Observations From a Rough Homecoming, Including My Own Jinx ðŸ˜
Observations From a Rough Homecoming, Including My Own Jinx ðŸ˜
Virginia lost to Louisville 34-17 on Saturday to bring them to 0-3 in ACC play. They hadn't started 0-3 in league play since the Mike London era.
I might have bet my car on the Hoos after Brennan Armstrong and Dontayvion Wicks hooked up for their first touchdown of the season midway through the first quarter. The strike put Virginia up 10-0 and all signs — I really mean all signs — were pointing toward a Wahoo blowout. Louisville, a team in disarray and just one loss away from a potential firing, had a totally unproven backup quarterback under center, and through a couple drives, he looked totally overmatched.
Throughout the week, I’d been telling whoever would listen that Virginia was in a perfect spot for a bounce back. A get-right game, if you will. They were embarrassed by a team they were supposed to beat and they were coming home. Finally. It was all lining up.
So now we’re up 10-0 and driving, again. Back-to-back strikes to Keytaon Thompson. Boom, boom, inside Louisville territory. I was crazy enough to think maybe KT would get his first receiving touchdown of the year, checking the box Wicks had checked a few minutes prior.
Well…it was just wishful thinking. All of it. Virginia shot themselves in the foot. Brennan fumbled at the end of a scramble, inside the redzone, giving him twice as many lost fumbles this year (4) as the rest of his Virginia career (2). Now, I still would have been very bullish on the Hoos fulfilling my pregame prophecy at this point, but it turned out to be the start of the death spiral that became Homecomings Saturday.
I’m really happy I didn’t have a master bookmaker sitting next to me in Section 115 because I could be without a car right now. Just kidding. But If there was one, maybe my wife and I would have stayed in our seats and NOT moved to the student section to meet up with some old friends. Because, I kid you not, we moved seats when it was 10-0 and I’m here to take a bit of responsibility for what transpired on the field after. We messed with the juju, and after every play that went amiss, I told someone. SMH
If you’re not the type of guy or gal who believes in those superstitious-type things, here’s a few things that actually factored into the outcome.
Brock Domann — Louisville’s unproven backup QB — got too comfortable.
This was one of the biggest things, in my opinion. To start the second quarter, Domann, who had just 16 collegiate pass attempts before the game, led a long field goal drive that gave him all sorts of confidence. He wasn’t throwing the ball all over the yard or anything but the Virginia defense was having a tough time stopping their running game. Louisville converted two third-downs on running plays from Jawhar Jordan…
Which then set up the disaster/great play that came on their next drive. After a three-and-out by the Hoos, the Cards were faced with a 4th-and-2 at the Virginia 44. Instead of giving the ball to the back, though, Domann pulled it and ran untouched for a touchdown. No one saw it coming. It was a great play by him, and from there the dude was just walking on water.
Credit to Domann and their O-line. The Hoos have a good pass rush but they didn’t get home all game, finishing with zero sacks. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but the last thing I’d want to see as a green backup QB was blitzers with their ears pinned back every time I went to drop back.
Foot. Shot. Again
The fumble by Brennan in the first quarter was a bummer. That could have been a situation where ALL the wind was out of their sails and we cruise. The ball bounced the other way, of course, and it didn’t happen like that. That said, there was plenty more foot shooting to come.
Wicks dropped a few balls, an issue for him all season. He wasn’t alone; KT also had a key drop on a 3rd-and-long. Speaking of, they were only 3-for-12 on third-down conversions and 1-for-3 on fourth downs. Penalty-wise, Virginia again struggled, including an instance where they turned a 4th-and-12 into a 4th-and-17 and then a 4th-and-20 because they had back-to-back penalties. Overall they finished with 8 for 66 yards.
As for BA, he finished with three turnovers (one lost fumble, two interceptions) and now has 11 on the season (four lost fumbles, seven interceptions).
Balance issues.
Virginia’s running game and defense were strengths through four games, but over the last two, they’ve taken a step back. The Hoos only ran for 99 yards between the Duke and Louisville games, while the defense allowed 72 combined points.
None of the backs could find a rhythm against Louisville. Overall, the three backs combined for 13 yards on 11 attempts. The offensive line also had a tough time with Louisville’s front. Not only did their running game suffer but Brennan was sacked six times.
It’s hard to find a silver lining from this one. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. But…we are seeing more flashes of Brennan looking comfortable and confident. If the drops, turnovers, and penalties are finally out of their system they can actually start building something. Defensively, the week off will be great for them to get healthy. I believe in Coach Rud and the offense has put them in some bad spots with all the turnovers.
At this point, I just want to see them growing…if that makes sense. If they can show they’re growing in the new system and stop beating themselves, that would be growth. But then they have to go beat Tech. The wins might not be coming…but if Coach Elliott beats Tech, he will have a nice jumping off point for next season.