University of Virginia Football Preview for 2008

Overall, definitely a step down here.

Special Teams:

This is an area of worry. 

We got spoiled with Connor Hugh’s consistency and then struggled in 2006 after he left. 

Since we are losing Gould and Weigand after this year (both of whom really got their acts together this past year), next year could be bad. 

We are also losing Zidenberg, who has always done an admirable job with his hustle. 

We’ll probably have a true freshman at punter and red-shirt freshman at kicker, so I’d definitely expect a step down.

Coaching:

This one is hard to predict. 

All Hoo fans were dismayed to see our defensive coordinator, Mike London, leaving, because the defense has been much better since he took over duties a couple years ago. 

Then we recently found out that Pruett was being hired to replace him, which gives us hope. 

He has an awesome resume as a DC, though I don’t know if he’s ever run a 3-4 defense.

I am hoping that Mike Groh, who has been less than impressive, might finally start to figure things out in his third year as offensive coordinator. 

Conclusion:

I think we will be a small step down in terms of overall talent and production next year. 

A lot of football success starts in the trenches, and we’ll have issues at OL and really miss Chris Long’s dominating play (always getting double-teamed and still making plays).

We won so many close games last year, that the 9-3 regular season easily could have been 4-8 if a few balls had bounced the other way. 

That sort of “luck” doesn’t give me confidence that it will carry over for the next year. 

Plus we are playing USC, so I would predict 7-5 for next year.

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