Nov
23rd – UVa (Regular Season Home Finale)
In Part 11 of the 12 part 2013 Miami Hurricanes opponent
series, I will talk about a team that has beaten us the last 3 years, and that’s
the Virginia Cavaliers, our opponent on Senior Day, Nov 23rd at Sun
Life Stadium in the Regular Season Home Finale.
Here’s what you need to know about the Virginia
Cavaliers:
They are led by Mike London (Richmond '83),who is 16-21 in his three seasons in
Charlottesville. He’s been building that
program into a consistent winner, the same way he did at Richmond. On the
field, his team some success. In 2011, they won eight games, and almost won the
coastal, losing to hated in-state rival Virginia Tech. However, in 2012, they
did not make a postseason game and as a result, changes were made. London
brought in Tom O’Brien, John Tenuta, and Steve Fairchild to be on his staff.
When he came over from
Richmond, he came in knowing the Cavalier program, and how rich the state of
Virginia is with H.S. talent. In his final two seasons with the Spiders, his
teams went 24-5, which includes an FCS national championship in 2008 and a
quarterfinal trip in 2009. While Dave Clawson (now at Bowling Green), rebuilt
the Spiders program, London used the talent others wouldn’t take and lead it to
great success. Yes, he inherited an enviable position at Richmond, a program
already rebuilt by current Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson, but credit London
for taking a talented roster and leading it to even greater heights.
He was an assistant
under Al Groh from 2001-2004, and again from 2006-2007, (taking a year in the
middle as the DL Coach with the Houston Texans in 2005). While in Charlottesville,
he was the DL coach, while adding the title of recruiting coordinator from
2002-2004. In 2006, he came back to Charlottesville, this time, as the DC, a
position he held before being tapped as the boss in Richmond. What London has
done in some parts, has been remarkable: They recruit very well, and developing young talent for their defense.
However, they have misfired a couple of times. The question with London is does
he have what it takes to be a consistent force in the ACC? I think they need to
beat VT this year to have that question answered.
Let’s break down the Cavaliers:
Offensively: While the loss of Phillip Sims' hurts them, it doesn’t hurt as
much as losing Michael Rocco (transferred to Richmond in the off-season). What
they lose in Rocco is his experience and one who likely would have been the
starter going into this season. Now, London is going to have to determine
whether Sophomore David Watford or RS Freshman Greyson Lambert can fill the big
shoes Rocco left behind.
The competition for the
QB job has been very close throughout. This won’t be decided until I suspect a
few days before their opener. However, had they lost Watford, who got a lot of
playing time in 2011 as a freshman, but redshirted last year. Had Sims stayed, Watford
would have been gone and went elsewhere to play right away. The fact that he
stayed on, gives London two very good and young quarterbacks with unlimited
potential and very strong skill sets: What you get with Watford is a QB, that
can beat you with both his arm and his legs, while Lambert is the QB that the
traditional pocket passer, who would only get better. Don’t be surprised if
both see extensive action in 2013.
They might have to see extensive action because the running game
lost Perry Jones (Graduation and signed as UDFA by the Baltimore Ravens), and
would-be Junior Clifton Richardson (left program on May 16th). The
good news is that Junior Kevin Parks (734 yards) returns, and with Fairchild's new
offense, they will go back to their roots and that’s more of a running game
that led them to the postseason two years ago. Parks could make a run at a 1,000
yard season in this offense. Look for Junior Khalek Shepherd, RS Freshman Kye
Morgan and, true Freshman Taquan Mizzell to see some action as well. The
expectation for Mizzell are very high and the staff is going to give him every
opportunity to be the main backup in the rotation.
Where Jones' loss is
going to really hurt is in the WR core. He was also a very good receiver out of
the backfield, where he served as a valuable safety and secondary valve in the
passing game. They do have their entire corps back in 2013. However, this is a young
core, with only one Senior on that core (Tim Smith {20 receptions for 405 yards
in 2012}) holding down one of the starting spots. On the other side, they have
Junior Darius Jennings (48 receptions for 568 yards in 2012) returning, The
other WRs that will see action are Juniors Dominique Terrell (38 receptions for
475 yards in ‘12) and E.J. Scott (29 receptions for 390 yards in ‘12). They
have a stud TE, who’s a Junior as well, in Jake McGee (28 receptions for 374
yards in ‘12). McGee is one of the top TEs in the conference. When you look at this on paper, the experience
is there. However, what’s missing here is consistency, though having another
year of experience certainly helps on their two-deep. They don’t dazzle you,
but this group is solid and gets the job done.
