[caption id="attachment_643" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Coach London and the Cavaliers will carry the flag into Bryd Stadium this Saturday. Photo / Virginia Media Relations / Jim Daves"]
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The Virginia Cavaliers (5-3, 2-2) travel to 'lovely' College Park this Saturday to take on the embattled Maryland Terrapins (2-6, 1-4). Coming off of 4 straight ACC loses, the Terrapins are reeling and fans and local media alike are already turning their backs on first year coach Randy Edsell. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, are coming off a surprising road victory against a Miami Hurricane team and now sit just one win away from bowl eligibility. Of course, any avid Wahoo fan knows that with the month of November comes great dispair on the football field. Indeed, the Cavaliers have not won in the month of November since they shut down the Orange Bowl with a 48-0 spanking of the Hurricanes on November 10th, 2007. Coincidentally, 2007 was also the last year that Cavaliers have appeared in post-season play. That was then, however, and this Cavalier football team appears to have the resolve, coaching, and talent to finally get over the hump. There will be no better opportunity for the Cavaliers to do so than this weekend against the rival Terps. Coming off a 9-4 season just a year ago, the Terps came into this season with high hopes behind newly hired coach Randy Edsell. After a dismal 2-6 start to the season, however, Maryland is a team that is beaten down - suffering from a string of season-ending injuries to starting defensive players and a quarterback carousel that has hampered any consistency on the offensive side of the ball (sound familiar?). With such a mess in College Park, one has to wonder if Coach Edsell has lost his team. We'll find out on Saturday.
Jekyll or Hyde?
[caption id="attachment_644" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Dex doing his best Mr. Hyde impersonation. Photo / Virginia Media Relations / Jim Daves"]
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Virginia has been as unpredictable than any other team in college football this year - losing games that they shouldn't on paper and then turning around and beating teams that are double digit favorites. As a result, many Virginia fans are reluctant to have too much confidence heading into Saturday's game despite the Terps recent woes, and rightfully so. Coming off of a stunning victory against the then #11th ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets just 3 weeks ago, Virginia turned right around the following week and came out completely flat at home against a struggling NC State squad - dropping the game 28-14. This week, Virginia is fresh off a similar thrilling victory against the Miami Hurricanes (giving Mike London is first ACC victory on the road at UVA) and again faces an embattled opponent. Couple that with the November win-less streak and it's easy to see why Cavalier fans are nervous heading into the next stretch of games.
[caption id="attachment_645" align="alignright" width="300" caption="With Virginia's consistent good play on the defensive side of the ball, Coach Jim Reid has been UVA's Dr. Jekyll this year. Photo / Virginia Media Relations / Jim Daves"]
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Never fear, however, Dr. Jekyll is here! In Virginia's first 5 games this year, the Cavaliers had a combined 13 turnovers and 31 penalties. The Cavaliers limped into their week 6 bye week following a less than pleasing overtime victory against the Idaho Vandals. Since the bye week, however, the Cavaliers have limited themselves to only 5 turnovers (4 of which game in a loss to NC State) through 3 games and only 11 penalties. Virginia is playing much smarter football. Furthermore, as seen against Miami, the Cavaliers are now a team with a true offensive identity behind second year signal caller Mike Rocco and an overpowering offensive line. If the Cavaliers can put together back-to-back ACC road victories, perhaps the hand wringing will ease just a little bit in Charlottesville.
