Virginia Football: Report Card Grades for Indiana Game

Well it may not have been pretty. It certainly was not conventional.

For the Virginia Cavaliers though, it was a win and that is all that counts.

For the first time in six years, Virginia won their first road game of the season against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Give the Big Ten foe some credit, despite trailing 23-3 in the third quarter, Indiana mounted an amazing charge to take the lead late.

Yet Virginia found a way to pull out an improbable victory, and give the squad their best start to a season since 2005, thanks to some incredible plays with the game on the line.

So grading this week will be difficult. How much do we reward the good? How much do we punish the implosion in the second half?

There is no grading on a curve around here, let's get to the grades!

Quarterbacks: C-

It didn't take long for quarterback Michael Rocco to know he was not in Charlottesville anymore.

In Week 1, Rocco could barely miss against William & Mary. However, on his first pass in his very first start on the road, Rocco threw an interception.

The sophomore had a rough day by most measures. While he made some big plays here and there, his arm strength looked very questionable.

Rocco simply avoided throwing long passes and when he did they were usually well off the mark. His apprehension and reliance on the short bootleg pass makes many Virginia fans worry that he may simply be another version of previous quarterback Marc Verica.

His sack in the end zone that was inexplicably not ruled a safety really seemed to show a quarterback on the verge of collapse. Leaving many to wonder why true freshman David Watford was used in such a limited capacity.

Still, with the game on the line, Rocco stepped up and converted the two-point conversion late in the game to tie it up. Overall he was 15-of-29 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.

Those numbers may not be terrible, but they are indicative of a player who needs to become more comfortable in the pocket or face some major growing pains in the ACC.

Running Backs: B

There were so many momentum changing plays in this bizarre contest.

One that not enough people are giving credit to happened in the second half. Virginia was up by six points, having allowed Indiana to score 14 straight points.

However, Virginia was marching down the field and near field-goal range. Running back Kevin Parks made a nice five-yard dive before coming up limping and never returned to the game.

On the very next play, running back Perry Jones coughed up the ball and the Hoosiers returned it for a touchdown and took the lead for the first time in the contest.

Virginia relies heavily on their running game. Parks looks like he could be one of the best freshmen in the country, having scored five touchdowns in his first two games as a Cavalier.

While his backfield partners Jones and Clifton Richardson are also talented, the offense clearly lacks the same punch without the fire and tenacity Parks shows on the field.

Virginia's running game had some shining moments, accumulating a combined 162 yards, but that costly fumble cannot be overlooked.

Jones has explosive speed, as he demonstrated on a 46-yard reception and scamper in the first half.

Still, when Virginia goes on to play bigger and more physical teams, can these smaller backs withstand the brunt force trauma heading their way?

The health of Parks will go a long way in answering that question.

Wide Receivers: B

Wide receiver is always a tricky position. When your quarterback is struggling, it has a direct influence on your performance.

On the other hand, Rocco had some good looks that wide receivers needed to make plays on. Some were close like Tim Smith's near end-zone tap dance at the sideline which not only resulted in an incompletion but also a head-shot to the guard rail that seemed to definitely take him out of the game.

Others were bad drops like Matt Snyder's wide-open drop when Virginia was marching down the field to eventually tie the game at 31.

Still, Virginia's wide receivers were able to put up some nice numbers. Eight different players picked up a reception for a combined 198 yards.

Considering the Cavaliers propensity to dump it off, Virginia needed its receivers to be playmakers and they did just that.

After having two good performances, Virginia will need to cut down on some of those wasted opportunities coming up against North Carolina.

Offensive Line: C

Pushing around the William & Mary defensive line is one thing, but last Saturday proved to be a different task.

The Virginia offensive line is big and experienced, but they had some major trouble protecting the quarterback against the Hoosiers.

Six tackles for loss and a sack really took the wind out of the sails of the Virginia offense, particularly in the second half. When the momentum turned, those blocks became much more difficult to stick.

Now the line was not helped with uninspired play-calling. They also had an inexperienced quarterback who held on to the ball a bit too long at times.

However, if Virginia is going to be a running team, the pressure will be on them to perform throughout the contest.

The offensive line had their moments but they also had big missed assignments at critical times. It must improve or Virginia will not remain undefeated much longer.

Defensive Line: C

When I said last week that Virginia gave up over 400 yards on the ground to Georgia Tech's option offense, Indiana clearly had the same strategy.

Indiana had 103 rushing yards on 32 attempts in their season opener, they had 171 yards (not including sacks) on the ground against Virginia.

Once again, the Cavaliers had some wonderful drives where the defensive line stuffed them at the line of scrimmage. But they also exhibited some very poor tackling and pursuit angles, especially when the momentum was shifting in Indiana's favor.

Losing fundamentals is bad enough, but to lose concentration in critical moments is pretty much unacceptable.

