Scattershooting: W&M loses; Armstrong benched; WR decommits; Power poll & Nuggets

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering how William & Mary lost to Elon last weekend, and does this open the door for a Virginia win? …

So, Bill & Mary was unbeaten after four games and ranked No. 4 in the nation in the FCS poll heading into its road game at Elon. The Tribe had won nine straight conference games and 11 straight regular-season outings since losing to guess who — Elon — in Williamsburg last year (35-31).

W&M came into the game as the lone remaining 4-0 team in the FCS and had not surrendered an offensive touchdown in three consecutive games. In fact, Mike London’s defense didn’t give up any points to Elon in the first three quarters, but the Phoenix came alive in the fourth and scored a 14-6 upset.

While the Tribe had lost its top offensive weapon, running back Bronson Yoder, to a shoulder injury, they still managed to rush for 307 yards on 53 attempts (5.8 ypc), but it wasn’t enough. Quarterback Darius Wilson had a miserable game passing the football, completing only 5 passes in 14 throws for 36 yards (very similar to UVA’s Tony Muskett in the second half at Boston College).

In fact, even though W&M dominated with its ground game, it couldn’t get into the end zone, having to settle for two field goals for a 6-0 halftime lead. With the game on the line, the Tribe got the ball back with just under six minutes to play and was stopped on fourth-and-3 at the Elon 12 with less than a minute to go when Wilson threw an incomplete pass.

Elon drove 94 yards on six plays to lead 14-6 before W&M had its last-ditch effort.

London clearly knows what he’s up against in a winless Virginia team, hungry to snap the nation’s second-longest losing streak.

“They’ve been in most of their games,” London said of his former team (he was head coach of the Cavaliers after serving two stints as an assistant under Al Groh). “They’ve been highly competitive. They have a very athletic, talented team.

“We’ve seen both quarterbacks, (Tony) Muskett playing this last game against Boston College, very talented. Obviously they’re looking for a win, looking for opportunities.”

Virginia isn’t the only team that has given up lots of points in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers have been outscored 56-11 in the final period this season. W&M blew the Elon game in the fourth, giving up 14 points, including a 76-yard pass play.

“To their credit, [Elon] scored two touchdowns the last five minutes of the game,” London said. “They were 4 for 11 on third down, but 3 for 3 in the fourth quarter. We’ve been doing a pretty good job versus the run, keeping points down, total defense.”

Virginia’s running game has been almost nonexistent, but the passing game has been effective for the most part if you erase the second half at BC. The question is, can UVA’s battered and hobbled defense stop W&M’s running game and make the Tribe offense one-dimensional?

Armstrong benched at NC State

If you’ve paid attention to this column, our podcasts and the “Jerry & Jerry Show” this season, then you’ll know that we exposed former Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong as not being as good as his numbers in 2021.

Armstrong was a bust last season in the new “pro” offense brought in by Tony Elliott, and it was Armstrong’s inability to adjust that caused UVA’s offense to spin in the mud most of the ‘22 campaign. We pointed that out and noted how the quarterback had missed wide-open receivers by 10 yards, short, long, or to the side. He became maybe the first QB in history to throw back-to-back pick-sixes last season. At times, he was simply awful.

Well, he’s been a bust at NC State, even under the wings of his former OC, Robert Anae. The Wolfpack has benched Armstrong, a sixth-year QB, for this weekend’s game and has decided to burn the redshirt for MJ Morris.

Coach Dave Doeren had seen enough after Armstrong went just 13 of 25 for 112 yards in a 13-10 home loss to Louisville last Friday night. He also threw two interceptions.

“Nobody feels worse than Brennan does right now,” Doeren said. “We’ve got work to do with the whole team. I know he’s gonna own his part of it. There’s a lot of things that happened around him and that made it a hard night at that position.”

In State’s first five games, Armstrong was 94 of 160 passing for 971 yards, 5 TDs, 6 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 41.0 according to Pro Football Focus. And, no, that’s not good.

Wide receiver decommits from UVA

Virginia has lost one of its commitments from the 2024 recruiting class. Three-star Christian Zachary, who plays for Calhoun County in Saint Matthews, S.C., announced his decision on his Twitter account on Monday.

