UVA @ Maryland Preview

The 2-3 Virgina Cavaliers will venture north to Byrd Stadium this Saturday, to face the 2-4 Maryland Terrapins.

After losing their first 3 games of the 2009 season, UVA has won the last two-weeks.
The Cavaliers earned their first 2009 win, with a 16-3 victory at North Carolina, and followed that up with a 47-7 beating of Indiana.

Obviously Virgina will enter this game feeling better about themselves. Virgina is the only Atlantic Coast Conference team with only 1 league-game under their belt. Like MD, their only thought has to be only improving during the season in conference play. Unlike the Terps, UVA will have to deal with the stronger Coastal division.

So how have the Cavs turned things around? It has started with defense.

Virginia held the Tar Heels to 174 total yards of offense, and just 39 on the ground.

Running-back Mikell Simpson had 100 rushing yards, and added another 45 as a receiver. QB Jameel Sewell was sacked 4 times, and only produced 136 passing-yards, but did not turn the ball over.

Against Indiana, Simpson had 4 rushing touchdowns, 83 rushing yards, and 66 yards receiving.
Sewell had a big-day, with 308 passing yards in just 3 quarters of work, and again no turnovers.

MD is going to have to key on Simpson as both a runner, and receiver if Simpson can play. As The Sun’s Jeff Barker correctly points-out, Simpson hurt his neck Saturday, and his ability to play this week is in some doubt. Barker is also correct that MD fans will remember Simpson for the 271 yards rushing he had in College Park two years ago.

Beyond Simpson, there are 5 other UVA players with at-least 90 total reception yards.

To me, the continued story seems to be the improving UVA defense, which limited the Hoosiers to 272 total yards.

Cavalier Head Coach Al Groh had a Press Conference yesterday, and the transcript can be found here:

http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=88791&SPID=10606&DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=204812563

Couple of interesting comments from Groh that stand-out. He talks about coming to MD every-other year is one of their more difficult match-ups due to it being a border war. Also spoke about his respect for Torrey Smith (and how if UVA foresaw Smith becoming the player he is today, that he he would be a Cavalier). Said that MD’s defense will cause additional preparation, as it is not a scheme UVA has seen.

I thought the most interesting comment was his initial statement about the size and physical skills of the UVA starting cornerbacks. It was revealed during that press-conference, that Virginia CB Ras-I Dowling had been named ACC Defensive Back of the Week. In the pre-season, Dowling as an All-ACC selection.

This will be the Homecoming Game for MD. If the Terps can not beat UVA at-home, expect the heat on the program to rise to another level.

Winning will not be easy for the Terps. Here are the five things I will be looking for:

1) Does MD get the services of Bruce Campbell, and Demetrius Hartsfield? Hartsfield has to have surgery to repair two broken-bones in his hand, but it is not clear when the surgery will occur, and if he can play in the interim. Campbell has missed 3 games already, which has had a huge impact on the team. The team has enough problems on the o-line, that it really not afford to be missing their best offensive-line player.

2) The Redshirt of Caleb Porzel was burned this past weekend for 2 carries. Now that it occurred, it is imperative that Porzel gets the ball.

3) In the ridiculous 31-0 loss at Virginia last-year, the Cavs rushed for over 200 yards against Maryland. The Terps come into this game, allowing 174.2 yards a game on the ground. If the exotic schemes are not helping you generate a consistent pass-rush, you should at-least commit to slowing down opposing running games. If this season becomes even more irrelevant, I would think you need to consider giving more time to the younger defensive-lineman (Kerr, Anderson, Kabongo, Russell) that you are going to need to help long-term anyway. Travis Ivey, Degee Galt, and Jared Harrell better step-up this weekend, or a more regular rotation needs to be established.

4) Same thing for the Secondary. The CB’s have often been exposed on an island, and had to deal with a minimal pass-rush, but CB Anthony Wiseman, and SS Jamari McCollough have had a tough go of it. Neither one are going to be back next-year. Let us see more of the guys that will. The Redshirt I would have considered burning would have been / would be CB Travis Hawkins, who was rated the 12th best CB in the 2009 class according to Scout.com. Ideally, I would like to see a Starting Secondary of Hawkins, and Chism at CB, with Perez, and Tate at Safety down the stretch.

5) There are offensive-weapons that are not being utilized. I would love to see MD find a way to get Lansford Watson, and Devonte Campbell more involved at TE. At WR, Adrian Cannon, and Ronnie Tyler are solid options behind Smith, but I would like to see Kerry Boykins, and Kevin Dorsey become more involved.

It seems to me that the best use of time for the remainder of this season, is getting your talented youth as much playing-time, and experience as possible. If that is at the detriment of Senior’s, so be it.