Bleacher Report - Articles by Justin Mehaffey

ACC Football Wrap-Up As I See It...

Justin Mehaffey — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:10:51 -0500

Sometimes when you look at a season in hindsight, thinks may look a little clearer. Other times, you're just as confused as you were when you started. That's how I feel about this season in the ACC.

You could say that the ACC kinda looked like the SEC this year (not in talent or anything like that, but I mean how everyone beats everyone). In no way am I comparing the ACC to the SEC, but simply saying that this year, like the SEC in the past, any team could win on any given day.

Now, unlike the SEC, the ACC didn't have a Florida or Alabama that completely dominated their divisions and then met in a colossal battle for the conference championship, which would send the winner to the BCS title game.

The ACC this year had teams who started off at the bottom and then finished the season on a streak to make it into a bowl. Then you had teams who got hot in the middle of the season, only to blow it. Lastly, you had teams who were inconsistent every week.

In my opinion, I think the most consistent team this year was Georgia Tech, under first year coach Paul Johnson. He took a team who finished mediocre at best to a team who was a real contender and beat an SEC powerhouse on their own field in a classic rivalry game.

It's hard to say who the real disappointment in the league was this year. In October, I could have easily said Clemson, but then under interim (now head coach) Dabo Swinney, they got hot and started playing pretty solid football.

With Virginia, you can't really say they were a disappointment. They did what they were expected to do. Sure, they looked good through October, but that was all—the rest of the season was pretty pathetic.

Then you have Virginia Tech. There was all this talk about how they weren't gonna be very good this year, yet they kept finding a way to win games. I personally don't think they were that good—they just happened to catch breaks at the right times, and now they're in the Orange Bowl.

As for Boston College, they should not be allowed to play in an ACC CG ever again. For the second straight year, they beat VT in the regular season and then forgot how to play in the postseason. I would have rather seen Florida State play VT.

So with this year in the ACC, it was hard to tell if the ACC was really good, or just really that bad all around. I guess we'll see in a few weeks once all these teams play bowl games.

After a Little Time: How the ACC is Stacking Up

Justin Mehaffey — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:53:41 -0500

I was out of town on business last week, which is why I took a week off, and what a week it was. The ACC has now gotten even more confusing. It seems each week that another team is "in control of their own destiny" and the flavor this week is the Miami Hurricanes in the Coastal, and the Maryland Terrapins in the Atlantic.

But things get more interesting if these teams happen to loose this week. Let's take one team for instance, and since I'm a UVA fan, I'm going to show you the one scenario if Miami were to loose this week, what it would take for UVA to make it to Tampa (Taken from the Raleigh News and Observer 11/16/08).

Scenario One, UVA wins out, Miami looses out (not as likely). Scenario two, UVA wins out, GT beats Miami, Miami beats NC State, UNC wins out. UVA finds itself in a three-way tie with GT and UNC, since UNC beat Miami, and GT would have beaten Miami. UVA would win the tiebreakers over both UNC and GT. And that's just one team, every team (but Duke) has a chance to make it to Tampa.

For Virginia, this will be the tell all week. They are back home for the final home game against Clemson, then the final game of the season against Virginia Tech. UVA only needs one win to become bowl eligible. I guess we shall see, this football season is turning out to be the closest one for all ACC teams with no definitive team in the championship game. I guess it's true, any team can win on any given Saturday.

Virginia-Miami: They Are Who We Thought They Were

Justin Mehaffey — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:46:28 -0500

This week, UVA did what UVA always does...blow it big time. To their credit, this Miami team is very underrated and very dangerous. UVA, when given the chance to excel and quiet the critics, gives the critics more to work with.

This team could win out, but it's gonna be tough with two of the three remaining games on the road. They play this week at Wake Forest (3:30 pm ESPNU), then a bye week, then Clemson at home, and finish up the regular season at Virginia Tech (which I will be at, although as I look back on it, I might regret that later).

This team could win out, or they could possibly lose the rest of the games and fall one win short of being bowl eligible.

