Moral Victory

Keith Payne was, once again, a beast.

You can read facts about the game in your local news rag, or watch the game in its entirity on Cavalier Playback on CSN.  This post is all about my scattered and assorted thoughts on last night's game, on three hours of sleep (damn you, west coast).  Don't read this expecting anything other than pure, blissful conjecture.  Let's roll...

• Considering the fact that this team beat us down 52-7, at home back in 2008, I'm happy to take this 17-14 loss as a moral victory.  And you know what?  Our team could still have played a lot better.  We could (should?) have beaten the Trojans.  Marc Verica also seemed to embrace the moral victory, saying, "...we sent a message tonight that this is a new team. This is definitely not who we used to be. We can play with anybody left on our schedule. This one hurts a lot, but it proves we're going to be a good team."  For a team trying to rebuild from the disaster of the last two seasons, I think a moral victory is absolutely acceptable in these circumstances.
• It's official.  Lane Kiffin is a PRICK.
• I thought the defense played great, still without arguably the secondary's two best players in Ras-I Dowling and Rodney McLeod.  Both guys should be back after the bye week.
• Late in the game, Cam Johnson limped off the field.  Looked like he rolled up an ankle.  I really hope he's okay, because otherwise our pass rush (already a little bit on life support) might completely die.
• Punter Jimmy Howell had a nice night, so he's not included in my next statement.
• Our kickers suck.  Robert Randolph straight up shanked his 45-yard attempt in the 1st quarter, then had to sneak a PAT over the crossbar before having his second field goal attempt partially blocked after he kicked a line drive.  The only kick he nailed was the last, meaningless PAT.
• Despite the shoddy kicking, our special teams play was much improved.  We limited their returns, which is crucial against a team like USC.
• Too many penalties!  That's the next area for the coaching staff to focus on.
• The running game is alive and well.  Keith Payne is a load at 250+ pounds of forward lean, and Perry Jones has the best instincts and balance of any tailback we've seen on the Virginia roster since Tiki Barber.  The dynamic duo churned up 134 yards and a TD on USC's imposing defense.
• Dontrelle Inman is a revelation.  He's poised to have a big senior season as our #2 wide receiver.  He's tall and sure-handed, and has a knack for those little hand battles that occur between receivers and the DBs that cover them.  I thought he played great last night.
• This USC team might struggle in Pac-10 play.  I thought Virginia played pretty well, but the Trojans had a bunch of issues --- namely, they just seem completely undisciplined.  That was fine under Pete Carroll, when they had the best athletes money could buy.  But now that cupboard is a bit more bare, and while the athletes are still great, they don't have near as many pure freaks of nature who can win games with sheer physical ability.
• Matt Barkley: I'm not buying the hype.
• B.J. Cabbell had a very good game last night.  He was the pulling guard on many of our best runs.
• Still excited about LaRoy Reynolds.  He didn't make the plays he made against Richmond, but he still brought a swagger to the D.  It's clear that there is plenty of dog in #9's game.
• The Coliseum is an awesome football stadium.
• I loved, LOVED the determination to score that last touchdown.  That showed me a lot, about the team and about the coaching staff.  I also loved the hit we put on that dude trying to recover the onside kick.  Four seconds to go in a game we couldn't win, and we're still laying licks.  I don't want to beat on a dead horse, but an Al Groh team wouldn't have even attempted that onside kick.  They wouldn't even be kicking off, becuase he would have sat on the ball and run out the clock, down 10 with a minute to go.
• Based on what I've seen from the first two weeks of the season -- UVA playing pretty well and the rest of the ACC sucking -- I'm thinking about adjusting my expectations for this season.  Coming in, I thought we'd win the VMI and EMU games, and have a good shot at beating Richmond, Duke, and maybe Maryland.  At this point, I think we'll win another game or two somewhere in there.  I think we can beat UNC.  I think we can hang with FSU and BC.  And at this point, who knows about Virginia Tech?  The point is, if we can continue to play tough, inspired football, we'll have our chances to spring some upsets and win some games.
• This has nothing to do with our game against USC, but I'm happy for JMU.  Sure, that 21-16 win in Blacksburg makes the ACC look like crap, but I think a win like that can be really good for a program like JMU... and it can also be really good for the in-state recruiting efforts for a program like UVA.
• I'm also happy for Kansas.  Mostly because I want to see Al Groh's 3-4 defense fail at Georgia Tech.  (Hey Man in the Glass, Kansas only mustered 3 points against North Dakota State last week.  Get bent.)