As for the Offensive
line, this is the only
thing that really prevents UVa from really being a 10 win team. They tried in
the spring to find the right combination that would work on a consistent basis,
which is why only one projected starter, Senior LT Morgan Moses, kept the same
spot he had in 2012, going into the spring. What they were pretty surprised
about was how RS Freshman Jackson Matteo developed and rose to the starting
spot at Center: Matteo, who was a former walk-on, impressed their staff with
his instincts and sneaky athleticism. By doing so, it will allow Senior Luke
Bowanko to move over to Guard, where he does much better. With Matteo's strong
spring, someone gets left out, and that will likely be Junior Conner Davis,
though its possibly that he could still start at RG, but only if senior Sean
Cascarano moves over to Tackle, which is possible here because Sophomore Jay
Whitmire has struggled while being a starter. The leader of that line is Moses,
and if he goes down at any point this season, that line takes a huge hit. While
they are strongest on the weak side, they do have some depth along the interior
and their staff is pretty high on both Matteo and Whitmire. The question is: Can
quickly develop into solid starters in the ACC?
Defensively: The buzzword is here is: Youth. When they open vs BYU on 8/31,
don't be looking for more than two Seniors in their starting defense and no
more than three in key roles; the rest of whole unit are either Sophomores or Juniors,
and you can throw in a Freshman or two there. While it might one that would be worrisome,
but at the same time, there is hope here:
1. The talent is there.
2. As the season goes on,
this talent will develop and only get better.
3. When you have an
aggressive DC like Tenuta is, this talent is going to develop a mean streak.
The potential is there to have a D that opponents do not want to face.
However, in the here and
now, they are going to need Senior DL’s Jake Snyder (44 tackles, 5.5 for loss),
Brent Urban (20 tackles) and Justin Renfrow to step up and carry the load while
they get the new starters some experience and into their rotation. Snyder is
steady on the interior; while on the outside at DE, you have Sophomore Eli
Harold (36 tackles, 7.0 for loss), who they believe is going to be a great one
in Charlottesville. The question here is: Is Harold ready to raise his game to
the next level as a second-year player? With youth is going to come inconsistency,
he's can be an All-American one play and crap on the next. When you see him on
tape, the potential of this kid is off the charts. On the interior, Urban and
Renfrow are the main players at DT, They will be joined by Sophomore David
Dean, RS Freshman Andre Miles-Redmond, Junior Greg Gallop and two incoming
freshmen. Think about this, you could see on their DL, as many as seven Sophomores
playing big roles there.
As for their secondary,
this is going to be a unit that will ultimately be one of the best in the ACC.
They have Junior CB Demetrious Nicholson (56 tackles) back, as well as other
starters returning and continuing their growth in their roles on the college
level. The only real competition here is for the other CB spot, where either Junior
DreQuan Hoskey or Sophomore Maurice Canady will win that job. They have back at
the safety spot: Juniors Anthony Harris (87 tackles) and Brandon Phelps (48
tackles), while they have coming in two very impressive true freshmen in Kirk
Gardner and Tim Harris.
The weakest link of
their Defense is at LB. They have to find replacements for their two leading
tacklers in Steve Greer (Graduation and signed as UDFA by the Washington
Redskins) and La'Roy Reynolds (Graduation and signed as UDFA by the
Jacksonville Jaguars). Its going to be up to underclassmen like Kwontie Moore,
Demeitre Brim, Henry Coley (40 tackles, 4.5 for loss) and Daquan Romero (44
tackles) to all step up and take a much bigger role here. The most experience
of those three are Coley and Romero. They’ll be the likely starters there (Romero
on the weak side, Coley in the middle). They could move Coley back to the
strong side if they believe Moore is ready to assume a bigger role as the MLB.
Special teams: This unit is just horrible.
They are one of the worst in the ACC. Their kicking game is just terrible, though
Sophomore Kicker Ian Frye should get better being the kicker full-time. While
the return game does have its moments, for the most part, its just not there. Their coverage is just pathetic. Hopefully,
2013 has better results for them because it can’t get any worse.
In closing, yes, I understand the fact; they’ve beaten us three
years in a row. However, this year, it will not be four in a row. Too much
inconsistency, too many question marks and when I look at that schedule, with
Oregon coming to Charlottesville on 9/7, it could get very ugly very quickly
and could be the start of a long season for the Cavs. This is going to be a
year of growing pains, with 2014 being the year we can really judge this team. I’m
going to say for the Cavs in 2013: 6-6.
In the 12th and final part of the series, I will
preview the one of the two newest members of the ACC this year and that’s the
Pitt Panthers.
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