I'm not going to take too much time breaking down this game, because in all honesty it made me sick to my stomach. I will, however, pose a few questions and comment on them, and then end with a comment from a poster on www.thesabre.com.

I didn't go to the game this week but watched on TV, and from the beginning I had a weird feeling. UVA started off with a botched reverse on the kick return that just seemed to start things off in the wrong direction. There were more trick plays in this game than we had seen all season.

Here's a word of advice for you, Coach Groh: You're not a magician, so stick with what had been working the previous four games (that, wow, you actually won). One of the three trick plays that UVA tried actually worked, but the others blew up in their face.

What baffled me in this game was why UVA strayed from the run in the second half. Sure, Miami is extremely fast and won the battle at the line most of the time, but Cedric was still able to run the ball pretty effectively.

Which Groh thought that it would be a good idea to pass the ball on 3rd-and-2? Really? That's something you do in little league and high school (maybe). This is college. When your running game is getting the job done, why stop? Peerman had 15 carries for 78 yards, averaging five yards a carry.

I'm not a mathematician or anything, but I'd say if you average five yards every time you touch the ball, you're not doing too bad. This made no sense to me, along with THROWING ON 3RD-AND-2!

Let's set this series of downs up. Fourth quarter, 1st-and-10: Peerman rushes for three yards; 2nd-and-7: Verica passes for five yards; 3rd-and-2: Verica gets sacked for a 12-yard loss, successfully taking UVA out of field goal range. Why Groh (either one) didn't rush is beyond me. Peerman just easily got three yards two plays earlier.

Something else that really didn't help UVA was two missed field goals in the third quarter that would have put this game away. Instead, they allowed Miami to hang in there (to their credit, they played a tough game and deserved to win).

With this loss, UVA drops into a five-way tie in the Coastal. This is now going to get interesting. I think that the Wahoos have the potential to win out, but I'm not sure if it's likely.

I want to now leave you with some thoughts from a poster from The Sabre, with their thoughts on UVA football that completely sum up how I feel right now.

UVa Cavaholic on Mon Nov 3 2008 11:20:55 AM

"As I was watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with my kids last night, we came to the scene where Lucy tries to get Charlie Brown to kick the football that she is holding for him. Knowing that Lucy is going to pull it away and he'll go flying and crash down on his back, he still allows himself to be talked into doing it.

"Then it hit me. Lucy represents Virginia football. Lucy's football represents prosperity. And Charlie Brown represents the Virginia football fan. Every time Virginia has the chance to do something special—get ranked or move higher in polls, play for an ACC championship, go to a big bowl game, etc.—they blow it. EVERY TIME.

"And EVERY TIME, I still allow myself to get sucked back in. And EVERY TIME they pull the ball away just as I try to kick it, and I go flailing through the air until I crash down right on my back. Will I ever learn? I doubt it. Stupid Lucy!"

Good Day.

UVA: Now I'm a Believer

Justin Mehaffey — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:54:46 -0400

So when I told you in my last article that I was still out on how I felt about this team there was one stipulation for me to believe. This past weekend, UVA did that for me. They went on the road and beat a very talented Georgia Tech team (who was ranked, by the way) and even came back from being down 14-3 early.

On the backs of senior running back Cedric Peerman and quarterback Marc Verica, UVA has mounted a four-game winning streak. This includes wins over teams that were ranked or have been ranked this season. While Verica has had his share of mistakes in these four games, he forgets quickly and keeps leading this team.

Cedric Peerman is playing like a man possessed; he's averaging 111 yards a game and almost six yards a carry in these four games, and has at least one rushing touchdown in each of these games.

So what's the difference from the first four games? He's healthy now. Cedric had been playing hurt the beginning of the season. Now that he's healthy, you can see the change in his rushing and how fired up the team gets. He is a great leader for this team and people feed off of his energy.

So now that UVA sits atop the Coastal Division, what does this mean? It means that there are still four games left, two of which are on the road—Wake Forest and Virginia Tech—which won't be easy. As Miami comes to Charlottesville this weekend let's hope that there won't be an upset.

