For the past week or so there has been a good bit of talk about the state of the Virginia Cavalier football team. Some feared the team might spiral downward after the loss to North Carolina two short weeks ago but most saw Saturday's game against Temple as the perfect recipe to get the Hoos fired up again in hopes of preparing to secure another bowl bid by season's end. For Temple it was a long afternoon and they got a steady dose of the Virginia backfield all day long.
It's been an interesting season for Wali Lundy. Battling injuries for a good bit of the early part of the season Saturday afternoon saw him run for a personal best four touchdowns against the hapless Temple Owl defense. Not to be outdone by Lundy was fullback Jason Snelling who ran for 126 yards on the day including two touchdowns. Neither player had rushed for a touchdown all season but Saturday they exploded for six touchdowns on the ground to help the Hoos cruise to an easy victory. Overall the Cavaliers ran for 262 yards on the ground and kept the Owls honest through the air passing for 187 yards.
While the Hoo offense garnered most of the glory on the day the defense had a pretty solid outing as well. Granted the Owl offense isn't close to being one of the nation's best the Hoos only allowed 7 rushing yards on the day and 167 yards total which came against the backup defenders primarily. The Cavalier defense led by linebackers Kai Parham and Ahmad Brooks enjoyed great success at styming the Owl offense for most of the afternoon.
One area that might've been overlooked were the reps given to a good number of the freshmen on the team. Wide receivers Kevin Ogletree and Maurice Covington both had their most productive day to date as Hoos and displayed just why they were both much heralded coming into the program. In fact both made their first collegiate start against Temple. Both youngsters had only caught one pass on the year but Covington caught four passes and Ogletree five passes against Temple. Their early development should help ease the loss of Marques Hagans to graduation this offseason giving the next Hoo quarterback solid options for next season.
While the blowout victory was a definite boost of confidence to the entire Cavalier team they must regroup and prepare to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets next Saturday. The Yellow Jackets boast two of the most talented players at their position in the conference in running back P. J. Daniels and All-American wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
Defending Calvin Johnson will be an arduous task but expect the Hoos to devise a gameplan to combat Tech's big playmaker at wide receiver. Groh and his Virginia team realize the challenge that lies ahead of them because in reality this is really where the season begins for them...a chance to secure a postseason bowl bid.