Mike London is a football coach, not a freaking miracle worker.
A funny thing happened to me last week at halftime, reflecting on a first half against Florida State that saw the Hoos plunged into a deep, dark 27-0 hole: I realized that I do in fact have a realistic and reasonable set of expectations for how this football team needs to be rebuilt, and how long it's going to take Coach London to get Virginia Football back to a sustainable level of relative success.
Almost simultaneously, I had another, related, yet much scarier realization: Many of my fellow Virginia fans aren't going to be as realistic, reasonable, or patient as I am determined to be with this rebuilding process.
OF COURSE we were flattened by the Seminoles. They outclassed us at every single position on the football field, most obviously and overwhelmingly at the most important position in football -- quarterback.
OF COURSE we also lost at Georgia Tech. Most of our young defensive players are still struggling to understand their [in many cases brand new] positions in the base defense, never mind the twisting and contorting and supreme discipline required to challenge that deadly triple option attack.
The bottom line is that we don't have the talent, the experience, or the comfort level with the newly-installed schemes to be able to beat a 9- or 10-win team like FSU or to roll into Atlanta and upset a Georgia Tech team that runs possibly the most difficult offense to defend in college football. Coach London is installing his stuff, Coach Lazor is building an offense from scratch, and Coach Reid is transitioning many players to new positions as we move from the 3-4 to the 4-3. Five games and less than 100 practices deep into that process, it's completely understandable that we aren't completely prepared to compete in those types of games.
I want to get this out there, stated as clearly as I possibly can: Virginia fans must give Mike London no less than FOUR YEARS to clean up the Chernobyl disaster Al Groh left behind with this program. That's 48 games, at a bare minimum. 43 games beyond the five we've already played. If after the 2013 season the program' trajectory isn't satisfactory, then yeah, go ahead and start your hand wringing. But not before.
Okay, now that's off my chest, let's identify the problems that I think are specifically holding us back right now:
- Marc Verica. Look, I like the dude. I'm pulling for him. I want to see him succeed. But right now, he's holding on to the ball way too long, he's playing tentatively, and it often looks like he took accuracy lessons from Jameel Sewell and/or a scud missile specialist. At his best, he's an average quarterback. At his worst... he's being outpassed by the triple option QB of the Yellow Jackets. I'll give Verica one more game -- home against UNC -- to get back on track. If he continues to stink up the joint, it's time for the hook and a longer look at Ross Metheny and/or Mike Rocco.
- Poor tackling. It was really bad against the Noles, and only slightly better against GT. I know it's a fundamental that you can't really practice, especially not in the middle of the season... but something has to be done to correct this issue, less we'll continue to watch running backs and wide receivers parade into the end zone. A program being built on a defensive foundation needs to be sound with tackling.
- The rushing attack. Keith Payne and Perry Jones have both been effective and productive in spurts, and the offensive line has decent, but the whole puzzle hasn't quite come together yet. The way the offense has been built (with a heavy reliance on play action passing), we need to be able to line up and pound the rock at the opposition; we need to be able to consistently grind out three or four yards whenever we run it. It hasn't happened yet. I'm hearing that Morgan Moses will probably be seeing much more time at guard, which is a good thing -- he'll open up the running game with his massive frame and run blocking skills, I'm sure. Joe Torchia likely missing the rest of the season with another shoulder injury really hurts, unfortunately. One step forward, one step back.
- Missed opportunities. How many INTs did we drop against Florida State? At least three, maybe as many as five. How many times did Verica miss a wide open receiver flying down the field in these last two games? Too many, that's how many. The bottom line is, as a generally less-talented team than the ones we'll be facing, we've simply got to connect on a few haymakers every game if we want to compete on the scoreboard.
- Offensive creativity. When it comes to basic philosophy, I like what I've seen out of the Lazor offense so far... and I understand that you have to crawl before you can walk, but... where in the hell are the trick plays?!? I think it's time to bust out some razzle dazzle, like the fake punt and the double reverse we saw against USC!
- Defensive flaws. I know Mike London and Jim Reid are both defensive gurus, wonderful coaches, and will get the Orange Crush going strong in short order, but I have two quick points: 1) Why wasn't there a spy on Christian Ponder? He flat out killed us with his scrambling ability. 2) Why wasn't there a player stationed in the middle of the field to defend Georgia Tech's "A" back? Anthony Allen rushed for 195 yards and three TDs, all directly up the gut. I think if we were able to mitigate those two weapons, these last two games would have been much closer.
There are still seven games left in this season. Five of those games are winnable, in my approximation. I'm looking for the Mike London mantra of high energy / high effort / passion to continue to take root, and for the Hoos to continue to improve in many facets of the game. This week against UNC is a must-win if we still have hopes of making it to a bowl game this year. I remain optimistic.
GO HOOS!
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