Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 NOV. 13, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: VIRGINIA During this three-game stretch, Williams also scored four of his seven rushing touchdowns this sea- son and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. Through his first five games, he tallied just 289 yards with three scores on the ground while averaging 3.8 yards per carry. Improvement aside, there isn't much to report in the Irish run game beyond Williams. After eight games, Notre Dame rated only 94th nationally in rushing offense (130.9 yards per game), though its production and unit rankings are trending upward. Even with limited snaps and attempts, Irish freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner remained Notre Dame's second-leading rusher through eight games at 32.3 yards per outing. Virginia's run-stopping unit is led by standout linebacker Nick Jackson. A first-team All-ACC pre- season selection, the senior leads Virginia and ranked third in the ACC with 86 tackles. He finished third in the league and sixth nationally in 2020 with 105 total tackles in only 10 games. Free safety Joey Blount nicely complements Jack- son in the middle of the Cavaliers defense. The senior ranked ninth in the ACC with 66 tackles through Oct. 30. Both Blount and Jackson average more than eight stops a game on a unit that has struggled this season. Virginia allows 219.1 rushing yards per game, which ranked 124th out of 130 FBS teams at the end of October. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. VIRGINIA PASS DEFENSE In consecutive games against USC and North Carolina, the Irish tag-team quarterback tandem of graduate student Jack Coan and Buchner — along with some adept coaching — demonstrated much better rhythm, a positive sign for this position group and the team moving forward. None of Coan's passing statistics are eye-pop- ping, and he rates only around 60th nationally in passing efficiency. But his ability to lead clutch drives and make memorable and winning plays — his 21-yard touchdown against North Carolina stands out — are better measured through guts than stats. Up front, the Irish offensive line has stabilized since the bye week before USC. After giving up 4.0 sacks a game through its first six outings, Notre Dame allowed only one each against USC and North Carolina. Virginia gives up 247.1 passing yards per game, a robust number but more than a 50-yard improve- ment from last season when it finished last in the ACC in pass defense at 303.4 yards per game. For Virginia, senior linebacker Noah Taylor (56 total tackles) leads the team with 7.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Taylor is complemented nicely by senior defensive end Mandy Alonso, who has 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. Blount leads Virginia with two of the team's modest five interceptions. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Virginia needed to replace both its fine place- kicker and punter from last year, but the drop- off has been negligible. Graduate student punter Jacob Finn is averaging 46.4 yards per try with 12 boots of more than 50 yards and 11 downed inside the 20-yard line. Sophomore kicker Brendan Farrell is 8 of 9 on his field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards. The Cavaliers have not scored or allowed a touchdown on either its return or coverage units. For Notre Dame, its special teams are making more impactful contributions more frequently. Irish sophomore return man Chris Tyree logged a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Wisconsin and Irish graduate student kicker Jona- than Doerer has two game-winning field goals. More recently, Irish running back Williams re- turned a punt 47 yards against North Carolina that set up a short touchdown drive. Advantage: Even COACHING Until 2020, Virginia had improved its win total in each of the first five seasons under Mendenhall. In 2019, the Cavaliers appeared in the ACC title game and represented the league in the Orange Bowl before slipping to 5-5 in 2020 during a dis- jointed season because of the pandemic. At 6-3 and with a couple of token appearances in the Associated Press Top 25 this season, Menden- hall has his team back on track, though it lost to BYU — Mendenhall's former team — 66-49 before its bye last weekend. For Notre Dame, head coach Brian Kelly has thrived against ACC foes the last four-plus seasons. Since 2016, Kelly has lost only one regular-season game against an ACC team (41-8 to Miami in 2017). He's 22-0 against the conference since then. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES After a disappointing 5-5 record last season, Vir- ginia has returned to its winning ways in 2021 in no small part because of a veteran group of graduated seniors who cashed in on an extra year of pandemic eligibility provided by the NCAA. Virginia returned seven starters on defense and seven on offense. The Cavaliers — who were ranked by Athlon in the preseason at No. 59 — are 4-1 at home this season. What's intriguing and perhaps troubling for Notre Dame is that after spending an entire prac- tice week preparing for the run-reliant triple- option offense of Navy, it returns the following week to ready itself for one of the most dangerous offenses and quarterbacks in the country. Advantage: Even Senior free safety Joey Blount ranked second on the team and ninth in the ACC with 66 tackles through Oct. 30. PHOTO COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS