Tale Of The Tape: No. 20 Virginia at Miami
Posted on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, 2:40 pm
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The 20th-ranked Cavaliers return to action this evening at Miami, as the ACC Coastal Division race continues to heat up. Virginia (4-1, 2-0 ACC) currently sits in the driver’s seat, and a win over the Hurricanes (2-3, 0-2) would be another huge step towards a shot at a first Coastal title for the ‘Hoos.
Miami has stumbled out of the gate, losing three of its first five contests under new head coach Manny Diaz, including the first two. If the ‘Canes ultimately want to make any noise in the division after already falling to North Carolina and Virginia Tech, they can look at Friday’s matchup (8 p.m., ESPN) as somewhat of a must-win scenario.
There’s been some shuffling at the quarterback position, with true freshman Jarren Williams winning the job in camp and holding steady up until last week, when he threw his first three interceptions of the season — all in the first 12 minutes of the game — against the Hokies.
Williams was replaced by redshirt sophomore N’Kosi Perry, who started six games under center for the Hurricanes last season and nearly led an amazing comeback. Perry threw for a career-best 422 yards and matched his career mark of four touchdown tosses as he rallied the ‘Canes from down 28-0 with 9:30 left in the first half to tying the game at 35-apiece late in the fourth quarter. The Hokies held on, however, no doubt leaving Miami hungry to get back on the gridiron.
Sophomore tight end Brevin Jordan hauled in seven catches for 136 yards and a score against VT, while junior wideout Jeff Thomas added 124 yards and two touchdowns on just six receptions.
‘The U’ is averaging 315 yards a game through the air, but the Wahoo defense is only allowing 184 passing yards per contest.
Both defenses have been exceptional in limiting the run game so far — Miami gives up just 78.4 rushing yards a game; UVA is surrendering 91.4 after Notre Dame’s Tony Jones Jr. went off for 131 yards and three touchdowns 13 days ago.
Miami junior running back DeeJay Dallas has put up 7.2 yards per carry in 2019 after leading the team in all-purpose yards (1,260) as a sophomore.
The ‘Canes have had issues with punching it in after advancing into the red zone, converting on just 17 of 24 trips. Miami is also the second-most penalized team in the ACC, averaging over 80 penalty yards a game. Another interesting tidbit is that Miami’s opponents are a perfect 7 for 7 on fourth-down conversions this season.
This is the fourth of five straight home games for Miami, and a win over Virginia would make it four in a row over the ‘Hoos in South Beach. Kurt Benkert had UVA in control, up 28-14 in the second half over the then-undefeated, second-ranked Hurricanes in 2017 before Miami reeled off 30 straight.
Miami leads the all-time series, 9-7, with the ‘Hoos taking last year’s meeting at Scott Stadium, 16-13.
Tale Of The Tape
The Coaches
UVA — Bronco Mendenhall
4th season at Virginia (20-23); 15th season overall (119-66); Record vs. UM: 1-2
UM — Manny Diaz
1st season at Miami and overall (2-3); Record vs. UVA: 0-0
The Depth Chart
Broadcast Information
TV: ESPN
Announcers: Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Louis Riddick (analyst), Paul Carcaterra (sideline)
Radio: Virginia Sports Network
Announcers: Dave Koehn (play-by-play), Tony Covington (analyst), Jay James (sideline)
Satellite Radio:
Sirius Channel — 81
XM Channel — 81
Internet Channel — 81
Kickoff Forecast
Intermittent clouds, 81 degrees
Precipitation — 34%
Wind — 12 mph
Humidity — 77%
(Courtesy AccuWeather)
