After surviving two straight road games, the Virginia Cavaliers return home to Scott Stadium, standing tall atop the ACC standings with everything in front of them. At 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the ACC, the ‘Hoos
control their destiny to reach the ACC championship game, and thus, have a pathway to the College Football Playoff after the committee’s initial rankings slotted the ‘Hoos in at No. 14 Tuesday night.
To turn those big goals into reality, Tony Elliott and co. need to finish the regular season strong, starting this Saturday against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons make the short trip up to Charlottesville as one of the more confusing teams in the middle of the ACC. Sitting at 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the league, the Deacs picked up a huge upset win over SMU (who knocked off Miami last week) in one of the rockiest rock fights of the season on a walk-off field goal to win 13-12, injecting a dose of momentum into Jake Dickert’s team. That momentum came to a screeching halt last weekend at the hands of Florida State, who, perhaps, took out half a season of frustration on the Deacs in a 42-7 thrashing in Tallahassee.
The ‘Hoos and Deacs are set to collide at 7 P.M. with ESPN bringing the broadcast. A look at all you need to know ahead of the matchup:
Three Players to Watch
RB Demond Claiborne
Claiborne was highly touted as a potential transfer piece for teams across the country after Dave Clawson’s firing last season, but admirably stuck by his program and has been the lone bright spot at times for this offense. Through eight games, he’s fifth in the ACC with 639 yards, averaging six yards per carry. He’s struggled to get going the past two weeks, rushing for 100 yards on 37 carries and zero touchdowns in those two games. Wake’s inability to throw the ball certainly contributes to some of that, but Claiborne will likely need to be Superman to carry this offense, like he did last season against the ‘Hoos.
DB Nick Andersen
Andersen serves as the Swiss-Army Knife of the Wake defense. He’s listed at safety on the depth chart, but lines up from all areas of the field as a versatile playmaker. He’ll line up mainly in the box to support up front, similar to what Antonio Clary was so effective at last season. Andersen sits tied for 10th in the conference in tackles and has shown a big-play ability throughout his career, owning eight career interceptions.
Whoever’s in at Quarterback
Robby Ashford’s been the starter for the majority of the year, but has struggled throughout while also playing through a thumb injury sustained in the Demon Deacons’ win at Virginia Tech in early October. In his seven appearances, Ashford boasts just three passing touchdowns to go with five interceptions. Against SMU, it was backup Deshawn Purdie who got the start and took the majority of snaps in the upset win, despite throwing throwing for just 183 yards and two interceptions. Ashford started last week against FSU, going 12-of-21 with zero touchdowns and an interception before leaving the game after a hard hit on his interception throw at the end of the third quarter.
When asked about his team’s quarterback situation this week, Jake Dickert said, “We’ll evaluate the quarterback position week-to-week, sometimes series-to-series and those guys know that.” Ashford is said to be available for Saturday, but it might well be a coin flip as to who ends up leading this team for the majority of Saturday night’s game no matter how healthy he is.
Two Matchups
Scott Stadium crowd versus the Wake offense
It’s been three weeks since UVA climbed back in the fourth quarter to take down Washington State, thanks in large part to the energy provided by the home crowd. There hasn’t been this much buzz around a UVA football team in recent memory, with this week’s CFP rankings ratcheting the hype up multiple notches. The home crowd proved huge in the win over the Cougars, creating multiple false start penalties down the stretch, as well as in the early-season FSU win. Now, with another primetime kick on national television, a golden opportunity awaits Scott Stadium to once again disrupt an opposing offensive coordinator and an entire offense’s ability to execute.
Chandler Morris and the receivers against the Demon Deacon secondary
The Cal win served as a ‘get right’ game for the passing attack. After completing 60% of his throws against Washington State and 57 % against North Carolina, Chandler Morris found a steady groove against the Golden Bears, completing 67% of his passes for 262 yards, despite not tossing a touchdown. The ‘Hoos had four players catch four or more passes in that game, including Cam Ross, who returned after missing the UNC game and made an instant impact in UVA’s downfield passing game.
Wake’s been one of the ACC’s better defenses against the pass, ranking second in the league in yards allowed per game (191) and tied for first in passing touchdowns allowed with only seven. UVA looked much better attacking the middle of the field last week compared to previous games, a trend that showed up often in the early part of the season when things were humming consistently. Whether or not the ‘Hoos can continue to build on last week’s progress against a solid Wake secondary will be something to keep a close eye on, especially with a handful of offensive linemen either out or playing banged up for the ‘Hoos.
One Prediction
Anytime you turn on the TV and hear a coach delivering a pregame speech, talking about how “It’s all about us,” it’s easy to dismiss it as cliché coach-speak. And in some cases, it is, but in others it’s 100% true. This is one of those games for the Cavaliers where it’s true. Wake’s offense has been struggling mightily to move the ball, and until their first offensive drive on Saturday night, might not know who its quarterback is. Long story short, this is a ‘don’t play with your food’ type of situation. November is when the good teams separate themselves from the pack and begin to peak at the season’s most critical time. UVA has a chance to do exactly that.
The Deacs will undoubtedly show up ready to play and are capable of making this a game if UVA isn’t buttoned up — their near-win over Georgia Tech backs that up. I like UVA to get off to another fast offensive start and hit on a handful of explosive downfield shots for a touchdown or two throughout. The ‘Hoos to extend the winning streak to eight in a game that stays close on the scoreboard, but is controlled by the home team for the duration, thanks in large part to another impactful crowd.
Prediction: Virginia 31, Wake Forest 21
