The Virginia football team looks to bounce back from last week's loss to South Carolina when they take the field against Western Michigan tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Cavaliers also will try to end their current four-game road losing streak and notch their second victory against a Mid-American Conference team in the last two years. Virginia defeated Akron last season 48-29 in Charlottesville.
Virginia coach Al Groh expects the Cavaliers to bounce back from a tough loss as they were able to show their resiliency several times last season.
"This team's always had a pretty strong resolve," Groh said. "This is not the first time that this team has lost a game. We've had a good resolve afterwards. These are many of the same players who have been a part of that resolve in the past. I anticipate much of the same."
On offense, this improvement and resolve starts with the offensive line, which needs to keep pressure off quarterback Anthony Martinez to give him hope at completing some early passes. If this can happen, the running game of Wali Lundy, Alvin Pearman and Marquis Weeks should open up quite nicely. Virginia's linemen under-performed against South Carolina, a far cry from the dominating performance that helped Virginia to 202 rushing yards against Duke.
"We just have to really buckle down and stay focused as a team," Junior running back Alvin Pearman said. "We all have to do our jobs and do our part and step up."
Unfortunately for the Cavalier linemen, they should have their hands full containing Broncos defensive end Jason Babin. On the season, the senior has six tackles for loss, including two sacks.
"He's a lot like Shawn Johnson from Duke last year," Groh said. "Except that he had three more sacks than Johnson had. Johnson led [the ACC] in sacks last year."
When Virginia is on defense, they will need to keep senior quarterback Chad Munson under wraps. On the season, Munson has put up Heisman-like numbers; he is averaging nearly 400 yards per game and has thrown eight touchdown balls.
"[Munson] is a real good player," Groh said. "I was trying to think when I was watching the tape when was the last time I saw a guy throw for 450 yards. And these weren't on catch and run plays, the big chunks were on vertical balls. He's very impressive. He's got a quick release, he's got a fast arm, and he's got a real tight spiral."
Munson's favorite target is Greg Jennings. The red-shirt sophomore is averaging 116.5 ypg and has four touchdowns on the season.
For the Cavaliers to contain the potent Broncos attack, they need to be more proactive on defense and force mistakes by the Broncos. Against the Gamcocks, Virginia's defense made more mistakes than it forced, including giving up a ninety-nine yard touchdown pass that changed the complexion of the game.
Western Michigan coach Gary Darnell expects the Cavalier defense to correct last week's mistakes.
"They're not about to give up the long pass," Darnell said. "They are going to do the match-ups along the front and make sure that our quarterback doesn't have a big day."
When it's all said and done, Virginia should leave Kalamazoo victorious. But the Cavaliers know that the Broncos should not to be overlooked. Another ACC team was upset by a directional school from the MAC earlier this season when Maryland lost its opener to Northern Illinois.
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