Sizing Up the Wahoos' Season: Coach Mike London Makes the Grade

OK, so here we are. Nine games into the 2010 season. The first season of the Mike London era.

We probably shouldn’t be making any assessments of the season yet, and certainly not any major judgments on the new coaching staff.

But who are we kidding, we are college football fans, it’s our god given right to judge teams prematurely. It’s in our blood, it’s in our nature and we can’t fight it. So we might as well embrace it.

This year, the Hoos came into the season following a 3-9 campaign that put the final nail in the coffin of the Al Groh era. It’s a year that saw a young coach take the helm of his first major program. A program with a mixed history. A program in a storied conference whose story is starting to sour. How do you judge a season like that? How do you judge a season with three games to go? You have to look at where the Hoos are and where we expected them to be.

All in all it’s a bit confusing.

The record, 4-5, is pretty good all things considered. Especially when you think about it in terms of being on schedule. Looking at the schedule of a drive is an increasingly popular way to judge the progression of an offense in game. 1st and 10 leads to a 2nd and 6 leads to a 3rd and 2, that’s a drive that’s on schedule. Offenses get thrown off when that schedule goes awry.

The same can be said of U.Va.’s season. Everything for the first half of the season was on schedule for the most part. The Hoos handily beat the FCS opponents, as they should. They went on the road and gave a game to a waning powerhouse in USC. They lost games to conference title contenders. There came the first hiccup from the schedule. It was probably unrealistic to expect a win over UNC, even at home. But the spectacular loss that was the UNC game started serious questions about the schedule and the progression of the season. Things were put back on track against one of the worst FBS teams, EMU.

Then things really got crazy with a strong win over a ranked and promising Miami team. That was unexpected to say the least. Save for the last ten minutes it was a masterful game. But those last ten minutes were telling. They saw some serious mistakes. However, a win is a win is a win and that win was more than that.

Suddenly, there was talk of bowl eligibility and winning the next three games in a row. Well, of course that was getting a little ahead of ourselves. In true U.Va. fashion, the Hoos completely dropped the ball. They lost in Wallace Wade while putting 48 points on the board. Yikes. The game threw the Hoos off schedule. Suddenly rather than 2nd and 5 they are looking at 3rd and 11.

What does all of that mean? Right now, even if the Hoos lose all their remaining games, the season should be called a success. After all, 3rd and 11 isn’t 4th and 23. For the most part the season has been on schedule. It is completely undeniable that Coach Mike London has changed the culture in the locker room.

It remains to be seen if that change will translate to the fan base. Average attendance at Scott Stadium has been a pretty horrible 45,000 in a 61,000 seat stadium. But the media has bought into Mike London, which usually means the fans aren’t far behind.

The Good: the offense; Keith Payne especially. Seventh in the country in touchdowns. Wow. That’s from a player who didn’t play football last year. He is the perfect example of where Al Groh was going wrong. Marc Verica has had his problems to be sure, but he has also had some strokes of brilliance and has ably guided the team through a season that at times was on the brink of collapse.

The Really Good: the coaching. The coaches have shown that they are serious about changing the culture, throwing out the stoicism of Groh and replacing it with the fiery passion of London. There is nothing better to watch than Coach London and Coach Poindexter completely losing it on the sideline after a good play.

They have also shown that they are serious about academics, benching starters after missing class and having coaches all over campus grounds, making sure the players are getting their job done off the field; this is something that was once sorely lacking at one of the leading academic institutions in the country.

The (Understandably) Bad: Almost everyone would say the defense. And they are probably right, 55 points to Duke is pretty atrocious. However, I still believe that a new system, populated by inexperienced players, makes for a tough situation. Where is Ras-I Dowling? It’s clearly the mystery of the season. A top NFL prospect has been on the sideline all season with murky injuries. Not just a mystery, his absence has been the biggest let down of the season.

So what’s left? Three games. One at home, two on the road. One a near guaranteed loss at Lane Stadium against Virginia Tech. That’s just reality and they’re really isn’t anything to be done about it.

The other two are cross divisional games against probably the two most mysterious teams in the conference. Maryland is in the title hunt, but has yet to play any leaders in their division. Boston College looked dead on arrival then all of a sudden they decided to play defense. The best chance to win is Maryland at home. Scott Stadium tends to be good to the Hoos and the road hurts and Boston College is far away. One win out of three would be great, two would be super super awesome.

But that’s the future and we are looking at the current 4-5 Hoos. I say a strong B is an accurate grade. One unexpected win, one unexpected loss. One game closer than it was supposed to be, one game worse than it was supposed to be. Low attendance, but an energized team. Pulling in recruits, but doubts cast on the defense.

Not perfect but certainly better than average. A solid B. Any wins in the remainder of the season will just be gravy. This is the beginning of what I expect to be a long and successful era for Coach Mike London. The Hoos should hope he sticks around.