"We're loving it now. It's great on Saturdays."
"I love it. It feels great."
"There came a point where I was like, 'This is kind of fun.'"
"It's a wonderful experience, really."
Those are the rave reviews offensive linemen Zac Yarbrough, Brian Barthelmes, Elton Brown and D'Brickashaw Ferguson used to describe their experience this past Saturday. And they weren't talking about the all-you-can-eat Woodgrill Buffet, either.
Instead, Virginia's line is reveling in the offense's renewed commitment to the run. Those four plus tackle Brad Butler comprise the starting line, and they could not be happier with Virginia's style of offense. Their eyes light up at the thought of punishing their opponent in a way that pass-blocking just doesn't allow.
"It feels great to make that good block and roll a guy back and let the running back cut off of you for a big play," Barthelmes said.
Every linemen's dream job is to play for a hard-nosed running team, and with each game the Virginia Cavaliers are forgetting more and more about the Matt Schaub-led aerial attack of the past two seasons. That is not to say that Marques Hagans is not capable of replicating Schaub's numbers. In fact, Hagans' passing stats -- 420 yards and a 79.4 completion percentage -- are truly phenomenal. But the story of this team remains its goal of becoming a smash mouth offense.
"I think we've really almost obtained that goal," Ferguson said. "There's always room for improvement, but this year we're just a bigger and more physical team."
Saturday's rushing total of 299 yards is the most Virginia has had in a game the last six seasons. The Cavaliers rank 10th in the nation in rushing offense. Five Virginia players have gained more than 50 yards on the ground this year. That even distribution means that not all of the team's rushing success can come from the talents of the individual backs.
"We have a saying around here, 'All runners run the same when there's no hole,'" coach Al Groh said. "When those runners are running pretty good, that means they're getting the chance to get to the ball into the line of scrimmage and make their cuts."
Just how dominant was Virginia's running game against North Carolina? The Cavaliers scored a touchdown on each of their first five offensive possessions of the game. In that stretch, they used 39 plays to go 411 yards -- an impressive average of 10.5 yards per play -- and on 29 of those snaps, Virginia ran the ball.
With that production, it's no wonder Groh gave the offensive line a game ball for their performance.
Groh "said we completed our objective, and that was to run the ball and pound them," Brown said.
Yabrough may have said it best when describing the focus of Virginia's offense this year.
"Our main goal is just to come in here and run the ball and run, run, run," he said.
Well, Virginia has run, run, run the ball this year to the tune of 105 rushing attempts to only 40 passes. That computes to a running play a staggering 72.4 percent of time, especially when compared to just 48.5 percent last year.
Virginia's commitment to the run was particularly evident in two play calls. Facing third-and-five on their second drive of the game, the Cavaliers called Alvin Pearman's number, and he ran the ball for five yards.
With Schaub's accuracy in the short passing game, the Cavaliers undoubtedly would have thrown the ball in that situation the last two years. But this year's squad believes they can always run over its competition.
"Third-and-five, now we're getting to the point where we're confident that we can run the ball instead of having to throw like we usually had to," Yarbrough said.
Late in the second quarter, Virginia had a fourth-and-one situation on its own 30. Any sane coach would have punted, right? Well, Groh needed to take just one look at his o-line to know what they wanted to do.
"I think [Groh] saw us all pointing forward -- the five guys up front," Yarbrough said.
That's how it goes in Charlottesville these days, and if the Cavaliers are to match their rapidly growing expectations, it'll be with those five guys up front leading the way.
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