What: Virginia Cavaliers (1-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Indiana Hoosiers (0-1, 0-0 B1G)
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Date: Saturday, September 10, 2011
Place: Memorial Stadium
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: Virginia Sports Radio Network
Spread: Virginia -7
Last Meeting: October 10, 2009. Virginia 47, Indiana 7.
Last Time Out: Indiana 20, Ball State 27
Series: Virginia 1-0
Last week was a lot of fun for Cavaliers fans, who got to see QB Michael Rocco and freshman RB Kevin Parks in action for the first time this season, as the Hoos just destroyed the Tribe, 40-3 in a game that wasn't as close as even that score would suggest. Today, Virginia faces its first challenge of the season as they travel to a BCS opponent (for now).
Plenty of road woes for the Hoos, who haven't won an out-of-conference road game in almost four years, the last coming at Middle Tennessee in 2007 by less than a field goal (23-21). But shockingly, the Hoos are actually the favorites here, which is a real testament as to how terrible this Indiana team is (I hope that does not come back to bite me).
We've had plenty of preview coverage on Streaking the Lawn over the past couple days, and there's more over at The Crimson Quarry, but in case you want some quick hits, they follow the jump.
Indiana's starting quarterback, Edward Wright-Baker, went 20-of-32 for 272 yards last week in his first start, against Ball State, along with a 65-yard TD and no interceptions. By comparison, Rocco, also in his first start, went 21-of-29 for 174 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Rocco's longest last week was 40 yards.
Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson started 10 true freshman last week. By comparison, Mike London started 12. And actually, 22 Hoos made their first appearance in a UVa uniform last week.
The heartwarming storyline of the day is that Virginia tight end Colter Phillips will be seeing his brother, redshirt freshman tight end Paul Phillips, across the sideline. Their mom will be cheering in the stands with a shirt that says, "Wahoosiers" on the back. Their father was one of the unlucky who did not survive the fatal plane crash last August in Alaska.
This should be a good matchup today. My eye will be on whether Virginia's O-line will continue to afford Rocco the protection he needs (and bust open some holes for Perry Jones, Parks and company). I also want to see how Virginia's defense reacts to Indiana's fast-paced game.
Leave your pre-, in-, and post-game comments here.