Virginia vs. Wake is going to be decided down in the trenches

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Trench warfare is what Saturday night’s Virginia game at Wake Forest is all about (7 p.m., ESPN2).

Throughout training camp, Tony Elliott talked about the importance of both UVA’s offensive and defensive lines improving, and Saturday will be the first major test. Wake (1-0) is a 1-point favorite.

“Just flat-out, this game is going to be won in the trenches,” Elliott said. “In order to slow down their rushing attack offensively, you’ve got to create a new line of scrimmage. Defensively [Wake] has done a great job over the years. They’ve always been a thorn in my side.”

For years, Elliott’s offenses at Clemson battled against Wake, and it wasn’t easy for the most part.

“Playing them every year, man it was tough because they know their system. They recruit to the system and then they change structure on you quickly,” Elliott said. “So they’re really good at what they do and they’ve got a bunch of seniors on that defensive front and they can play two groups (for depth).”

Wake’s “mesh” offense creates tons of problems (see related story on this site), which means Virginia’s defense must find a way to create a new line of scrimmage in Wake’s backfield and disrupt the flow of the Deacons’ offense, disrupt the timing on the zone RPOs that Wake depends so heavily upon.

“Wake’s objective is to kind of create a stalemate at the line of scrimmage,” Elliott said. “When it’s run/pass, they know [the linemen] can’t go beyond three yards. So they want to create a stalemate with no penetration and let the quarterback make the decision and the back hides and spits out wherever he can find a crease.”

The Demon Deacons will start Hank Bachmeier, who put up some decent numbers last week against NC A&T. Bachmeier is a 25-year-old, who previously played at Boise State and Louisiana Tech.

Elliott said he noted improvement with both his offensive and defensive lines last week in UVA’s 34-13 win over Richmond.

Still, the Cavalier defense surrendered 3.9 yards per carry to the Spiders, 43 of their 147 rushing yards coming on one play late in the game. UofR attempted 38 runs against Virginia in that game.

For defensive coordinator John Rudzinski’s tastes, 3.9 yards per carry is more than he would like to give up.

“Defensively, I thought (UVA’s front) pushed the pocket better interior-wise, and, man, we were getting close but not close enough (rushing the quarterback),” Elliott said. “We’re going to have to be much more disruptive. We’ve got to find a way to get to the quarterback when they do drop back.”

As far as Virginia’s offensive line goes, Elliott thought his group did a good job of creating a new line of scrimmage for the backs to be able to get up a good head of steam.

The Cavaliers, led by veteran Kobe Pace’s 93 yards on the ground, posted a 200-yard rushing game.

“We did give up two sacks, but I thought the protection was solid and the sacks were more on the quarterback,” Elliott said. “On one of those he should have got rid of the ball in the red zone and the other one, just having the presence to know that it was a half-roll setup … don’t get up the back of your guard that’s out there protecting you. But other than that, [the O-line] did a good job.”