So here is part two of my game-by-game season preview for Virginia. Take a look at part one and enjoy!
Game 5: vs. Maryland: Revenge Is On Their Minds.
SET UP: Virginia’s season really started to garner attention when the Cavaliers took down the Maryland Terrapins in College Park before a national audience in 2007. It was the coming-out party for Mikell Simpson, who had 271 all-purpose yards.
However, the Terrapins will not be the only ones with revenge on their mind when they come into Charlottesville. Despite a very poor 2006 campaign, Virginia would have gone bowling if it had not blown a 20-point lead against Maryland at home.
That loss killed a lot of the momentum for freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell and helped erase a bad history for Maryland when it comes to playing (or more accurately “being beat down”) in Scott Stadium.
So who will have the last word this year?
PREDICTION: This is a very hard game for me to predict. On paper, the Terrapins have a decisive edge here in late August. However, I have seen the underdog Cavaliers pull out victories at home before, especially against Maryland.
Also, the latest boggling decision to go with Jordan Steffy over Chris Turner can only help Virginia in my honest opinion. However, Virginia’s greatest weapon, Mikell Simpson, won’t be the big surprise he was last season. Don’t expect him to go for 271 yards this time.
The Cavaliers will run the ball and, without a solid quarterback for Maryland, Virginia’s secondary deficiencies will not be so glaring. A few timely turnovers, and this may be the game that Turner gets his starting job back and the Fridge might be looking at a pink slip.
RESULT: UVA 23, MD 20
Game 6: vs. East Carolina: Danger! Danger!
SET UP: The Cavaliers went down to Greenville in 2006 and lost 31-21 in a game that was not even as close as the score may indicate. Virginia had a hard time stopping the Pirates' offense and without guys like Chris Long of Jeffrey Fitzgerald, that task is not getting an easier.
ECU has a very hard schedule, but it has a load of returning players and ended the season with a victory over America’s favorite mid-major, the Boise State Broncos.
Still, Virginia has an amazing home record. Only twice in the seven years Al Groh has been there, have the Cavaliers lost more than one game at home. Can they find a way to get it done?
PREDICTION:
3 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Thomas Brown 10 months ago
i agree with most, but i think the cavs will manhandle unc
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Ben Gibson 10 months ago
Hey Thomas, thanks for the read. I actually went back and forth on this pick and originally picked UVA. History is certainly on your side but hoo knows. I hope you're right.
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Thomas Brown 10 months ago
hoo knows...clever
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