“First off I would like to thank the whole UVA staff for making my recruiting experience great,” Zachary wrote. “They gave me an opportunity to play at the next level and I’m greatly appreciative of them for that. This has been a very tough decision to make. Trying to find the perfect fit for me and my future and what I want out of my future has not been easy. I feel as if I rushed into things and was not ready to commit when I did. I would like to thank the Hoos for showing me love and I pray and hope you guys respect my decision. With that being said I will be decommitting from The University of Virginia.”

Zachary, who committed to UVA on June 6, is rated the No. 13 overall prospect in the state of South Carolina by both On3 and Rivals.

He is expected to flip to NC State, where he visited this past weekend.

Georgia Tech replaces defensive coordinator

After the Yellow Jackets gave up 38 consecutive points and lost 38-27 to 22.5-point underdog Bowling Green last weekend, Georgia Tech has changed defensive coordinators, demoting Andrew Thacker and replacing him with Kevin Sherrer.

Tech is giving up 31 points per game, but the performance against Bowling Green was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

ACC Stat of the Week

Virginia’s Malik Washington has been the team’s best playmaker this season and ranks in the nation’s top 10 in several receiving categories.

Washington is No. 6 nationally in receiving yards (556) with 37 catches and 4 touchdowns. He’s No. 7 in receiving yards per game (111.2) and No. 9 in receptions per game (7.4).

Hootie’s ACC Power Poll

1. Florida State: The Seminoles are in the cat-bird’s seat and that won’t change this week when they host Virginia Tech.

2. North Carolina: The Tar Heels have had extra time to prep for the Orange. Could be a close game if Syracuse can get its offense back on track.

3. Miami: The ‘Canes are unbeaten and have passed the only real test thus far, easily handling Texas A&M.

4. Clemson: Dabo’s boys are likely out of the playoff picture and could be out of the ACC Championship game unless they run the table and get some help.

5. Duke: We would rate the Blue Devils higher, but they’re not the same team without QB Riley Leonard. He’s a difference-maker.

6. Louisville: The Cardinals are unbeaten, but are they the worst 5-0 team in Power 5 football? 

7. Syracuse: Had a chance to take down Clemson last weekend, but their high-flying offense was grounded by the Tigers. Could take a dramatic jump if they can upset Carolina this week.

8. NC State: Somebody has to be No. 8 and there’s not a lot to choose from. Maybe a switch at QB will help. Wolfies host Marshall, which beat Virginia Tech a couple weeks ago.

9. Boston College: The Eagles are shaky. Will they be tested by Army’s running game?

10. Wake Forest: Lost to Georgia Tech for goodness sakes. They’ll get clobbered by Clemson this week.

11. Virginia Tech: The Hokies’ one-game winning streak over a bad Pitt team will be short-lived. Tech goes to Tallahassee.

12. Georgia Tech: How can you be a 22.5-point favorite and give up 38 unanswered points to Bowling Green?

13. Pitt: This ain’t the Pitt teams we’re used to seeing.

14. Virginia: The Cavaliers can’t get out of their own way. Have a chance to break out of their slump this week against Bill & Mary.

Golden Nuggets

• Former UVA linebacker Nick Jackson was the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Week for Iowa this week.
• UVA baseball added a late player through the transfer portal in former Seton Hill third team All-American Blake Barker (Division II). The southpaw owned a 2.00 ERA and had four saves from the bullpen.
• Virginia men’s tennis has gained a commitment from Stiles Brockett, who is ranked the No. 12 prospect in the recruiting class of 2024 and No. 1 in Virginia. The 17-year old owns an ITF Junior career-high ranking of No. 105 and won the 16s singles title at the USTA National Clay Court Championships.
• Virginia offer Matthew Hodge, son of former ODU star Odell Hodge, has committed to Villanova.
• There is no “Jerry & Jerry Show” today due to some staff vacations, but we’ll be back LIVE next Tuesday morning. In the meantime, catch Hootie & Chris on a Tuesday-evening podcast talking UVA football and possibly some hoops.