I'm sure they haven't forgotten what UVA did last year in the last game at the OB, and I'm sure they will want to steal a win because they are in the middle of the pack just like four other Coastal teams.

Anyone can take it on any given Saturday, which is why this is a great time of year.

Hoos This Team? Virginia Football Midseason Report

Justin Mehaffey — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:25:04 -0400

I have decided not to write for a while, somewhat out of frustration for the UVA program and also the lack of time, but this deserved my time. Hoo is this team? (Yes, Hoo.) UVA has turned what could have been the worst season in the modern UVA era into a potential run to create a little drama in the ACC Coastal.

Let me state for the record that I'm not completely sold on this team yet. These Cavaliers are 3-3, with all three wins coming in Charlottesville. In the two road losses, UConn and Duke (I'm still in shock over that one), UVA was outscored 76-13, which isn't exactly impressive.

There was a bye week between UConn and Duke, in which starting QB Peter Lalich was dismissed from the team and the university. Redshirt Marc Verica took the reins for good and had a much less than impressive performance at Duke (we won't talk stats—they're took depressing).

Then came Maryland, a night game in Charlottesville in which there was to be a protest of the University's recently imposed sign ban. The ban was lifted two days before the game, but people were still going to wear blue to protest Casteen, Littlepage, and the Grohs.

I was there for that game, and I was blown away. I hadn't seen a team run this smoothly since the Schaub days. Verica looked comfortable, and Ogletree and Peerman were on another level. Cedric carried that team that night. He's finally looking like the Cedric of last year before his injury.

UVA shut the favorites (Maryland) down that night 31-0, holding the ACC's leading rusher (at the time), Da'Rel Scott, to 36 yards.

Maybe that night was a fluke. There's no way a UVA team that lost to Duke could go on to beat an ECU team that beat powerhouses Virginia Tech and West Virginia only a month ago. Or could they?

UVA came into this game, a noon game in Charlottesville, the underdog for the fifth time this season. Peerman carried the team again, rushing for 173 yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 10.8 yards every time he touched the ball. UVA pulled another one out, beating ECU 35-20.

So here we are, at the downslope of the season. UVA is facing a tough UNC team this week and again is the underdog, making it seven times this season. UNC will be without a couple key playmakers in Brandon Tate, who is out for the season with a knee injury (good luck, by the way), and QB T.J. Yates, who is still out with an injury.

This is a huge test for UVA, but again, it's in Charlottesville (3:30pm ABC/ESPN2).

The real test will come next week when UVA hits the road again, traveling to Atlanta to face a mean GT team and a tough triple option offense.

Make a believer out of me Wahoos. Take one this weekend and go on the road and take one, and then let's bring it back home to Charlottesville and see what we can make out of this season.

Will Groh pull another one out? I guess we'll see. Go Hoos!

A Typical University of Virginia Season? Let's Hope Not

Justin Mehaffey — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:56:47 -0500

I spent the month of December wondering what had happened to my Cavs.

Sure, we had been winning games, but nothing near impressive. I was at the Syracuse game, and I pin what has happened so far to that point.

Anything that could have gone wrong in that game did. Sean missing all those free throws, forced shots, sickness.

And unfortunately it didn't get any better.

We had a very weak out-of-conference schedule through the rest of the month, but with first halves that looked like an ensuing loss, I started to lose some hope. Then, one of the most lopsided losses in an out-of-conference game for UVA that I've seen, we got embarrassed at Xavier.

Whoever scheduled these extensive layoffs during games sure weren't helping us either, it just seemed like there was no rhythm with this team. Then the first ACC game, Duke, in Durham none the less. We won't even talk about that game, because as hot as Duke is playing right now, there's no wonder we got beat, they shut down our perimeter game and wouldn't allow us inside either. It was just all around tough.

Virginia Tech game into JPJ next, in what proved to be more than the Cavs were prepared to handle, and they lost a heartbreaker in overtime on a shot as the buzzer sounded. The sad part of that game is that Sean was a one man team, scoring nearly half of the Cavaliers points that night.

