W&M brings nation’s No. 1 defense to town to challenge UVA’s offense

By Jerry Ratcliffe

William & Mary brings the No. 1 defense in the FCS to town on Saturday for a noon showdown (ACC Network) with winless Virginia. The host Cavaliers have been inconsistent on offense, but could boost their confidence if they can post some numbers against the Tribe.

Tony Muskett is expected to start at quarterback for UVA, but after a poor second half in a loss at Boston College, will he be on a short leash against W&M? Backup Anthony Colandrea continues to rotate practice snaps with Muskett and has already proven he can move the chains, which may not be an easy task against the Tribe.

For the third consecutive week, Virginia’s offense will face a defense that likes to load the box with defenders in an attempt to stop the run, make the opponent one-dimensional and force the Cavaliers to throw the ball. William & Mary gives up a mere 200.6 yards per game to opponents and only 10.6 points per game.

“They have eight guys [in the box] and sometimes nine,” UVA offensive coordinator Des Kitchings said this week. “We can’t go out there and throw it 70 times and expect to win. That’s not complimentary football.

“So we have to look at some things that we’ve done in the past run-game wise. Is it scheme? Is it putting the guys in a bad spot? Is it poor execution? We have to reassess and look at what gives us the best opportunity to effectively run the ball against William & Mary.”

Kitchings believes opposing defenses have played two high safeties in an attempt to take away the big pass plays, so he wants to show opponents that Virginia can run the ball effectively to help the passing game.

The challenge will fall primarily on the offensive line, where the Cavaliers have been most dangerous on the left side. Center Brian Stevens has been UVA’s most consistent blocker and graded out the highest with left tackle McKale Boley not far behind, along with left guard Noah Josey.

“Unfortunately, the right side has been a little inconsistent and it has shown. Everybody can see that,” Kitchings said. That’s where guard Ty Furnish and tackles Ugonna Nnanna and Jimmy Christ dwell. Christ, a transfer from Penn State, got back into action against BC after missing a portion of the season with an injury sustained in training camp.

“There is competition at [Furnish’s] spot,” Kitchings said. “We have to look at everything as to what is slowing us down or deterred us from being consistent on the field from drive to drive. When we do it right, we have really good drives and create explosive plays regardless of who we are playing.”

The Tribe features one of the nation’s top pass-rushers in Nate Lynn, who is second in all of FCS in QB sacks with 7.0. He will be a handful for UVA’s offensive line and running backs to block, and he’s not alone.

“Their two defensive ends are really good … they’re FBS-caliber players,” Kitchings said. “You turn on the film, there’s nobody on our team that should look at William & Mary and take anybody lightly. They’ve been in the playoffs and they’ve done a hell of a job.

“So we have to help our tackles. We have to move the pocket, we’ve got to chip, we’ve got to do all kinds of things, not just this week, but moving forward. We’ve done it against Maryland and we’ve got to get back to it.”

Kitchings said that quarterback pressures from opponents can’t be completely blamed on the offensive line, but also the running back not picking up pass-rushers effectively, receivers not running to the proper depth and other factors, but all that has been addressed in practice this week.