Where even to begin with this monstrosity? NC State found the worst-case scenario for the season-opener and dared to dig even deeper, effectively putting itself out of the game by the early stages of the second quarter. It was a disastrous collision of poor play on both sides of the ball, which let Virginia dictate terms all day.
CJ Bailey and the NC State offense were terrible—Bailey never looked comfortable or decisive in the pocket, even when he had time to throw, and the receiving corps did nothing
to help him. I didn’t expect this group of receivers to be exceptional, but what we saw today was deeply worrying. State had zero vertical passing game, and what few opportunities there were, Bailey tended to miss.
The offense racking up three-and-outs to begin the game put the defense in a difficult spot—Virginia had the ball for almost 20 minutes in the first half and ultimately ground the Pack into a fine paste with run after run after run. I didn’t think UVA’s passing game would be very good, but the thing there is you have to actually force Virginia into passing downs, and NC State couldn’t do that.
Pribula was out there like a slo-mo Lamar Jackson, which was probably the most irritating part of a very irritating day. NC State had no answer for that dude simply taking a shotgun snap, faking a handoff, and running the ball himself. The methods UVA required to move the ball up and down the field were pathetically simple. And once the Cavs had established that threat, they were able to successfully work off of play-action to make Pribula’s life as a passer very straightforward.
Give Virginia credit—to start the second half, the Cavs actually came out throwing the ball, which wrong-footed State’s defense in a completely different way, led to a quick score, and put the game on ice.
And once NC State did finally get on the scoreboard, Virginia came back with a 23-play drive that lasted over 12 goddamned minutes. Some real service academy shit. The Cavs basically moved the ball in 3.5-yard increments on a possession that lasted 20% of the game, and I cannot get that time back. I am sorry for having witnessed that or anything else today.
I am not going to overreact to what happened out there, despite my brain’s efforts to the contrary. That’s about as bad as I’ve seen CJ Bailey play—forcing balls, having passes batted or deflected at the line, committing a backbreaking turnover in the red zone, etc. He’ll be fine, and it’s tough to imagine the team playing any worse than this. There are some clear problems that aren’t simply a function of poor execution, but let’s at least give it a few more weeks before we go burying thisteam and ripping each other’s heads off.