After a few days of rest, 3-0 in the ACC, Boston College was coming into town. A friend and I decided to drive up and try to get tickets for this one, I'm sure glad I did. Since the Arizona game, this is the first I've seen UVA play as a complete team. There was no one person that was the threat, everyone was.

Sure, there was a lot of room for improvement. Better shot selection, more patience from the perimeter, better transition D, but wow I was impressed. It was a solid win Saturday night, and I couldn't be more proud of the 'Hoos.

Let's see how the season will shape out in the ACC.

ACC Basketball Wrap: January 13th-20th

Justin Mehaffey — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:11:29 -0500

This week has been a week of ups and downs for the ACC. We had top teams fall, with upsets and heartbreakers.

We start off the week in Durham, January 13th, with the on fire Blue Devils facing a struggling UVA team. Without spending too much time on this, the Blue Devils completely shut down the Wahoos perimeter game and forced them into some key turnovers, which allowed Duke the easy win.

Carolina also squeaked off another close win in Atlanta against the Yellow Jackets. It required another last second shot to come out with the win, but that streak of close wins would be short-lived as the Tarheels fell to Maryland in Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon. Tyler Hansborough made one last attempt to steal the win with a last second shot, but a miss gave the Terps the W as the day continued with the upset of top ranked teams.

After all was said and done Saturday night, seven top 25 teams fell, including three in the top 10. The day finished out with UVA mounting an impressive win over then-undefeated in the ACC, Boston College.

This week sets an impressive slate with Clemson already fighting for a win in overtime against Wake Forest. Other interesting games will include Virginia at Florida State and UNC at Miami Wednesday night. Thursday night, the only ACC game will take place in Blacksburg as Duke travels to Virginia Tech.

This will be a test for Virginia Tech, not only because it's Duke, but because Jeff Allen will be serving his first game of a two game suspension for a classless shove against a ref in Saturday's loss to Georgia Tech after fouling out.

Next week will have some tests as Duke travels to Maryland and we inch closer to the always classic match-up between Duke and UNC.

Gator Bowl Wrap-Up

Justin Mehaffey — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:42:05 -0500

After taking a week to calm down after the monstrosity, I can now effectively sum up this game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

I must give credit to the Raiders—they were able to capitalize on some mistakes by UVA to come out on top.

UVA jumped ahead at the beginning of the game, engineering some great drives and some nice plays.

Mikell Simpson set an NCAA record for the longest run in bowl history by a running back with his 96-yard TD run in the second quarter. Simpson's score, along with a pair of intentional grounding penalties for safeties, gave Virginia a 21-7 advantage at halftime.

Texas Tech opted to open the second half with a surprise onside kick, catching UVA off guard.

Virginia still controlled it's own destiny until midway through the fourth quarter, when star quarterback Jamell Sewell went down with true freshman Peter Lalich appearing in relief. Lalich wasn't playing all that badly, but when thrown into a situation to have to stifle the momentum that Texas Tech was gaining, he showed his true freshman classification.

Texas Tech proceeded to tie the game up with 3:10 left to play after forcing a fumble from Lalich on Virginia's own four-yard line.

All UVA had to do was control the clock and take it to overtime or at least get into field goal range, but it didn't work out that way. UVA was forced to punt, giving Texas Tech great field position where they went on to drive and nail the game winning field goal with two seconds left in the game.

UVA finished this season far beyond anyone's expectations. Now Wahoo Nation sits back and waits until August 2008, where UVA will open up in Charlottesville against national powerhouse and this year's Pac-10 champ, Southern California.

I'd also like to throw out a congrats to Kansas on a great win over that other Virginia school.

Gator Bowl Preview

Justin Mehaffey — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:08:47 -0500

In a great New Years Day matchup, the Virginia Cavaliers take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

UVA only has one notable player that will not be making the trip to Jacksonville—CB Chris Cook, which is a huge loss for the Cavs.

The Cavs defense will have a tough time trying to contain this high powered Red Raider offense, especially with the loss of Cook.

But Virginia's offense will be intact, and should be rested up.

Many ESPN analysts have mentioned that this may be the most intriguing Non-BCS matchup out there.

Let's hope for the best, Wahoos!!