The battle is on. Two preseason Heisman hopefuls take the field tomorrow for an in-conference showdown that has the makings of the most exciting ACC game this season. N.C. State quarterback Phillip Rivers leads the stats with an incredible QB rating of 160.6, while Schaub is on his heels with a not-too-shabby 139.7. Both passers are among the top quarterbacks in the country, which could make for an exciting gunslinger tomorrow afternoon.
"I'd say that both teams for four years now have seen the kind of ball in the air that they're going to see a lot on Saturday," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "It won't be any revelation to them that the ball can get there with the accuracy and the timing and the velocity that it does."
With N.C. State's pass-happy offense that has gained Phillip Rivers close to 3000 yards this season, the Virginia defense has its work cut out for it. However, as evidenced by their breakthrough performance last year against the Wolfpack, the Virginia defense can definitely rise to the challenge.
Statistically, the Cavaliers have a much stronger ground attack than N.C. State, especially with the full return of Wali Lundy this week. However, the return of Lundy does not mean the strong performance of Alvin Pearman has gone unnoticed.
"We'll use them both now. Alvin certainly has done remarkably well, and he's going to continue to get his turns," Groh said. "The good news of it now is that [Lundy] comes back completely ready to go and with a two-and-a-half week rest on his legs so he ought to have a lot of juice in him now."
Typically, the philosophy in football is two running backs are not necessarily better than one. However, Pearman, who is more of a speed back, could allow the offense some new options that Lundy, who is more of a power back, would be less suitable for.
N.C. State's running game has suffered this season with the nagging injuries of all-ACC back T.A. McLendon, who missed the Wolfpack's last game against Duke with a torn meniscus.
"I think it is very, very doubtful." N.C. State coach Chuch Amato said when asked if McLendon would play tomorrow against the Cavaliers. Backup back Josh Brown is also out with an injury.
The Cavaliers average 53 more rushing yards a game than their opponent, and a continued strong running attack will allow Virginia to keep possession of the ball and control the clock, which will be a key factor in limiting the production of Philip Rivers.
"We can't let them get off to a fast start. We have to slow Rivers down before he can get started," Almondo Curry said. "We have to dictate the game. We have to play on our terms instead of theirs."
Another key to tomorrow afternoon's shootout will be Virginia's defense, which played very well and was able to stop Rivers and his high scoring offense in last year's game. This season, Virginia has let up only 16 points per game. In order to continue this trend, the Cavaliers need to keep pressure on Rivers.
The Virginia defense runs a fairly unique scheme that N.C. State does not see much of outside of its games against the Cavaliers. This has advantages and disadvantages for the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers will not have very much film to watch to get a feel for what sort of blocking schemes the Wolfpack might throw at them.
"With us, sometimes the only tape we can look at to see the opponent against a similar scheme as ours is when they played us the year previous," Groh said. "There's a lot more advantages to that than there are disadvantages, because they've got one week to prepare for it and the same old ideas don't hold true, they've got to do other things."
Both teams were preseason favorites, and now both teams are battling for their seasons. Tied for second place in the ACC, both squads are out for blood, and the showdown between Rivers and Schaub has the makings of an instant classic.
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