What To Watch For: Virginia Cavaliers

WILL THE CHANGES TO STAFF RESPONIBILITES SHOW UP?

Scott Satterfield said this week that he will take a more active role in the defense while allowing Lance Taylor to be more involved with play calling. While I don’t think he will do much from a defensive standpoint outside of provide some suggestions and insight, I do think Taylor’s increased role could be significant.

Louisville’s offense has been extremely inconsistent this season and they haven’t been able to generate the big plays that they’ve had in the past. Lance Taylor has an opportunity to make some tweaks to unlock the potential of the offense. Two things I’m looking to see? New looks in the run game like counters and misdirection. I’m also looking to see if Taylor takes more shots down the sideline in the pass game.

VIRGINIA’S PASSING GAME WON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF UOFL’S ISSUES

This team is completely unpredictable at this point so why not join in on the fun? Boston College had major issues on offense entering last week’s game and they got it mostly figured out against Louisville. I don’t see the same happening this week with UVA’s passing attack.

Brennan Armstrong has really struggled this season and it really seems to be an issue with him as opposed to the guys around him. However, his receivers have also been very underwhelming compared to what they did last season. His receivers dropped six passes last week and I think that they’re inability to make plays will be a factor this weekend. It won’t likely be because of what UofL does but this passing attack will continue to struggle.

LOUISVILLE’S OFFENSE WILL STRUGGLE AGAIN THIS WEEK

Louisville has recruited very poorly at the wide receiver position over the last few years and it is showing in the offense each week. The transfer portal has helped them as they landed Tyler Hudson but they just don’t have any real depth to help them spread the ball around and give Malik Cunningham more options to work with. AHB is obviously one of my favorite players but he still has room to grow. What they need is another two guys that you can put out there and trust to make plays.

UofL is running the ball well this year. They could be better but it’s not an area where there is much to complain about outside of the fumbles. But the passing game has been just above putrid. Louisville has not been able to push the ball down the field but I think the bigger issue is that they just don’t have enough guys who can just run away from people in man coverage. There are basic plays every offense runs that are “man beaters”. Uofl has lived on them over the last few years and they just don’t work this year.

UVA has some talent deficiencies on defense but they have masked them very well with their new system. They cover well. They tackle well. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. Sounds like the type of defense that will make it very hard on this offense.

WILL SCOTT SATTERFIELD’S TEAM RESPOND TO HIS CHANGE IN TONE?

The weekly presser from Scott Saterfield was much different from what we’ve seen in the past. Not only did he get into specific details about the Boston College game but he was clearly aware of where his job status lays. It’s not just that Satterfield will be more involved with the defense but his overall tone was much different. He sounded exasperated in some ways but more than anything he came off like a coach that knows he headed towards losing his job.

The next question is wether or not the players and staff respond to this new tone. This team is built on veterans who are on the field the vast majority of the time. There is no position group that doesn’t have a veteran leading it and this shift in tone should resonate with those guys who have been around for a while. Plenty of these guys have NFL aspirations so motivation shouldn’t be an issue. But will this change actually lead to some change? I’m not naive enough to expect this team to turn things around, but I will say that some adjustment to the approach is a welcome sign.