BIG Win

By now, I'm sure you've had a chance to read up on the Hoos' big victory over Miami.  If you're one of the lucky few, you were there to witness the feat.  Or maybe you watched it on ESPN?  Whatever the case, if you're a UVA football fan, I'm sure the smile hasn't left your face since Saturday.  I know my cheeks still hurt today.

For the last three days, I've been struggling to find an angle with which to tackle the magnitude of this win on this blog.  It was a BIG win for so many reasons...

• BIG because of the fact that it was Mike London's first ACC win, and first win over a ranked opponent.  It's potentially a watershed moment in the Mike London era, and it was definitely a "signature" win.
• BIG because Scott Stadium was getting emptier and emptier, with fan apathy at all-time highs.  Hopefully, this win will begin to reverse that trend.
• BIG because the game was on ESPN, and the entire nation had a chance to get a glimpse of what Mike London's Virginia teams can look like.
• BIG because there were no fewer than 20 truly big-time recruits on hand to see it.  (For some odd reason, London picked this game against Miami as the official visit weekend of the 2010 season.)  The 2011 recruits in attendance included four-star cornerback Demetrious Nicholson, four-star linebacker Travis Hughes (both from the 757), three-star Texas defensive end Horace Arkadie, three-star Georgia linebacker D.J. Hill, and three-star wide receiver Demetri Knowles.  Nicholson probably sits atop the wish list of prospects to close out the 2011 class, and by all accounts he had a tremendous visit.
• BIG because so many of our maligned players had great games and can now attack the remainder of the season with renewed confidence.  I'm especially talking about Marc Verica, Corey Mosley, John-Kevin Dolce, Perry Jones, Rodney McLeod, Mike Parker, LaRoy Reynolds, Darnell Carter, Devin Wallace, and Morgan Moses.  It was a total team effort, and many players played their best games of the season to this point.
• BIG because the defense came together and [finally] showed that it can be a strength of the team.  Five interceptions, big hits, and controlling the Miami running game -- it was an impressive display.
• BIG because of this hit, a hit that was mean and clean, a hit that neatly and succintly summarizes what our defense is going to be about -- physicality and swagger, and a hit that might just be the moment that defines a team and catalyzes the rebirth of a successful program:

I honestly cannot watch this enough.

Okay, so it's a brief Wahooze look at the program's biggest win since 2007.  But honestly, I think the rags covered everything pretty darn well.  Here are shome choice nugs:

London is a Breath of Fresh Air, Chris Wallace, CavsCorner.com

London Gets First Signature Win with Hoos, Jeff White, virginiasports.com

UVa Cavaliers' Win Over Miami Puts Signature on London Era, Doug Doughty, Roanoke Times

Dolce Hit May Fuel Virginia Revival, Tom Robinson, Virginian-Pilot

A Milestone Win for UVA, Steve Yanda, The Washington Post

Yeah, it was a pretty big win.