Moving back Louisville game could work in Virginia’s favor

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia would have liked to have carried its momentum from upsetting 15th-ranked North Carolina from last weekend to this one, the Cavaliers could profit from its scheduled game against Louisville being pushed back to Nov. 14.

The ACC announced that Saturday night’s game between UVA and Louisville, would be postponed for another week, which surprisingly was a date when both teams didn’t have a game scheduled.

Louisville has experienced Covid-19 problems for the past two weeks. The Cardinals had nine players unavailable for last weekend’s game against Virginia Tech, and thought about postponing but decided to play and lost a high-scoring home battle against the Hokies.

Of the nine players missing for that game, eight of them were on defense, including five defensive linemen, which left the Cardinals with only three scholarship players on its defensive line.

Since then, Louisville’s Covid count has increased to 22 players or personnel.

There are 15 Covid issues with players. Ten of them have tested positive for the virus, while five others are in quarantine. Also, five support staff members have tested positive and two more have been quarantined.

On Wednesday, Louisville announced a pause of its football program, which means none of its players are allowed inside the Howard Schnellenberger Complex to work out or to practice. The fact that Louisville is not practicing this week is not a good things for the Cardinals’ football team.

No one is sure how long some of these players are going to be sidelined or if more players will test positive for the virus. There is no guarantee that Louisville will be able to field enough of a team to even play the Nov. 14 game, which would likely mean a cancellation of the game.

While that is an extreme, it is something to consider.

Meanwhile, Virginia can use the extra week to get healthy and that could be a significant factor going forward. It also gives the Cavaliers an extra week to study Louisville and to prepare for the Cardinals.

Starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong was injured on the next-to-last series of the win over Carolina with an apparent ankle injury. Had Virginia played this Saturday against Louisville, it was unclear if Armstrong could make a go of it.

UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall said at his weekly presser on Tuesday that, “Brennan is returning to health.”

Meanwhile, defensive backs Joey Blount (hamstring), Brenton Nelson and Darrius Bratton, have all been out of action since the Wake Forest game. Blount has been working his way back as has Bratton.

“I think [Bratton] is getting closer, but clear, full-go, I can’t answer that,” said defensive coordinator Nick Howell.

The Cavaliers are now minus one of its most veteran players on the defensive line in sixth-year defensive end Richard Burney, whose season is finished due to undisclosed medical problems. An extra week will help Howell work on shoring up the D-Line.

Virginia gave up more than 400 yards passing against Carolina’s Sam Howell last week, something that Howell attributed to the Cavaliers’ depleted secondary losing “one-on-one matchups.”

With an extra week of recovery time and an extra week to help replacements improve their tactics, that can only help the Cavaliers be in better shape to compete against Louisville.