For starters, it's nice for this to be a competitive rivalry again. I don't doubt you all thoroughly enjoyed 15 years of sustained dominance, but there's no denying these sort of coin-flip games add something to the rivalry, albeit not on the stage either of us hope for.

While Virginia has played well as of late, the old adage "throw out the record books" is particularly apt and makes this one difficult to see how it will play out. I wanted to share a few thoughts on my mind in advance of the game that will factor into who takes home the Cup.

-Noah Taylor and Jahmeer Carter didn't play last week due to Covid (not sure if they had it, or it was a contracting tracing issue). Both are integral to the defense, for different reasons. Taylor may be the best player on UVA's team. He's versatile and can both rush the QB and drop into coverage (see his INT vs VT last year). His importance is magnified with loss of Snowden for the year and a porous secondary. Carter is important only because of the loss of Briggs and Burney leaves the DL razor thin already. Whether these two play is a massively important storyline IMO.

-Transfers. Where would Virginia be without these new additions? Shane Simpson provides much needed playmaking ability out of the backfield and return game. Expect him to get the majority of snaps at RB. Tony Poljan has been a steady hand at TE. He's massive, has great hands, and is a solid blocker. You can expect at least 5 targets for Poljan on Saturday. With the loss of Brenton Nelson for the year and Joey Blount (until last week), D'Angelo Amos has filled in admirably at safety. The corners are a clear weakness of this team - Cross is more of a safety and was thrust into the corner role due to injuries, and Grant is mediocre, at best. Finally, Keytaon Thompson has been a swiss army knife for this offense. He will line up at RB, WR, and QB, though a preseason shoulder injury has limited his snaps and effectiveness in this role. He will likely see 10+ touches through the course of the game and has the wheels to break a long play at any time.

Should be a good one. I expect this to be a one possession game with turnovers being the deciding factor.



[Post edited by ReasFordHoo at 12/08/2020 11:33AM]