Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 13, 2021 35 GAME PREVIEW: VIRGINIA 1. A Premier Deep Threat Find a quarterback with gaudy passing stats and there's usually a receiver with impressive numbers among his top targets. In Virginia's case, sophomore wide receiver Dontay- vion Wicks is often on the other end of junior quar- terback Brennan Armstrong's highlights. Armstrong ranked second nationally in passing yards per game (395.2) heading into November. He has 27 touch- down passes, averages 8.8 yards per attempt and had thrown the ball more times than any Football Bowl Subdivision quarterback except one — Mississippi State's Will Rogers — prior to UVA's bye week. Wicks has his own list of impressive national rank- ings. His 23.14 yards per catch led all FBS players with at least 30 receptions through Oct. 30. He has 972 yards (fifth nationally) and nine touchdowns on just 42 catches. His 19.9 average depth of target paced all FBS receivers who have been targeted at least 50 times. He has 30 targets on passes that traveled at least 20 yards downfield, which ranked second nationally. Six of those have resulted in touchdowns. All told, he is arguably college football's premier downfield threat and has 16 deep-ball receptions, tied for the FBS lead through Oct. 30. Wicks is the fourth wide receiver Notre Dame has faced who ranked in the nation's top 10 in yards per game heading into Week 10. The Irish previously matched up with Purdue's David Bell (seventh), USC's Drake London (third) and North Carolina's Josh Downs (fourth). They held Bell to 64 yards. London and Downs each cleared 10 catches and 140 yards, but did not score. Armstrong's potential absence could make Notre Dame's task of defending Wicks a bit less daunting. He suffered a rib injury in the second half of Virginia's 66-49 loss at BYU Oct. 30. He came off the field and appeared to tell coaches and trainers he thought it was broken. The Cavaliers replaced him with freshman Jay Woolfolk. 2. Suspect Defense Despite the high-scoring offense, Virginia is outscoring its opponents by just 8.1 points per game and outgaining them by 0.62 yards per play. (For reference, a two-yard difference in a team's own yards per play versus its opponents is considered the mark of a dominant team). The Cavaliers offense can score with most teams. Their leaky defense, though, can turn games into shoot - outs rather than blowouts. Heading into November, Virginia ranked 118th nationally in yards allowed per play (6.56) and de- fensive Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) rating. It also was 80th in defensive SP+. The Cavaliers' run defense is especially troublesome, allowing 5.72 yards per carry (125th). They ranked 115th in tackles for loss per game (4.44) and 121st in sacks per game (1.22). Four of Virginia's eight FBS opponents have scored at least 40 points. Most recently, BYU hung 66 on the Cavaliers. North Carolina put up 59 on them in September. The only two teams to produce fewer than 28 points against Virginia are Illinois (14) and Duke (0), both of which rank 98th or worse in scor - ing and offensive FEI. 3. A Childhood Connection Junior safety Kyle Hamilton surely had this game circled as a special one before the season. A Notre Dame vs. Virginia matchup provides the chance to play against close friend and Cavaliers linebacker Nick Jackson — if Hamilton's injured knee allows. They're Atlanta natives and friends since grade school. They're offseason workout partners. They have trained together at The Rack, a facility in Atlanta, and in Jackson's makeshift basement gym during the height of the pandemic. Both were Year 1 impact players for their respective teams. Now in their junior seasons, they're team captains and defensive standouts. Jackson played in all 14 of Virginia's 2019 games, making two starts. He led the team with 105 tackles last season. This year, he has a team-best 86 tackles to go with 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception and two passes broken up. Hamilton and Jackson previously played each other when Virginia came to South Bend in 2019. — Patrick Engel Allowing 66 points isn't going to win a team many football games. The Cava- liers also allowed 59 points in a loss to North Carolina Sept. 18 and 37 points in a loss to Wake Forest Sept. 25. The Virginia defense has been bat- tered in a few wins, too. Miami scored 28 points, Louisville scored 33 and Geor- gia Tech scored 40. Those teams had a combined record of 11-13 through Week 9. The Cavaliers are prone to allowing large chunks of points in any given game. That's not good news for the home team in welcoming a Notre Dame squad that has started clicking offensively in the second half of the season. "Our defense has to get more stops, has to play better from beginning to end," Mendenhall said. "That has to happen." Virginia ranked No. 121 nationally in total defense through Week 9. Only three Power Five teams — Duke, Missouri and Kansas — had allowed more than Vir- ginia's mark of 466.2 yards per game. The Cavaliers have a few solid indi- vidual defensive players. Junior line- backer Nick Jackson has 86 tackles. Fellow junior linebacker Noah Taylor has 56 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. Senior safety Joey Blount has 66 tack- les, two interceptions and three passes defended. Five other Cavaliers, one of them being Taylor, have four or more passes defended. Virginia is capable of making a de- fensive play here and there. But collec- tively, the unit has not put it all together this season. The Cavaliers have yet to reach double figures in turnovers forced, and they rank tied for 99th nationally in turnover margin at minus-four. From the uncertain quarterback situ- ation to a defense that has only shined against William & Mary and Duke, Virginia doesn't have a lot going for it heading into a tough matchup against a Notre Dame team with postseason aspi- rations to play for. But that doesn't mean the Cavaliers are going to lay down and surrender. Virginia can still punch a ticket to the ACC championship game. Gaining a bit of momentum against Notre Dame would be a favorable objective for Men- denhall and the Cavaliers as they go into games against Pitt and Virginia Tech to finish the regular season. "We control our destiny, and play- ing well and winning is really what's at stake," Mendenhall said. ✦ Virginia sophomore wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks led the country in yards per catch (23.14) among players with at least 30 receptions through Oct. 30. PHOTO COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS Three Things To Know About Virginia