Ground Game
[caption id="attachment_646" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Kevin Parks will be looking for a record setting 8th rushing touchdown against a depleted Maryland defense. Photo / Virginia Media Relations / Jim Daves"]
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A week ago, the Terrapins gave up 372 rushing yards at home to a Boston College team that averages only 141 rushing yards per game. That probably came as no shock to Maryland fans, as the Terrapins are simply terrible this year when it comes to stopping the run - ranking 118th out of 120 FBS schools in rushing defense, giving up 235 yards per game. Even more shocking are the 23 rushing touchdowns that the Terps have given up this year. Coming into this Saturday's contest, Virginia is putting up over 186 yards per game on the ground behind a 3 running back rotation that has been hard to stop this year for opposing defenses. Success in the running game should be priority number 1 for Virginia this Saturday. Though offensive coordinator Bill Lazor has seemingly been too in love with the passing attack at times this season, he called a great game against the Hurricanes - one that relied heavily on the ground game (42 run plays were called versus 21 passing plays). Due to the success Virginia had in moving the football, Virginia fans should expect to see more of the same against the Terrapins. Furthermore, a successful ground attack opens up Lazor's pro-style offense - as seen in the success of the short passes against Miami - as well as taking pressure off of quarterback Mike Rocco to win the game...which means less turnovers. Virginia's rushing stats will be a key indicator of the team's success come 4 PM on Saturday. If you remember, the Cavaliers were only able to muster 92 yards on the ground in last year's lopsided loss to the Terps.
Defending the Pass
[caption id="attachment_647" align="alignright" width="204" caption="Chase Minnifield and the UVA defensive backfield will need to step up on Saturday. Photo / Virginia Media Relations / Jim Daves."]
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Virginia has enjoyed a tremendous turn-around on the defensive side of the football this year, with the Cavaliers ranking 23rd through 8 games in total defense - giving up an average of 131 yards per game on the ground and 197 yards per game through the air. That being said, Virginia's last two outings against Miami and NC State have been fairly rough for the secondary - with the Cavaliers giving up a combined 578 passing yards and 6 passing touchdowns. If there is any area of Virginia's defense that can be exposed, it will be in the defensive backfield. Of course, the real question here is whether Maryland will continue the rotation at quarterback between sophomore Danny O'Brien and fellow sophomore C.J. Brown. O'Brien picked the Cavaliers apart last year in Charlottesville, passing for nearly 300 yards and 2 touchdowns with a 61% completion percentage. Regardless of who will be throwing the football, you can expect to see the Terps take some shots down the field against the Cavaliers. The Virginia secondary will need to keep the Terps from making the big, momentum changing plays that could give Maryland the energy they need to get past the 'Hoos. Of course, turnovers will play a factor here as well, with the Terrapin quarterbacks tossing 10 interceptions on the year. As such, safeties Corey Mosely and Rodney McLeod will have plenty of opportunities to make plays on Saturday. Of course, it's been hit or miss for Virginia's defensive backfield this year in making these type of plays.
The Pick
[caption id="attachment_648" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mike Rocco and the Cavaliers should get the long-awaited 6th victory on Saturday. Photo / Virginia Media Relations / Jim Daves"]
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On paper, Virginia should be a clear favorite to come out of College Park with a victory on Saturday. As we all know, stats never tell the whole story. Saturday marks the final home game of the year for the Terrapins, meaning it will be the last time the Seniors put on the [ugly] Maryland uniform for the last time in Byrd Stadium. Given the nature of the 'border war' with Virginia and the fact that the Terps are backed into a corner, I fully expect Maryland to come out and give Virginia it's best shot. The Cavaliers, however, should be able to withstand Maryland's first punch and outlast the Terrapins behind a power running game - dating back to 1937, Virginia is 22-8 against Maryland when putting up 150 yards or more on the ground. Virginia's extra time to prepare for the Terrapins coming off a Thursday night game last week should not be overlooked either as the Cavaliers were extremely well prepared when given extra time prior to their victory over Georgia Tech. Of course, the play of quarterback Mike Rocco will also play a large factor in Saturday's game as the sophomore will making only his second 'full' start under center for the Cavaliers. I suspect we'll see another solid outing from Mr. Rocco with Coach Lazor leaning toward the run against a depleted Terrapin defense. Personally, I'm very excited about Saturday's game as I really believe that Cavaliers will come out and take care of business - ending both of the haunting November and bowl game streaks while beating the hated Terps in the process. Wahoowa!
Virginia 27 - Maryland 10
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