Virginia Football has a "Tradition of Excellence." We set records. Then we break them. That's what we shoot for every year, anyway. Unfortunately, this appears not to be the year that we hit it. Instead, this week we rank dead last in the ACC in six difference categories, almost all of which are on offense. Sorry this came out a little late this week, but the numbers are after the jump.
|
Category |
National Rank |
Actual |
ACC Rank |
ACC Leader |
Actual |
|
Rushing Offense |
109 |
95.44 |
11 |
Georgia Tech |
314.9 |
|
Passing Offense |
104 |
167.78 |
10 |
Florida St. |
302.33 |
|
Total Offense |
119 |
263.22 |
12 |
Georgia Tech |
442.7 |
|
Scoring Offense |
101 |
20.89 |
12 |
Georgia Tech |
34.7 |
|
Rushing Defense |
90 |
166.67 |
10 |
North Carolina |
91.67 |
|
Pass Efficiency Defense |
22 |
106.17 |
4 |
Virginia Tech |
96.27 |
|
Total Defense |
49 |
349.89 |
8 |
North Carolina |
249.44 |
|
Scoring Defense |
68 |
25.11 |
9 |
North Carolina |
15.33 |
|
Net Punting |
75 |
34.9 |
8 |
Boston College |
36.79 |
|
Punt Returns |
87 |
6.88 |
10 |
Georgia Tech |
15.2 |
|
Kickoff Returns |
115 |
17.96 |
12 |
Clemson |
25.81 |
|
Turnover Margin |
52 |
0.22 |
5 |
Georgia Tech |
0.6 |
|
Pass Defense |
25 |
183.22 |
4 |
North Carolina |
157.78 |
|
Passing Efficiency |
116 |
98.1 |
12 |
Georgia Tech |
150.86 |
|
Sacks |
T-55 |
2 |
6 |
Clemson |
2.67 |
|
Tackles For Loss |
106 |
4.44 |
12 |
North Carolina |
8.56 |
|
Sacks Allowed |
115 |
3.44 |
12 |
Georgia Tech |
0.7 |
So what's there to say this week? Well the number that jumps out at me is total offense. 119th. Second to last in the country. These numbers are getting worse by the minute, and demonstrate that we have serious issues in all three aspects of the game: offense (total and scoring offense, sacks allowed, passing efficiency), defense (tackles for loss, rushing defense), and special temas (kickoff returns must glaringly, but also net punting and punt returns, really). Even against Miami last week, in the tornado-like winds, we still managed to damage our pass defense and pass efficiency ratings.
The good news is that Boston College this week is not anywhere close to the high-powered offense you see in, say, the Big XII. They rank just 92nd in the country in total offense. The other good news is that of the last five games, BC has Won, Lost, Won, Lost and Won them. Which means that a big fat L is coming up. That's about as good as the statistics get, I think. Numbers don't lie.