Indiana's offense may be improving under new coach Kevin Wilson, but Virginia should have been able to do more.

Granted, the time of possession hurt them in the second half but fatigue is part of the game. Virginia can do better.

Linebackers: C+

Indiana quarterback Eric Wright-Baker is an elusive guy and he made Virginia pay a few times, accumulating 219 yards on the ground and in the air.

Linebacker LaRoy Reynolds led the way again with nine tackles, and Virginia did have three sacks in the game. However, Wright-Baker simply had too much time in the pocket for most of the game.

Virginia's best defensive play came when Indiana simply did not pick up Cam Johnson.

That poor assignment determined the game, and while his play was amazing, the fact is that the linebackers had a difficult job shedding blocks.

Will they be able to get pressure on ACC quarterbacks later this year?

Secondary: B-

The Virginia secondary played pretty well.

Clearly the Indiana Hoosiers were targeting true freshman cornerback Demetrious Nicholson, who indeed got burned a few times in coverage.

Nicholson had a great defense on Indiana's Duwyce Wilson, but the height mismatch compared with a perfect throw was just too much to overcome.

Nicholson will have games like this, particularly as a freshman. As talented as he is, teams are going to keep challenging him until he makes them stop with an interception.

Fortunately, that is just what Rijo Walker provided. His pick set up a Kevin Parks field goal, giving Virginia a 23-3 lead early in the third quarter.

Chase Minnifield was all over the place, collecting seven tackles and Corey Mosley had five, although he also had a hot temper which may have done more harm than good at times.

Overall the secondary did a solid job considering the time Indiana's Eric Wright-Baker was getting in the pocket.

Will they be able to keep more pass-oriented teams at bay?

Special Teams: B-

Well, this is where things get interesting.

The good part is that Robert Randolph hit the game-winning field goal. The place kicker has played brilliantly so far this season, making four more field goals to go with the four from last week.

In truth, he looked more like a Lou Groza candidate than Indiana's nationally recognized kicker Mitch Ewald who had a kick blocked early on in the game.

Virginia also recovered a fumble on the kickoff late in the second half to take a 16-3 lead.

However, Virginia also gave up an absolutely critical fumble on a punt return that changed the entire momentum of the game and allowed the Hoosiers to narrow the gap to 23-17.

Now the Cavaliers will argue that no one actually touched the punt return and the replay seems to confirm that, nevertheless it was a huge miscue to have that many players near the ball. Particularly those engaged in blocking who cannot see the ball.

Virginia also had a huge blunder early in the second half. With the kickoff going out of bounds, the Cavaliers elected to try and catch it.

Instead of ending up on the 40 with the penalty, Virginia was well inside their own 20.

Little things like that show the relative youth and inexperience on this squad. They are problems that need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Coaching: D-

Virginia football has a rough history.

The Cavaliers know a thing or two about blowing games, but to lose a 23-3 lead is pretty much humiliating. Particularly to a team that looked dead in the water.

Coach Mike London said at the half that they needed to throw the ball down the field. In response, Virginia barely looked to throw a ball past the first down markers.

The play-calling was so conservative it would have made his predecessor Al Groh proud. Everything that was working towards the 23-3 run was abandoned in a "play not to lose" mentality.

Virginia tried to stretch the field with slowly moving plays. Most importantly, the team simply did not respond well to pressure.

Blame all the other players all you want, coaching has to be able to stop the bleeding and it seemed unable to do that.

The quarterback situation did not help matters. Coach London insisted on keeping true freshman David Watford available to be a quarterback, but refused to play him even when Michael Rocco looked like a deer in headlights.

While Virginia finally pulled together a great closing drive, it was a strategy that should never have been abandoned in the first place.

Coach London is a great guy and has the potential to be a program changing coach, but he is only in his fourth year as a head coach. His coordinators have little FBS experience and handling Virginia is not an easy task.

London will learn how to handle certain situations, but until he does, the X's and O's are still going to be an issue.

Valedictorian: Cam Johnson

Cam Johnson only had three tackles against Indiana but he sure did make them count.

Two tackles for a loss and a sack that will go down as one of the best plays in Cavalier history.

After a game-tying drive to make the game 31-31 with less than two minutes to go, Indiana was facing a third down deep in their own territory.

Johnson blitzed through the line untouched and swamped the quarterback from the blindside. The sack was a huge moment in and of itself, but Johnson stripped quarterback Eric Wright-Baker by the time they had both reached the ground.

Johnson ripped the ball away despite the fact that he could not even see it.

His play gave Virginia a chip shot for a game-winning field goal and helped keep the momentum of the season going. The Cavalier story went from an epic collapse to an improbable comeback and it came as a result from a defensive play that turned as many heads as Chris Long's safety against Maryland in 2007.

Gold stars all around!