go a long ways,? Mendenhall said.
Virginia?s legendary quarterback Shawn Moore said during a podcast interview on CavalierInsider.com on Friday that the biggest difference between the 1990 team he directed to the nation?s No. 1 ranking, and the current crop of Wahoos is confidence.
?Great teams have a swagger,? Moore said.
While the present Cavaliers would love just to become bowl eligible, they do have history on their side. Since Georgia Tech upset No. 1-ranked Virginia at Scott Stadium in 1990 (41-38 on a late field goal), the Yellow Jackets have only won twice in Charlottesville.
In order to pull off their own upset against Tech, the Cavaliers? offense is going to have to produce points on likely fewer possessions. UVa ranks ninth in the ACC in scoring offense with a 24.6 points per game average.
That?s not going to win most games in modern day football.
Mendenhall links the lack of scoring to UVa?s shortcomings in the deep passing game.
?The past three or four games, we haven?t connected, so we?re not scoring enough,? Mendenhall said. ?That?s just kind of a brutal fact. We?re not scoring enough collectively as an offensive unit, and we?re not connecting downfield enough to influence the scoring.?
Benkert has shouldered the blame, having said this week that he needs to be more patient in the pocket and give the deep pass routes more time to develop.
Studying the Yellow Jackets? defense all week, the UVa QB said that Tech?s defense looks like a completely different unit playing in the opener against Tennessee (a one-point loss to the Vols) than it did against Clemson last week.
?We have an idea of what they want to do, but week-to-week, it just depends on how they match up skill player-wise,? Benkert said.
The Yellow Jackets (4-3, 3-2) bring the nation?s third-best running attack to Scott Stadium (3 p.m. start), averaging 348 yards on the ground per game. Coach Paul Johnson?s run-heavy option attack presents a unique challenge to anything in its way.
?It?s always different,? UVa senior linebacker Micah Kiser said of Tech?s offense. ?You only play against the triple option one week out of the year. They key thing is you have to do your assignment and trust that everyone around you is doing what they?re supposed to do.?
Ah, there?s the rub. It doesn?t always happen that way, and that?s when the option jumps up and bites defenses.
?That?s where the big plays happened last year,? Kiser remembered. ?One touchdown was clearly my fault. Jordan Mack did his job perfectly and I didn?t do mine. A pitch gets outside and it?s a touchdown.?
The play Kiser referred to was a pitch from Tech quarterback Justin Thomas to Marcus Marshall that covered 67 yards.
Much is written about how the Yellow Jackets dominate games with the running attack, time of possession, grinding out long drives, but get this. In UVa?s 31-17 loss in Atlanta last year, Georgia Tech only ran 41 plays compared to the Cavaliers? 88, and had the ball but 21 minutes, 23 seconds, much less than Virginia?s 38:37.
If nothing else, those numbers showed that Tech can win with a few long runs, even though its game is truly ball control.
Thus, Virginia?s assignment Saturday is to prevent the Jackets from executing explosive plays and to limit the length of drives. Certainly, the Cavaliers won?t have to worry too much about the forward pass.
Tech QB TaQuon Marshall doesn?t throw the ball with frequency. In seven games this season, Marshall has only attempted a mere 64 passes. His Virginia counterpart, Kurt Benkert, threw 66 passes in one game.
Last week, in a 24-10 loss at Clemson, Marshall threw the ball 13 times. He completed three for 32 yards.
Georgia Tech can afford to do that when it averages nearly six yards per rush and converts 47 percent of its third down attempts, and an even higher 55 percent of fourth downs. Still, it?s a high-risk offense. The Jackets have lost an ACC-high 10 fumbles.
?That?s what they do,? Kiser said. ?They don?t have that many plays. You watch their coach on the sidelines, and he doesn?t have a playbook or play sheet. He?s calling [plays] off his head.
?They?re just going to keep doing the same plays over and over and over again, and hope that you break,? Kiser added. ?You have to be mentally focused.?
Johnson has been coaching the triple option his entire career. Never needed a playbook. He has all the angles and adjustments right between his ears, regardless of the situation.
Speaking of between the ears, that?s where Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall?s message to his players has been directed in the wake of a two-game losing streak.
?The exceptional teams, there is an air and swagger and confidence and belief that comes with repeated success,? Mendenhall said of his 5-3, 2-2 team. ?That needs to be in place versus option teams as well.
?We saw last year, the control of the game was really in our favor the majority, but one player off here or there, the play can go a long ways,? Mendenhall said.
Virginia?s legendary quarterback Shawn Moore said during a podcast interview on CavalierInsider.com on Friday that the biggest difference between the 1990 team he directed to the nation?s No. 1 ranking, and the current crop of Wahoos is confidence.
?Great teams have a swagger,? Moore said.
While the present Cavaliers would love just to become bowl eligible, they do have history on their side. Since Georgia Tech upset No. 1-ranked Virginia at Scott Stadium in 1990 (41-38 on a late field goal), the Yellow Jackets have only won twice in Charlottesville.
In order to pull off their own upset against Tech, the Cavaliers? offense is going to have to produce points on likely fewer possessions. UVa ranks ninth in the ACC in scoring offense with a 24.6 points per game average.
That?s not going to win most games in modern day football.
Mendenhall links the lack of scoring to UVa?s shortcomings in the deep passing game.
?The past three or four games, we haven?t connected, so we?re not scoring enough,? Mendenhall said. ?That?s just kind of a brutal fact. We?re not scoring enough collectively as an offensive unit, and we?re not connecting downfield enough to influence the scoring.?
Benkert has shouldered the blame, having said this week that he needs to be more patient in the pocket and give the deep pass routes more time to develop.
Studying the Yellow Jackets? defense all week, the UVa QB said that Tech?s defense looks like a completely different unit playing in the opener against Tennessee (a one-point loss to the Vols) than it did against Clemson last week.
?We have an idea of what they want to do, but week-to-week, it just depends on how they match up skill player-wise,? Benkert said.
